LFD NCSE Mk II Break In Period?

Thanks fellas, appreciate the voice of reason, I'll give it some more time but like Pcoombs, I'm incredulous that it will change that much. My mistake, for some reason I thought Harbeths were of the soft dome type. While I've never heard them I know they have a strong following and Donjr you're right, they're seem to be a whole bunch of people that swear by the LFD/Harbetth combo. I also had the same impression of the Ayre sound, i.e. wonderful, delicate air in and around the musicians but a bit bass shy indeed. No where close to Rochester and I swore off years of tube dedication which led me to my first SS piece a Bryston and now the LFD.

Jay maybe worth a look at (though terribly unfashionable!) some SS integrated amps with tone controls. Mcintosh , Accuphase and Luxman come to mind.( can you still trade exchange with your dealer?)
Complete opposite to the LFD philosophy but probable much more practical in obtaining the sounds you/all of us wants in the real world.

That's crossed my mind Pcoombs however I'm afraid my inner audiophile simple won't allow for such a filter to be introduced. Interestingly enough, I just heard from Howard Popeck of Sound Now, Howard may be the leading authority on LFD gear, he was adamant that the NCSE would indeed continue to improve and implored me to give it at least 200 hrs and was surprised that my dealer did not make a point of this when I bought it. I have actually heard the 200 hr rule before as it pertains to this amp however was a little skeptical knowing what it sounds like after a 100 hrs. I'll be sure to keep you posted as I continue to run a signal through. Thanks, J.

Hope it works out Jay. I like you have that ( indoctrinated?) audiophile fear that those extra 'filters' will destroying everything!
You can see from my system thats its the hight of the minimalist approach. No tone controls anywhere in sight!...and it does sound great.

But I'm also a frequent visiter /contributor on the Harbeth HUG forum. Where Alan Shaw really tries hard to talk some sense into us obsessive audiophiles.

I mean how much 'Purity' do we really need in our audio signals! If the end result is that on this piece of music it sounds a bit harsh or bright or too bassy when possible with a little turn of the tone knob would probably fix most of the problems we actually encounter with real world recordings and rooms with the end result being we enjoy the experience even more.... I must try it sometime!.

Luckily one of the Harbeth's (a couple are soft domed by the way) strength is that it doesn't highlight flaws on recording too much.. it is a relatively easy listening speaker.

However I still didn't (contrary to most/all opinions I accept) enjoy the LFD with them.
But then again I certainly didn't give it 200 hours playtime.
Good luck. Philip.

While I have always believed that a suffcient amount of run-in time to hear a particular component at it's best a reality, (especially when it comes to speakers) Like you, I was a bit skeptical how much audible difference it would make with this amp since it already has 100 hrs or so under it's belt, but, the 200 hrs, (minimum) isn't the first I've heard regarding the LFD so we'll see and I'll certainly post my impressions. I was a bit surprised to read that you found the same characteristic when paired with the M30s, was the LFD you were listening to new?