Which speakers for 'modestly' powered Class D Amps....

[CnoEvil]

I've actually never owned Harbeths, from reading a lot about them, I thought they where somewhat more forgiving than modern designs, evidently not! 

IME. Harbeths are more "forgiving" than many modern designs - but not at the expense of detail. There are various flavours of BBC type design, with Harbeth, Spendor, Graham and Sterling etc

 

[Jezzer]

My experience of the P3ESR (the only Harbeth I’ve owned) is of a speaker that doesn’t like to play loud. Quite a forgiving speaker compared with many but can become strident at higher SPLs. 

 

[CnoEvil]

I'm starting to think that's the crux of the matter and that basically the Lumin may be a little too brash, harsh for my liking....

If the Gato works for you with Harbeth - there's a 250S with NPM module for sale here atm

 

[HectorHughMunro]

IME. Stands can very much affect the sound of speakers.....whether that is Solid Metal/Open/Filled/Wooden - but I wouldn't commit significant money without hearing it first.

I have certainly read that Harbeths (best on Open Stands) sound different on Something Solid vs TonTraeger or Hifi Racks.

A cheap way to find out - is if Ikea has a stool that will suit the speaker.

It’s very speaker dependent.  I found LS3/5a to be extremely stand dependent where others were far less so.

One DIY idea that was quite effective was a 12” by 12” square plant pot, filled with sand then a board, smaller than the internal measurement of the plant pot, resting on top of the sand which then carried the ‘speaker.  If you can get it stable and level, it’s quite good.  It’s what I used for my Spendors until I bought a pair of Something Solid.

 

[Weeman1973]

If the Gato works for you with Harbeth - there's a 250S with NPM module for sale here atm

Would love another Gato but funds won't allow currently thanks.

 

[CnoEvil]

Would love another Gato but funds won't allow currently thanks.

What is your budget, including anything you have to sell?

Since the problem is likely to be the Lumin - Would something like an Arcam A39/Node 2i work for you - or are you looking for 1 box? 

 

[Weeman1973]

What is your budget, including anything you have to sell?

Since the problem is likely to be the Lumin - Would something like an Arcam A39/Node 2i work for you - or are you looking for 1 box? 

The one box solution is what drew me to the Lumin in the first place however there are not that many to choose from under say £2k.

Perhaps I'll change to an integrated and add my RPi / Allo Boss DAC as the digital streaming side and my Schiit Mani for analogue duties.

Would perhaps be able to stretch to £1500 depending on what I got back for the Lumin.

I've not looked at Arcam since I had an Alpha 8 in the day and didn't find it anything to write home about.

I've always had a hankering after Hegel so may explore what's out there in my budget.

 

[CnoEvil]

The one box solution is what drew me to the Lumin in the first place however there are not that many to choose from under say £2k.

Perhaps I'll change to an integrated and add my RPi / Allo Boss DAC as the digital streaming side and my Schiit Mani for analogue duties.

Would perhaps be able to stretch to £1500 depending on what I got back for the Lumin.

I've not looked at Arcam since I had an Alpha 8 in the day and didn't find it anything to write home about.

I've always had a hankering after Hegel so may explore what's out there in my budget.

Class G Arcams, have taken what Arcam do well - and added a drive and liveliness that removed the "pipe and slippers" sound signature that some models are accociated with. The A39 has enough output in Class A to make it both lively and musically engaging (imo).

I was going to suggest Hegel - but wasn't sure if it was a direction you wanted to go in....but it would be a good choice and is often paired with Harbeth. Other brands that might be of interest would be Creek, Rega, Pathos and Electrcompaniet.

 

[Southeastern]

The one box solution is what drew me to the Lumin in the first place however there are not that many to choose from under say £2k.

Perhaps I'll change to an integrated and add my RPi / Allo Boss DAC as the digital streaming side and my Schiit Mani for analogue duties.

Would perhaps be able to stretch to £1500 depending on what I got back for the Lumin.

I've not looked at Arcam since I had an Alpha 8 in the day and didn't find it anything to write home about.

I've always had a hankering after Hegel so may explore what's out there in my budget.

You could probably get a NAIM UNITI Nova, used, for around £2500. One just sold on PFM for that. Between the Lumon and the Nova, well, they are worlds apart!

 

[Weeman1973]

Class G Arcams, have taken what Arcam do well - and added a drive and liveliness that removed the "pipe and slippers" sound signature that some models are accociated with. The A39 has enough output in Class A to make it both lively and musically engaging (imo).

I was going to suggest Hegel - but wasn't sure if it was a direction you wanted to go in....but it would be a good choice and is often paired with Harbeth. Other brands that might be of interest would be Creek, Rega, Pathos and Electrcompaniet.

There's another I've always wanted to try.

There's an older one for sale on AoS which I keep getting drawn to....

 

[Weeman1973]

You could probably get a NAIM UNITI Nova, used, for around £2500. One just sold on PFM for that. Between the Lumon and the Nova, well, they are worlds apart!

Thanks but that's well over budget

 

[CnoEvil]

There's another I've always wanted to try.

There's an older one for sale on AoS which I keep getting drawn to....

ECI 3, but particularly ECI 5 are robust, powerful and musical - highly recommended. One of the few AB amps I could tolerate with forward sounding speakers, like older Focals and the old Kef iQ/XQ/Refs.

FWIW. I would put these Amps in the following order of (my) preference:

1. ECI 5

2. Arcam A39

3. ECI 3

4. Arcam A38

 

[rdale]

Thanks but that's well over budget

What about the Bluesound Powernode 2i? I’ve never heard any Bluesound stuff, but the Node 2i seems very popular on this forum.

 

[CnoEvil]

What about the Bluesound Powernode 2i? I’ve never heard any Bluesound stuff, but the Node 2i seems very popular on this forum.

The Node Streamer is not at all forward or analytical sounding - and Nad are not known for that in their Amps, either. IIRC. Their new version is also more powerful @ 80 Watts

 

[Weeman1973]

A bit of a curve ball but do you think the Lumin's harshness might be tempered slightly by  a pair of Klipsch's?

There' a pair of old KG3.5 (8" Driver, Horn Tweeter) not too far from me that I wouldn't mind listening to

 

[CnoEvil]

A bit of a curve ball but do you think the Lumin's harshness might be tempered slightly by  a pair of Klipsch's?

I would say the opposite.

 

[eddie-baby]

Was thinking something like some Klipsch or similar high sensitivity speakers might hit the mark?

You thought right. Klipsch are my fav budget pick these days.

I have a set of 41s here now. They do sound like live music. They are budget wonders in my opinion. The horns to me do make these speakers a bit special. Such great all round speakers and musical.

If you want more bass go bigger or just add a cheap sub! For me I cant recommend them enough and they are relatively cheap!

The better the source the better they sound.

 

[hearhere]

What Class D technology does your Lumin use?  Perhaps it's the amp rather than the speakers that needs consideration.  My streamer / amp uses a Purifi Eigentakt Class D module and it sounds very good with my Avantgarde Duo speakers - far better than most A or AB ones I've had in my system.