We were in St Valerie Sur Somme, just down the road, this year.
Not far at all.
Is there a particular reason you chose an amp that is roughly four times more expensive than the speakers? I hope you donāt mind me asking. I was thinking ideally the speakers were the most expensive part of the system, because they make the music. Cheers.
Yes there is a particular reason I did this the way I did. When I bought the Ayre AX-5 Twenty it was to replace two Cary mono blocks and a Cary Preamp. All separates. My speakers at the time were the Kharma Ceramique 3.2 FE. My thinking process was that I am downsizing my system because my wife and I are soon planning to downsize from a 4500 sq foot home to town home or condo. A year or two after buying the Ayre I sold the Kharma speakers and bought the Dynaudio. I know that the conventional wisdom is to spend more on the speakers than on the amp but thatās not the way it worked out for me and I could not be happier. In fact I now question the conventional wisdom. If you start out with crap it really does not matter which speakers you choose.
3 Likes
This is the way to go;) thanks for sharing.
āConventional wisdomā sometimes depends which side of the Atlantic you areā¦ āsource firstā was popular for a while in the UK, but Iām not sure it ever really caught on in the US. Maybe something to do with room size being generally smaller in the UK. The rationale is that ābetterā speakers just let you hear shortcomings further up the chain more clearly. As with most things there is usually a sensible compromise somewhere in the middle!
I think if you get speakers that match your room then 80% of your battle is won. None of what you have matters at all if your speakers donāt work in a given space.
As I get older I worry less about what others think and more about what works for me.
2 Likes
I donāt really care about what you worry aboutā¦sorry. Couldnāt resist. 
1 Like
shrugs shoulder
I couldnāt have agreed with you more about Harbeth speakers. Iām currently using Harbeth SHL5 and if you are a music lover then you have to accept the importance of the mid range, after all this is where most of the music comes from, yes the presence range. For me this is ideal as it covers all the music I listen and that is from Marley to Mozart and definitely if you are a Jazz lover you canāt go wrong with a pair of Harbeth speakers. For me music is not just about bass and tizz but the inner beauty and nuances that allow the musician to communicate to you the listener. Yes enjoy becoming a private audience in the privacy of your home.
1 Like
It looks as if you and yourself agree. 
4 Likes