Harbeth P3ESR or Monitor 30?

Hi Kendrick,

Thanks for your thoughtful reply.

There were demos, so they should already be broken in.

I am powering them with a re-capped, vintage Accuphase E-303 amp, which is both high-quality and plenty powerful. I will, in the coming months, be importing my main amp, which is currently in storage in the U.S. That will make a difference, as it is a Jeff Rowland Concentra, and is outstanding.

I am using open architecture stands, which seems to be the preference of most P3 owners. They are not heavy, though, and it would be interesting to hear the difference between them and a more substantial design.

My listening space is currently quite limited, and in some ways, the P3s work very well in it. Their openness is a big plus, and they even sound pretty good when I sit almost between them at a desk while on my computer.

They are limited in termms of how far from the back walls they can be placed, as my (high-quality) speaker cables only extend 6ft.

In any event, your response does suggest that I should do plenty of tinkering before arriving at any final conclusions, and that is both encouraging and logical. So, thanks again!

Tony C.

Tony -  Glad to share a few thoughts.  Both of your amplifiers are certainly high quality products, so the "issue" may be more about synergy than anything else.   I glanced at a few reviews of the impressive Rowland Concentra, which seems to be highly regarded and have presentation qualities that are well suited to Harbeth.  It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on the combination at a later date. 

So open stands are fine... but so much for my suggestion about filing material!  The pads from Herbie's Audio Labs might be worth trying. They are  only about $80 and easily returned for full credit.  My guess is that heavy stands benefit more from the pads because they are higher in mass and more likely to ring, but you never know until trying.  

Cheers,
Bruce   

  

Thanks Bruce.

I have used Herbie's products in the past, and am using something similar at the moment. I doubt that a change in that are would confer any big changes.

I'll update when I have further thoughts.

Tony C.

Perhaps the lack of bass could be attributed to a 4" driver in a sealed shoe box sized cabinet?

Only if my expectations had been unrealistic, and they weren’t.