Moving up the Harbeth line


I was fortunate to move my home office to another room which is a bit bigger than the previous one. Dimensions are 12x13 with almost 20-foot ceilings. As much as I love my Harbeth P3esr's, I can't help but notice that they've been outclassed by the bigger room, especially the high ceiling. This pair of speakers has been a mainstay in my home office/study for a number of years, and I find it to be a perfect fit for my listening habits and music preferences. But in the new setting, it's not able to fill the room as well as it used to. For examples, horns and piano now sound much smaller and distant. So that got me thinking of an upgrade. I have been using a Raven Audio Blackhawk MK3 for a few months and would want to stick with it if possible. There are very few speakers that have allowed me to make an emotional connection with the music, and Harbeth is certainly one of them. So my preference is to stay with the brand.

Now, before the 'search bar is your best friend' folks come swinging at me, I have read a few threads on similar topics but they all seem to be inconclusive, or at least I'm not able to decipher a reasonable consensus. Having spent way too much money on this addiction, err, hobby, in the last 12 months, I have to resort to buying used equipment only, and that too has to wait for at least 2-3 months. So, doing an in-house demo is going to be difficult if not impossible. And, AFAIK, there are no dealers nearby (Dallas area) either.

I would love to hear from people who have moved up the Harbeth food chain. The M30.x seems to be a logical next step, but I see an equal number of negative opinions (too polite, too boxy, pipe and slippers) as positive ones. Is there anyone who thinks that the M30 retains the same magic as the P3esr's but serves it in relatively bigger portions? Because that's what I'm mainly looking for to be honest -- a bigger version of P3esr. Or do you think the cons negate the pros offered by the bigger cabinet size?

Next up is SHL5+. Again, the opinions vary widely. Some are saying that this particular model deviates the most from the classic Harbeth sound. Another concern is that my room might be too small for them (?). Also, I cannot pull them more than one and a half feet from the front wall. Is that going to result in ugly bass problems?

I'm not against trying another brand, but would prefer an opinion that is based on an actual comparison with Harbeth speakers.
128x128arafiq
@speakermaster -- sorry I just realized that you recommended Spendor S100 as another option. Thanks, I will research this brand.
I think Tannoy Kensington could fit your room, and it is amp friendly, so you could keep your amp.
@senza — this is for my second system in the home office. I appreciate the suggestion, but unfortunately Kensington’s are not even in the ballpark given the price.  I’m actually looking at Sterlings but not too many available in the used market. 
So I added a REL T/Zero and spread out the speakers by 6 inches on each side. Made a really big difference. The imaging, soundstage depth and width definitely improved noticeably. However, I still feel that the scale, especially when reproducing piano, bass guitar, and horns is not as large - not to be confused with loud -- as I would like. Other than that, it is unbelievable how amazing the P3ESRs sound, and how well they fill the room.

After making these changes, I thought I was done. But no!!! A nice pair of used M30.1 in rosewood showed up, and I just couldn't resist. Hope to get it in 3-5 days. I was planning to keep both, but got a very good offer for my P3ESRs, so they're leaving tomorrow. I seriously hope that I don't come to regret my decision. 
Those Rosewood M30.1s look great -- and the price was terrific (I viewed the ad and saw that they sold).  Enjoy them!