Heresy 3 with Nova300?

[Irrenarzt]

Hi there,

I'm new here, but I've had a set of Heresy 3's for awhile.  My current 2 channel setup (co-located in my living room with my home theater, but completely separate) is Mac Mini > Benchmark DAC3 > Rogue RP-7 > Finale 300B SET monos > Heresy 3's.  I'm mostly happy with this setup, but I'm in the process of moving my 2 channel setup into a new room in the house that will be bigger and have more room for addition of a turntable etc. My main issue now is my speakers are pretty close together so I'm not happy with that (they are currently ~38 inches center to center apart, on either side of my equipment stack) and want to get them further apart.  I have a counter to deal with that prevents taller speakers from going under but the Heresy's should slide right under there with room to spare. This will help with getting some better separation.  That said, I'd have to lose my taller speakers, which I can live with, provided the Heresy's pair well with a Nova300. My new room with have a 16 foot wall to work with so I should be easily able to get the exact separation I desire there. And I will have a set of juicy corners to work with there as well. 

 

In all my juggling/planning, I'm thinking of pairing the Heresy 3's with a Nova300 for 2-channel and HTB front duties.  I have not found anyone speaking of this pairing, so I'm wondering if anyone is using this and has some insight.  If not, I guess I will set it up and see for myself, and I can report back. I am keeping the 300B's and plan to set those up with bassier speaker like k-horns in the new room. 

 

Thanks in advance for your time. 

[willland]

@Irrenarzt,

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Though I do not have Heresy 3s, I do have Heresy 1s and 2s.  I have found both models being very amplifier friendly having driven them with NAD, Cambridge Audio, Onkyo/Integra, Yamaha, Denon, Acurus, Anthem, Parasound, B&K, Adcom, Sunfire, and vintage Pioneer, Sansui, Marantz.  All combinations sounded wonderful.  IMO, no reason to doubt the Nova 300 would sound great with the H3s.

 

Bill

[beaz1591]

I have a Nova300 currently in my system and love it. I'm using it with CF-4's and find it is a much better match than my old system (NAD C368 and C268). It made the highs sound better and improved the dynamic range. I know your looking for advice with the Heresy's and I can't comment on that but I can say I'm very satisfied with my Klipsch/Peachtree combination.

 

Aaron

[parlophone1]

I have heard a setup with Nova 300 in the system, but not with Heresies.

Nova is a fine amp and I would not hesitate to hook it up with Klipsch.

[ODS123]

Personally, I think it's absurdly over-powered for those speakers.  ...Here's my specific concern:

 

I had a 2nd generation Peachtree Nova (just 85w/ch. I believe) driving my (then) Paradigm S8 v2's - speakers which aren't nearly as efficient as your H3's.  While the amp sounded clean and clear at normal volumes, it had a peculiar problem when listening at quiet levels.  Whenever I turned the amp down to a low (but clearly audible) level one channel would attenuate more than the other (I can't recall which).  And since the amp lacked a balance control, there was NO remedy apart from sending back to Peachtree for repair.  ..If memory serves, they simply replaced it.  The second unit was slightly better but was still clearly off.

 

If this issue is inherent in the type of volume control Peachtree uses, I wonder if you might experience this at regular listening levels since you'll likely be using so little of the volume controls rotation.  

 

As a result of my experience I resolved to never again own an integrated amp (or pre-amp) that didn't have a balance control.  ..To my thinking, it's a bare necessity.  And though many may not feel this way, I think most would agree a volume control that is linear is a must.

 

As an aside, I do think Peachtree's gear is beautiful looking and has a nice solid feel.