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Dynaudio Confidence 5 vs Harbeth

Hi All,

Looking at changing my my C5 out to the Harbeth range. For those that know the C5 it has a great mid range, in fact the overal presentaion is very good, just a hard speaker to drive. It has been compared to the temptation in the way of sound. It is a lot nicer speaker than any of the current confidence range by far.

Anyone done a side my side comparison with the C5 and the Harbeths or heard both? Would love to hear your thoughts. I can't hear the harbeths (as no distributor in my country) so I'm taking a wild guess here.

I found the Proac (Tablette Ref 8 Sig) to quite frankly sound harsh in the mids / highs compared to the C5 which were silky smooth. We are talking two diferent prices here. The Dyns cost over twice the value of the Harbeths when I brought them. So am I expecting to much from the Harbeths?

Obviously looking at improving the sound. Mainly into vocals and going to harbeth I can afford to change to a lot smaller amp. Presently using 220W of OTL to drive the Dyns and they do a great job of it (dont go past 12 o'clock) on the pre amp.

Thanks all for your input.
che13
che13 OP
19 posts
 
Thanks all for your input...I don't mind the bluntness...best to get straight to the point. Just bloody hard here to get any speakers to audtion at home. And hearing speakers in the shop is nothing like at home as we all know.

Yep thinking of downsizing but it will be hard to let go of my pride and joy :(

Cheers
branislav
351 posts
 
The truth is there are speakers who can sound great in a room of that size...I had gallo 3.1 in even a bit smaller room 14 by 11 I think, and they sounded great.
branislav
351 posts
 
Oh I get it, this one is square...
phillyb's avatar
phillyb
233 posts
 
Any issue with the Confidence C5 is setup and room. The myth of power is a myth, I use the McIntosh MC402 with no issues. Yes the speakers take some current to roll, but I seen tough speaker loads on and amps and the C5 loading is not really that tough on a well made amp.

This speaker is not lean at all, 12-18" from the front wall, and 24 inches from the side of even less. Make sure the speaker is level.

I've heard so many speakers and yet the C5 has been with me from 2004 when I purchased one of the last pairs made by Dynaudio.

Everytime I want to sell them I get scared stiff to do so. They are just that good and balanced. You never see these on the used market much and that tells you something right there.

By the way these speakers can go low in room, I hit 35Hz and lower with no problem. Like any good speaker you have to take the time and set them up proper, this is a sealed design so they can go much closer to the front wall and they were designed that way.

In fact Mike at Dyna told me when I purchased them 6-12" from the front wall and facing straight out and that is from the rep!
nolitan
865 posts
 
i have owned and heard a few dynas myself. Great speakers provided they are driven with good power, otherwise, it can sound hard.
However, i still much prefer the overall musicality of the harbeth.
They might not be as revealing as the dynas but they are a beautiful musical tranducer.
They are also less fussy on gear matching... they sound fuller on the midrange, but not as refined sounding as the dynas on the top.
Bass on the harbeths are not as tight as the dynas.
However, the harbeths just somehow charm you with musicality.
Dynas will give you truth, harbeths will give you beauty.
Choose your poison as in the end, it boils down to musical preference.
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