My thoughts on Harbeth C7ES3 vs SH5+.

Good luck I remember the name of the store. LOL. Mongkok has so many of these retailers but I do know I auditioned them in MongKok. There are probably 30 new retailers and half a dozen second hand shops in the area. If you are new to HK I would definitely try the second hand shops - plenty of every major brand carried. Same with Sham Shui Po.

Elephant Holdings in Wan Chai is where I recently purchased my Audio Note TT3 table and I traded in my TT2 - they then phoned up a second hand shop to take the TT2. Elephant Holdings is the official AN dealer but I have seen Audio Note in at least 3 other shops - one sells a mixed of new and used - one sells second hand top end stuff and one sold the zero series.

Definitely hunt around - lots of second hand stuff and the vast majority appears to be in really good condition. But sorry the names of the shops lol - I just remember where the buildings are - and then start at the top floor and work my way down - 20 floors of audio dealers.

Also - you can check the online price here (no taxes) Harbeth座地式喇叭 分類及價錢 - 香港格價網 Price.com.hk

I think you will do better at the dealers or second hand as the above website seems high. Though times are a changing.

There are second hand shops in the Grancastle building - I saw two Harbeth speakers there - an Audio Note K, Reference 3a MM De Capo, Focal Micro Utopia - tons of B&Ws. But I was there about a year ago - still that building usually has a lot of good new and second hand gear. However, dealers come and go fairly fast. for address Grancastle Commercial Centre (添置商業大厦), Mong Kok | OneDay(搵地)

And for the forumers who may be interested this is high end audio in just another building in Hong Kong - it's not in English so just enjoy watching a different slice of life.




He goes to the Soundmaster room - that is definitely a room worth visiting. I can't remember which floor but always good sound and not that expensive.

Why not part 2 if you love Line Magnetic you will love part 2 - they have a totally cool power amp where the 212 tube goes up and down - Miata A owners will love it. The amp costs more than a Miata however - a lot more. LOL THE HI-FI BUILDING in HONG-KONG: #2

This is the second hand shop - notice they wrap all used items - keeps the dust off them. You need to dived by around 7.7 for USD - so $7700 = $1,000US give or take.

The BEST VINTAGE HI-FI SHOP in the WORLD (Hong-Kong)

 

amazing. he should buy the yamaka, he ignored some good stuff.
you can tell the audio commodities from the truly special pieces when you scout these used shops.
someone should buy up all the mac, rogue audio and mark levinson stuff before they are replaced by clones.

 

The problem with the "greatest vintage shop" as he calls it is that you can't listen to anything - so you really have to know what you want before you go in. There are several other shops in that area - I only found one building because King wanted to show me his shop. The whole floor was filled with audio retailers.

I still sort of kick myself that I didn't buy the Reference 3a MM De Capo for $700. They were in great shape. But that was closer to when I first moved to Hong Kong and I was in major student loan debt and Hong Kong is sooooooo expensive when you're fresh off the boat.

Did you know that here you have to pay the first month rent plus 2 additional months plus half a month rent goes to the property agent? I didn't! I came here with maxed out line of credit, one credit card $50,000+ in Student loans and other loans and they want 3 1/2 month rent up front to the tune of $6000! I had the school give me an advance which I paid back to them for 6 months.

Still - I always wanted that speaker. Those first years here were a massive struggle. I saw a Conrad Johnson set up in one of those videos at what seems like a pretty decent price - and Copland which has been intriguing.

 

nice of your school to help you out in such a predicament, moves like that will inspire loyalty.
the 3a sounds like the proverbial "ones that got away". rarely do they meet expectations but the satisfaction can be worth it. unfortunately they are probably rare in SE asia.

 

So you're saying that more toe in will give you less top end? I thought it was usually the other way around.

 

correct. they blend together better on axis and aimed dead center of your listening position in front of you, which is slightly off axis to the inside. bass blends better speaker to speaker and the slightly forward midrange takes a step back.

 

Question for C7 owners: what interconnects are you using between phone preamp and amp that work for you?

I find the C7’s sensitive to changes in IC’s. When using some of the Audioquest IC’s that gave me good results with other speakers in the past (Big Sur, Mackenzie and Sydney) I’m getting a bit of brightness with the C7’s.

I plugged a pair of BJ LC1’s with better results at the cost of rolled off highs and less clear sound.

Thanks

 

Hi Ivan,
When I had my C7's I actually had to brighten them up after they broke in (200 hours or so) because I my amp was on the warm side. I used Nordost cables and they settled in nicely. Here is my point- the Nordost are known to be bright, but the Audioquest Mackenzies I tried were brighter than the sun. Wow.
If Nordost Purple Flare is in your range I recommend them. If not- a very sweet refined sounding cable is VanDen Hul "The Name". Slightly warm, highy refined, no brightness and great detail. I liked them so much I put them between amp and preamp as my main cable.
Very reasonable too- but you might have to wait a few weeks if these sound right for you.
Van den Hul The Name RCA Interconnect

 

Thanks a lot! Both Mackenzies and Big Sur’s paired up well with my KEF LS50w but no so much with the C7’s.

 

For me the best I tried with my C7 were audio note Lexus. Just great balance for what I like and my system.

also tried At various times were:
AQ king cobra
AQ sidewinder
AQ black mamba
Zu mission
Mit shotgun

 

I also have VDH The Name interconnects and agree with this assessment. Acoustic Sounds has them on sale:
Van Den Hul-The Name RCA Interconnect-Analogue Interconnect|Acoustic Sounds

 

An IC for Harbeth? LFD,no question.

If you stumped up for a quality speaker pay for a matching IC.