2. speakers
  3. 119201-25

Harbeth 40.1 - Need some tips on placement from current owners.

Love to hear some tips on ideal placement. I have a 19 x 24 foot room with the speakers on the short wall. Normal 8 foot ceiling. They will be on carpet over concrete. I am thinking of bringing them out 7 feet from the wall behind them. What about nearfield listening? Toe-in if any? Love to hear some comments. Thanks all.
128x128grannyring
grannyring's avatar
grannyring OP
6,467 posts
 
Claim to flame? Ha that is funny! Meant to type claim to fame! LOL

6550 tubes. Salectric
grannyring's avatar
grannyring OP
6,467 posts
 
My system consists of of a DIY tube preamp with beefy power supply, the amps mentioned above, Luxman DA06 dac and PS Audio memory player transport. All my wire is Western Electric NOS from the 70s. Thick gauge for the power cords and speaker wire .. 10 ga. 

This is system has zero fatigue and has me forgetting completely about how this or that part of the system sounds. The music, in totality, just sounds right. Very nice end result. The speakers are the main reason. They are not the most resolving. They are not the most extended in the top end. Other speakers image better...and do other aphile tricks better.  However no speaker I have heard plays music with more simply enjoyment. 

The he one exception may be the Soundlab M1 speakers I owned. The two sound very much alike really. The SLs are huge however and need tons of power. 

bobheinatz
719 posts
 
Congratulations Bill, 

I owned both the 5's and 40.1's and have always thought Harbeths were special. They are the type of speaker that you can just relax and enjoy the music.  I had the 40.1 driven by a BEL 50 watt amp and it was outstanding.  I bet te WE wire works well with them.

bobheinatz
719 posts
 
Btw I never found placement difficult with Harbeth's.  8 ft apart and 9 ft listening distant.  Slightly toed in with grills off.  Enjoy

grannyring's avatar
grannyring OP
6,467 posts
 
Well I have had these speakers two weeks and they are just fabulous. They did take me awhile to set up for optimum performance. I found slight position changes impacted the sound. 

The bass was the biggest challenge. They can sound bass heavy and thick without that last bit of dialing in. I am enjoying classical music like never before. In general the speakers are just plain easy to enjoy music with. Easy to get lost into the music. No tipped up highs or upper mids. No thinness. Just a full bodied, natural sounding speaker. 

Sure my previous speakers were more impressive in dynamics and ultimate resolution, but the 40.1 just sound beautiful and right. Less impressive, but right. 

If if any of you have tinnitus, then this speaker is a must have! 
More to discover