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

Since selling my VAC 70/70 Signature, I've been using and old Bryston 4BST with surprisingly good results.   Most of the amps I've used with the 40.1's have sounded great in their own way, with only two exceptions:

• Musical Fidelity NuVista M3 was awful... flat and uninvolving
• McIntosh MA2275 seemed underpowered and soft.  A pleasant sounding & good looking amp... just think it would pair better with more neutral, higher efficiency speakers.

Amps I have liked with M-40.1's:

• McIntosh MC275 MKV - really nice!  Would not hesitate to go back to this pairing.
• Plinius SA-102 - a very solid performer, but slightly dark with the very organic M-40.1's.  A well built amp.
• VAC 30/30 MK III - the best midrange I have ever heard!  A bit underpowered if you like it loud... but this amp is special.  I can see myself owning it again some day.  A pair of these monoblocked (30/70's) would be incredible.
• VAC 70/70 Signature - more neutral than it's little brother (30/30), but this amp is awesome with jazz, vocals and orchestral.    I sold mine because it was getting up in age... and at 130 Lbs it was too heavy to manage as it started needing some repairs.  Great amp if you can deal with the massive size and weight.
• Bryston 4BST - this one caught me by surprise!  At only $1,300 used, I was not expecting this to sound as good as it does, but it really does have nice synergy with the big Harbeths.  Very neutral and surprisingly musical.  The Bryston is not at the same level of the MC 275 or either of the two VAC Renaissance amps... but at a fraction of the cost on the used market, it's a strong value play. With regards to SS amps and the M-40.1's... I put the Bryston ahead of the Plinius SA-102... but would go with the Plinius if paired the  SHL-5's (which I also owned) because I found the SHL-5's to be more neutral (almost bright) compared the the 40.1's.

I have a VAC Phi 200 on order that I hope to have in a week or three.  I'm thinking it will be a synergistic match with the 40.1's.

Nice post. I bet the Bryston is a good match with the 40.1s. Best to avoid dark or warmish sounding amps for best results. I bet the new Vac will be very good indeed!

Oh my, congratulations Grannyring, I'm so happy for you! One of my brothers own the Harbeth SHL-5s. I always liked the various Harbeths. I'm still on the hunt for my ultimate. Again, glad you found so much satisfaction in your latest combo.

Thanks Rob. These are a simple joy for me. I played all my Rickie Lee Jones CDs today and so enjoyed it! 

It's not exactly apples to apples, but happy to share my experiences with Harbeth Compact-7es3s.

The great room in my 3rd-floor condo is an imperfect rectangle 22X14X9, with a 4-wideX6-deep "cutout" in the far left corner (carpet over concrete floor, with a wood/plaster ceiling). Something that eventually factored in was that local building codes required concrete & steel for the first 2 floors, but allowed wood & plaster from floors 3 and up.

I put the speakers 8 feet apart, 6 inches from far wall, and on 19" sound anchor stands. The compact-7s became temperamental at "higher elevations." Using taller stands substantially increased the level of bass-bounce/reverb in the room. In addition, I initially tried 22 degree toe-in, but found for the room that 0 toe-in gave the best sound.

Overall, the speakers were very easy to drive and not fussy about cable. Worked great with Linn separates, and later an Ayre integrated. In the end, I swapped them out for the smaller P3-ESRs. Unfortunately, the Compact-7s were borderline too big for the room, given that I'm in a condo with both floor and ceiling neighbors. I never received any complaints, but found it judicious to go with the smaller speakers, which I have on 22" Linn stands. Not quite as resolving as the Compact-7's, but the upstairs neighbor did mention at an HOA meeting that she appreciated that her floor "wasn't vibrating anymore on the weekends."