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amp to choose for my harbeth HL5+ 40th anniversary

H

Hani Khleif

hykbooks
Greetings

I am new to home systems, and I bought myself a harbeth HL5+ 40th anniversary and at home I use peachtree nova 300 and i use my chord mojo as dac with it

I have few options and would like your input please to get to the next level, and get more from my harbeth

1- Stay with what I have
2- Buy Naim supernait 3 and add chord qutest as dac ( for this i have to pay full price, and its expensive and its going to stretch my budget more than I wanted, so to do that it needs really to be better than all other options). This one I have to buy new for full price
3- Buy MC 701 amp from Music Culture and add chord qutest as dac, this one I can buy for 3200 usd for a used one
4- buy hegel h190 and add chord qutest as dac , I can buy this for 2400 usd for a used one
5- Audiomat Aria--- i can buy that for 3200 usd used
6- other suggestions within the price range of those amps

I like full organic mids, with lush tonality and timbre, and i like the vocals to be perfect and not recessed, and with good bass, I am not a basshead though and not harsh sound,

Music I listen to
1- vocal oriented music such a Leonard Cohen, lisa gerrad, dire straits
2- electronic ( daft punk, infected mushroom ) I know maybe harbeth is not best for that, but I like what I hear so far
3- metal-- I like to listen to metal but not top priority
4- progressive rock
5- synthpop and pop


My living room is big 4 meters * 14 meters

I am placing my harbeth 3.5 meters away from me, the couch i am sitting on there is a wall right behind me, the left speakers is 1 meter from left wall and the other speaker there is no wall next to it only after 10 meters
both are placed 40 cm from the wall opposite where I sit

At night I like to listen at low volume, and at day time I do not listen too loud , so I stay within medium volumes

Please help as its difficult for me to audition things with my speakers as I can not simply carry my speakers to shops that is too difficult to do. I do not know how far behind I am using the Nova 300 compared to those amps, also I would like not to spend alot of money and stay within a reasonable budget of up to 4k to 5k usd to buy second hand. The chord qutest I can buy used for 900 usd.

I like the idea of hegel h190 but how much better will it be than my nova 300 + chord mojo set up or with a possible chord qutest
 
Hegel h190 should rock with your Harbeths! has imbedded hi-end dac too, so you wouldn’t need additional dac.

Supernait3 is also a very good match, but you’ll need additional dac
 
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NL said:
Hegel h190 should rock with your Harbeths! has imbedded hi-end dac too, so you wouldn’t need additional dac.

Supernait3 is also a very good match, but you’ll need additional dac
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that is what i am leaning to, is that a good upgrade from my nova 300, and one concern online i read is about the h160 on low volume it does not sound good, but I do not know about if that is the case with h190
 
Cheaper: Supernait 2, second hand, is about similar performance as Supernait 3 (except phonostage which you might not need?)
Choose any seperate DAC.

Supernait 1 with DAC inside, probably not up to Qutest level but decent.

Both SN can run a Hicap upgrade

Did you say 14 meter !
 
Olsen said:
Cheaper: Supernait 2, second hand, is about similar performance as Supernait 3 (except phonostage which you might not need?)

Supernait 1 with DAC inside, probably not up to Qutest level.

Did you say 14 meter !
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yes its a rectangle living room, from side to side its 14m * 4 meters, my couch has a wall behind it, and its far 4 meter from the opposite wall. my set up is not in the middle of the living room. So the couch and tv is to left side of the rectangle , so my left speaker is 1 meter from the left wall, and right speaker is 10 meter from the end of the right wall

i do not need phonstage, as I only use tidal streaming.

for me the most important thing are the mids ( vocals )
 
For your listening preferences from 2 to 5 definitely a Supernait 1 with a Hicap or a Supernait 2 or 3.
For your listening preference no 1, I would give a try to a big Sugden integrated if it fits the budget.
Hegel, according to what I heard in demo, seems to be a better fit for acoustic music/classic guitar.
Didn’t listen to the Hegel for several hours in a row though.
Oh, and a very good and affordable DAC is the SMSL M 500 you can buy on Fleabay. Received mine a week ago and IMO, it takes something at least 5 times the price to better it.
 
Gervais Cote said:
For your listening preferences from 2 to 5 definitely a Supernait 1 with a Hicap or a Supernait 2 or 3.
For your listening preference no 1, I would give a try to a big Sugden integrated if it fits the budget.
Hegel, according to what I heard in demo, seems to be a better fit for acoustic music/classic guitar.
Didn’t listen to the Hegel for several hours in a row though.
Oh, and a very good and affordable DAC is the SMSL M 500 you can buy on Fleabay. Received mine a week ago and IMO, it takes something at least 5 times the price to better it.
Click to expand...
i am just wondering which amp has the better tonality for me from the ones listed (hegel vs naim )
 
Cereal Killer said:
USA right? ......Do you like the look of Accuphase/Luxman/Japanese kit?
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actually i am in israel, i have zero experience with amps, as this is my first home setup. and i originally listen to headphones like hifiman he1000se, so home system is a new thing for me, and would like to get things right

hegel h190 was ticking all boxes as it has a dac as well but now i am just getting more confused, for me i like more full mids that are not recessed
 
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