A funny remark from my Linn friend....

[Jerome W]

Hello friends,

Last saturday my great friend Frederic, Cathy's husband for the ones who remember her, came with the whole family to spend a few hours with us.
We had some time in the garden and Frederic asked me to show him the Audio Desk vinyl cleaner.
Then he spotted the Harbeths M40.1 speakers and asked : what is this ? No more Wilsons ? Let me hear.

Frederic is partial towards british speakers. To the point that he found the 40.1 " much more beautiful than the Wilsons WP8" while they are just 2 wood boxes....
I initiated him into high end hifi about 20 years ago. At this time I had Linn Keilidh speakers. Frederic started a relation with the Paris Elite Linn dealer and stayed faithfull to the brand. He has now the top of the line Linn system with a bunch of Klimax amps and active filters and the most expensive speakers Linn ever built, the Komri. About 80000 euros a pair with the active filters a few years ago. Those speakers have a very very impressive sound, the main strength being unlimited bass extension and power ( the bass drivers are actively amplified by Klimax modules inside the speakers, of 1000W per channel...) and a very very big and impressive sound at low volume.

So I plugged the Harbeths with the CCQ's amps and after a few minutes, Frederic told me : " much much better than the Wilsons", which of course did not surprise me.

But the funny remark was this one.

- Did you take time to get used ?
- to what ?
- to that bass ! Now you really have bass !

" So you found the Wilsons did not have bass ? ".

I keep being amazed everyday at how real and how big those speakers deliver the lowest octaves. And yes, it takes some time to get used again to lifelike bass. Very different from the artifacts of "hifi bass". Overdamped and overdry bass and bumped in the upper bass without real level in the very low bass. Impressive just until you get the chance to listen to the kind of bass that the Harbeths 40.1 are able to reproduce.

I am listening to a LP recording with very deep bass now : Ben Harper with Charlie Mussel, "Get Up ! ". And yes yes yes ! This is a lifelike bass.

I have to go back to Fred and Cathy's place to listen to the Komri speakers. For sure those are killers when it comes to lifelike bass.

Sent from my iPad using A.Aficionado

[John49]

Oh Jerome, you are making it so, so difficult for me to resist the temptation of the Harbeth 40.1 speakers...

I must ask for some for Father's Day. That is the solution, I think. I have been offered some at much less than full retail price, so I must tell my daughter who is struggling to pay off her student debts.

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by John49

Oh Jerome, you are making it so, so difficult for me to resist the temptation of the Harbeth 40.1 speakers...

I must ask for some for Father's Day. That is the solution, I think. I have been offered some at much less than full retail price, so I must tell my daughter who is struggling to pay off her student debts.

John,

You're funny.
You're in the UK ?
Did you know that the french Harbeth importer makes the lowest prices in the world ? Even much cheaper than the UK price !

[John49]

Originally Posted by Jerome W

John, You're funny. You're in the UK ? Did you know that the french Harbeth importer makes the lowest prices in the world ? Even much cheaper than the UK price !

But how is he able to do this? In the UK, our dealers are under strict instructions to maintain the good name of various Hi Fi brands by NOT discounting.

What is price of 40.1 in France for my comparison? Do you know?

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by John49

But how is he able to do this? In the UK, our dealers are under strict instructions to maintain the good name of various Hi Fi brands by NOT discounting.

What is price of 40.1 in France for my comparison? Do you know?

Will send by PM.