Hello, new owner from Arizona

[steveinaz]

Hello all,

Just wanted to introduce myself. Been an audionut for about 37yrs and recently sold some Fritz Carbon 7's to finally get into a pair of 7ES-3's. I'm pretty excited with the move, as I've been looking at Harbeth for many years. Here's my system:

Squeezebox Touch/CEC CD3300 transport
Benchmark DAC/PRE
Placette linestage
Parasound HCA-1500A power amp
Kimber 8TC and Hero cables

Steve

[steveinaz]

Ordered some Skylan stands. Speakers arrive Wednesday--so until the proper stands arrive, I'm doing the 70's "milk crate" thing. I'll snap some pics once everything is in order.

[Art K]

Looking forward to seeing your pics.

[coredump]

Welcome. Skylan stands will raise the performance of the C7ES3. you might need to take some time to see what to fill up the stands.

[steveinaz]

Absolutely. The stands are arriving Thursday, so that worked out real nice. My listening area is a "great room" with family room/dining room/kitchen taking up one large space of 18ft x 36ft. Ceiling is vaulted from 8ft to 14ft at the peak, running lengthwise of the room. Sub-floor is concrete with a mixture of carpet and tile.

The family room is carpeted, and occupies the first 1/3rd of the great room (apprx 18ft x 16ft). The dining room and kitchen are clay tile. Speakers will be 8ft apart, about 11ft from my listening position. Pretty excited to get those 7ES-3's in there.

[steveinaz]

Quick pic I took last night:

[keithwwk]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for sharing. nice setup.

[steveinaz]

Thank you, that was a quickie pic, I'm gonna take some better system/room pics this weekend with equipment close-ups.

Loving these speakers! Thanks Alan for putting together such a comprehensive, outstanding speaker.

[cornelius]

Thanks for the pic - great setup.

How do the Fritz Carbons compare to the Harbeths?

[steveinaz]

How do the Fritz Carbons compare to the Harbeths?

The Fritz treble is more laid-back, a touch too much for me as the sound almost comes off as vieled. While the Fritz is heavier in bass, I like the more accurate bass the 7ES-3 provides. In fairness to the Fritz, I couldn't give them the room they needed for a rear-ported speaker. Sometimes I felt the Fritz had some difficulty with complex passages, sounding somewhat muddled at times; but this was rare. Having said that, The Fritz Carbon 7 is a heck of a value, and I'd confidently recommend them to anyone looking South of $2 grand. For their small size, the bass is pretty impressive, but can get thick if you don't get them off the rear wall at least 17". They also have dynamic capabilities that wouldn't believe---they could ROCK without signs of compression. They simply don't have the integration and linearity of the Harbeth, but then again they are less than 1/2 the price.

[Art K]

Looks great! Enjoy the Harbeths.

[cornelius]

The Fritz treble is more laid-back, a touch too much for me as the sound almost comes off as vieled. While the Fritz is heavier in bass, I like the more accurate bass the 7ES-3 provides. In fairness to the Fritz, I couldn't give them the room they needed for a rear-ported speaker. Sometimes I felt the Fritz had some difficulty with complex passages, sounding somewhat muddled at times; but this was rare. Having said that, The Fritz Carbon 7 is a heck of a value, and I'd confidently recommend them to anyone looking South of $2 grand. For their small size, the bass is pretty impressive, but can get thick if you don't get them off the rear wall at least 17". They also have dynamic capabilities that wouldn't believe---they could ROCK without signs of compression. They simply don't have the integration and linearity of the Harbeth, but then again they are less than 1/2 the price.

Ok, thanks for the info! Since I couldn't demo the Carbons, it's interesting to hear people's reviews. Someone on audio circle did a comparison between P3's and a pair of Fritz monitors, so they seem to be mentioned in the same breath from time to time. Glad I have a pair of Harbeths... Enjoy yours!

[jwhiii56]

Nice set up. What did you end up filling your Skylans with? In my discussions with the owner, I ended up with a mix by volume of 50% kitty litter and 50% rice. Sounds nice. Have you experimented with pulling your speakers forward?

I noticed you have a big screen right in the middle. If you pulled your speakers forward by 18" - 24", you might be surprised at the improvement in soundstage and imaging. I did this with my Paradigms in my HT set up and the result was very beneficial. The WAF decreased, but she finally gave in. John

[Pencey]

My listening area is a "great room" with family room/dining room/kitchen taking up one large space of 18ft x 36ft. Ceiling is vaulted from 8ft to 14ft at the peak, running lengthwise of the room. Sub-floor is concrete with a mixture of carpet and tile.

That space and "great rooms" are pretty ubiquitous in many Arizona homes. I find them far from ideal for most speakers consumers purchase, but of course we must use the space we have got. I know a fellow with 40.1's in his "great room" in Arizona and the 40.1 really suits the large space.

If you have a master bedroom like those common in Arizona homes, shaped in the rectangular with close to 21 to 26 feet in length and 14 to 18 in width I think you'll find it suits the C7 much better. Of course many a spouse would object to putting the audio gear in the bedroom. The HUG posts suggesting to bring your Harbeth's out from the walls are correct. Experiment with how close/far from your wall boundaries suits the sound best - and keep those grills on at all times with or without kids.