Harman Kardon A300 + Monitor 5Bs?

jameslauffer

I have a Harman Kardon A300 tube integrated heading my way. It's a 6V6-based amp that's rated at about 12 watts per channel. A couple of months ago, I picked up a pair of Monitor 5Bs from a friend. I'd like to use the HK with the 5Bs and am writing to ask about others' experiences with tubes and the Monitor 5s.

Thanks,
Jim

canadianicon25

do those 5's have peerless tweets? not sure if they were gone by the time the 'B' series was released.

it will probably sound good. not much power but if the room isn't huge it would be enough. mon5's are easy to drive.

mhardy6647

It should be a respectable match (believe it or not).
I dont' see the manual at the hk website (the one they have for an "A-300" is for the A-300 "Theme" tuner from the mid-1950s!); you may find a bit of a blurb on the A-300 amp on page 48 of http://www.alliedcatalogs.com/catalogs/1962-210/

... as a completely gratuitious aside :-) here's a photo of the other hk A-300:


hk Theme tuner by mhardy6647, on Flickr

jameslauffer

Thanks for the replies. My Monitor 5Bs have SL-2000 silver dome tweeters (I hope I got that right. I'm still getting a handle on the Monitor 5 variations.) The manual for the HK A300 is on the Hi Fi Engine site. I traded for the 5Bs (some equipment that family members and friends gave to me after cleaning out their closets and attics!), so I have nothing invested in them, yet. For the past three years, I've listened to a pair of KLH Model 5s. I wasn't sure what to expect when I put the 5Bs into the system. I was greatly, and pleasantly, surprised -- to say the least. I drove them with a Sansui 800 receiver, a great, in my opinion, vintage piece. I haven't owned any vintage tube stuff for a decade or more, so I'm looking forward to receiving the A300. I'm not certain how it'll do with the KLH Model 5s, but I'm hopeful that it'll mate well with the 5Bs.

Mikey081057

I've had 5b's connected to my tube amp, and every other amp receiver I have, and they are amazingly capable. I have upgraded my SL-2000 tweets to the RDO-194's, and they are much less painful, and sound great.

They aren't especially hard to drive, and mids are very smooth.

jameslauffer

I've read, I think, most of the threads on upgrading the crossover of the 5B and about the improvement in sound gained by the new tweeters. Everything seems pretty straightforward, even for a non-DIYer like me! I'm not certain about stands for the 5Bs, not yet anyway.

boston1450

Boy id like to hear that when you do try it i hooked some 5b's on stands to a small Sansui g2000 & it was WICKED GOOD

jameslauffer

I have my KLH Model 5s on these stands: http://www.aandmcustomsteelspeakerstands.com/#!products-&-pricing

Last weekend, I took the Model 5s out of the system and put the 5Bs on the stands, sitting them on the small doors from a '50s era Lane record cabinet. Connected to the Sansui 800 and perched on the stands, the 5Bs sounded great. The 800 is a bit earlier than your G2000, but at 22 wpc is, powerwise, in the same league as your receiver. I listen to The Band, Dylan, the blues, and some classical at moderate volumes, and the 5Bs and the 800 acquit themselves nicely!

mhardy6647

:-) the KLH Model Five is a dandy loudspeaker, too... you probably knew that already.

jameslauffer

I literally stumbled over my KLH Model 5s at an indoor flea market more than three years ago. I paid $25 for them. A friend from Classic Speaker Pages refurbished the crossovers with Dayton caps and Mills resistors. During the week, I listen to them for four or five hours every evening, and one weekends, I listen more. They are dandy! I mostly drive them with the Sansui 800, though I have rotated other pieces, mostly marantz and Sansui, into the system. When I put the 5Bs into the system, I didn't know what to expect, so I was pleasantly surprised at how good they sounded. My primary project for 2014 is to finish a restoration, actually a rescue job, of a pair of AR-5s that I picked up a few months ago at another indoor flea market -- another $25 investment. I'm anxious to finish them. I seem to be coming up "fives" -- KLH Model 5s, AR-5s, and Polk Audio Monitor 5Bs.

mhardy6647

jameslauffer wrote: »

I literally stumbled over my KLH Model 5s at an indoor flea market more than three years ago. I paid $25 for them. A friend from Classic Speaker Pages refurbished the crossovers with Dayton caps and Mills resistors. During the week, I listen to them for four or five hours every evening, and one weekends, I listen more. They are dandy! I mostly drive them with the Sansui 800, though I have rotated other pieces, mostly marantz and Sansui, into the system. When I put the 5Bs into the system, I didn't know what to expect, so I was pleasantly surprised at how good they sounded. My primary project for 2014 is to finish a restoration, actually a rescue job, of a pair of AR-5s that I picked up a few months ago at another indoor flea market -- another $25 investment. I'm anxious to finish them. I seem to be coming up "fives" -- KLH Model 5s, AR-5s, and Polk Audio Monitor 5Bs.

.... and, in case you didn't notice... that was your fifth post. Spooky! ;-)

jameslauffer

mhardy6647 wrote: »

.... and, in case you didn't notice... that was your fifth post. Spooky! ;-)

Yikes! I should have remained a lurker!
Jim

jameslauffer

A curiosity question: Are "Larry's Rings" still available? (Perhaps, I should ask this in a new thread.) I'm thinking that I should keep the 5Bs regardless of how the A-300 drives them!

Thanks,
Jim