Harbeth HL5 vs Magnepan 1.6qr Who wins??

Fin1bxn,

Higher price doesn't always mean better speakers. I think Magnepan's aren't $5,000 because they don't have the expense of the cabinets. If Maggies came in high quality wood cabinets they just might cost $5,000.

I moved from Maggie 1.6 to Reynaud Trente and preferred the Reynaud's. I did not miss the open quality the Maggie has as much as some think you will (though that is a very nice thing about the Maggie speaker).

The bottom line for me is the Maggie needs lots of room and very good amplifiers to sound their best so part of my decision was based on these factors.

Philjolet makes an excellent point. Maggies as a speaker are relatively cheap, but if you factor in that you need very high quality amplification with them, they are proably about the same price as similarly priced speaker/amp set ups.

I compared the HL5 to the 3.6R recently when I was shopping for new speakers. I ended up with the HL5 and I'm very happy after 9 months of ownership. Both are very good speakers but I like the balance of the Harbeths just a little better.

I don't understand why a lot of folks think the 1.6's need expensive and high powered gear to sound good.I have heard them with very affordable,reasonably powered gear,both SS and tubed and they sounded great. I will agree that the larger(more expensive!) Maggies benefit from higher end gear.