Harbeth M30 vs. Super HL5

Well.... A couple of days into this and I've gotta tell you. Wow! I'm really starting to like these. To tell you the truth, My 13 & 1/2 year old daughter uses my stereo more than me. She tells me that I'm crazy. That the difference is like night and day. She says with respect to sounding natural, the Harbeths M30s win hands down. I guess her 13 & 1/2 year old musician/perfect pitch ears are on the money. Actually, my 18 year old (same thing perfect pitch) says the same thing. They're right on the money. Now.. all I have to do is get them set up right.

Kensetsu: Congratulations on a satisfying end to your search. Harbeth is a great speaker and IMHO the true inheritor of the old BBC tradition once exemplified by Spendor and Rogers as well. BTW, may I borrow your kids for a couple of hours when I go speaker auditioning? :)

Kensetsu - Give it some time on the highs. As I think I noted above, I went from Vandersteens to the Harbeths and thought the Harbeths sounded a bit rolled off at first. After a couple of months, that concern vanished completely, and I realized I was hearing all the highs I needed.

I think I also noted that I'm working into an Essex sub. I think that was the day I actually unpacked the Essex. Tentatively, I'm now inclined to say that a sub is a nice thing to have with the M30's. It just takes a while to figure out how to integrate.

Lastly, assuming you have the set-up, try some vinyl. Vinyl and M30's were made for each other. All the wonderful detail and timbres...oh, man, what music! Have fun!

Will the use of a Bryston 10B active crossover improve subwoofer integration between the Harbeth Monitor 30s and a Rel active subwoofer?

Kevin set me up with a Cary sli-80 and Coincident PEII's and its a great system. I have heard them with other speakers like Acoustic Zen, also very good. I think speakers need to be a least 6ohm and 89, higher sensivity.