hifinutt
hifinutt
yes they use Hegel at the bristol show with the harbeth rooms
System comprising Harbeth P3ESR XD
- Thread starter RoA
- Start date
yes they use Hegel at the bristol show with the harbeth rooms
There’s an A21a with phono on the Wam for £700
ArtK
Lovin’ life!
I second this.
I had P3ESR (not the XD) on extended loan and had amazing results with a Audiomat Arpege Reference. I'd originally purchased the Audiomat to pair with Spendor 3/5 as common wisdom was a push/pull tube amp was the road to nirvana but the results were nothing special. This was not the case with the Audiomat/Harbeth pairing. I ultimately sourced a pair of Reynaud Duets which was an even more sympathetic pairing with the Audiomat.
I would agree. My experience is not with the P3ESR XD but SHL5 and SHL5+ where the ownership has now gone past 10 years. Time flies. Throughout this period I tried not less than 7 amp combinations and the Naim did it for me. One of my criteria is to get the Harbeth to play rock convincingly and the Naim NAC202/NAP200 was leading the pack where all other amps failed. This was 11 years ago when I first bought the SHL5.
The LFD Zero LE3 also sounded very good but was scratched off the list due to the less than stellar build quality both internally and externally, plus it didn't come with a remote. During that time Hegel was relatively unknown so I didn't manage to listen to it. Having said that I wouldn't consider the Hegel purely due to the looks and other considerations.
The only drawback with Naim integrateds is they are rather limited in their power/current capabilites. The Harbeth specifically the SHL5 sounded very mediocre when matched with the Nait XS to my ears and preference. It was an underwhelming experience for me to be honest. Although I don't have experience with the Supernait, in my mind this integrated would be the minimum I would consider for Harbeth if it needs to be a Naim. Best is to go 282/250DR or higher but the cost gets up high very quickly with the separates, and that's where other options which offer better value or sound come in.
Allaboutmusic
pfm Member
I haven’t done a side by side comparison but have spent a few hours listening to the older P3ESR and the tab 10 sigs on rega brio and naim atom respectively. Definitely preferred the P3 overall as a bit warmer and engaging I felt, whereas the tabs were a bit brighter but had better bass. How much of that was the amplification I’m not sure. Only thing which stopped me buying the Harbeth was that on some songs the bass was missing so ended up buying neat momentum sx3 which I felt with my amp was a better overall speaker, still warm and dynamic but with bass. Mid range better on Harbeth though
hifinutt
hifinutt
yes that might be good , the one i had was a21se . utterly fantastic with tannoy but not to my taste with p3
Martyn Miles
pfm Member
A Quad 303 with a passive preamp. would work well.
I have to say they do not appeal, no matter from which angle and how good they may sound. Any amplifier, no matter what topology will also need RC. This is the 21st century.
I went from the Spendor S3/5r2 to the P3ESR’s and couldn’t be happier. Felt the P3’s brought out a much more rounded sound that had a drive that was missing on some tracks on the Spendors.
For amplification I currently have the Naim 282/250dr and it sounds fantastic, have moved up the naim ladder over the years from a 202/150 to the current setup. Each step on that ladder has brought more out of the P3’s. I do find them special speakers and they pair really well with the naim separates.
I should hook them up to my old Nait 2 but haven’t so far, but do question if the current setup is too much for the p3’s, sound wise I don’t think so.
For amplification I currently have the Naim 282/250dr and it sounds fantastic, have moved up the naim ladder over the years from a 202/150 to the current setup. Each step on that ladder has brought more out of the P3’s. I do find them special speakers and they pair really well with the naim separates.
I should hook them up to my old Nait 2 but haven’t so far, but do question if the current setup is too much for the p3’s, sound wise I don’t think so.
Jezzer
Unspecified
I went from P3ESR to LS50 Meta to ProAc Tablette 10 Signature.
P3ESR too laid back for me. Treble too rolled off, not enough presence or energy. Too smooth.
I don’t understand the hype around the LS50 Meta. They lack detail and bass is poor.
ProAcs stayed as they have the best balance of virtues for the type of music I like and the sound I like (rock, jazz, electronic).
(driven with Bel Canto power amp)
P3ESR too laid back for me. Treble too rolled off, not enough presence or energy. Too smooth.
I don’t understand the hype around the LS50 Meta. They lack detail and bass is poor.
ProAcs stayed as they have the best balance of virtues for the type of music I like and the sound I like (rock, jazz, electronic).
(driven with Bel Canto power amp)
Amber Audio
This is the Day
Hungry Halibut
pfm Member
For what it’s worth, I have ProAc Tablette 10 Signatures and a Supernait 3 and it’s an excellent combination, with a very inviting sound that doesn’t sound at all ‘small’. I’ve not heard the Harbeths but have read several comments that they really need more power than a Supernait to get them performing at their best.
Last edited:
One thing about the amplification with P3s I’ve learned (as most people) is that one needs a lot of power to drive them, that’s however not so difficult or expensive to achieve these days. However, if I read your musical preferences correctly i.e. various across genres, the P3s will be limited IMHO. They are really very, very good with voice and vocally prominent music, I think they’ve edged anything else (for the sweet richness) I’ve had in this regard, including their bigger siblings, but they do do this at the expense of overall congestion, not very good timing, limited dynamic range and kind of dullness with other types of music, even small scale jazz has limitations with them, and clearly deficient with rock, pop, electronic and orchestral etc. Their imaging is not great too. I have not compared them with the Proacs (looks like they should be on the list indeed) but with several others and I think this is what sets the P3s most significantly apart - the lack of versatility, which other good small speakers do significantly better to my ears. I now have the SB V3.
Last edited: