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Harbeth 30.1 ? The Ultimate Speaker under $5K ?

I have been on a mission lately to find the best speakers within my budget - under $5K ...I am definitely an audio freak and my sound engineer in LA told me we went to a HiFi convention of sorts in Newport and heard every high end boutique speaker there is and hands down the Harbeth 30.1 was the best...thought it was a live band as he turned the corner into room ! 


Local hiFi high end shops always push whatever they deal....guy near me recommends Paradigm Prestige 95s but the seem more for home theatre use...here's my profile: 

I listen MOSTLY to LPs (stream on occasion with Audioengine B1)
Marantz PM-11S1 Mono Block Amp
Sony STR-V7 Amp
Technics SL-15 
1 SVS SB1000 Sub (if necessary) 
My listening room : is approximately 15 feet from Hifi to sitting position, wood floors , pitched ceiling about 10-15 feet in spots ...entire room approx 30 feet across . I consider it a VERY live, reflective space. 

I am a drummer so I love fat , tight kick drum. Rock i.e.: Rush , Prince, old 70s / 80s fusion/Jazz  
I listen to all different volume levels, sometimes low, sometimes I turn up music very loud and crappy speakers always seem to lose definition at high volume . 

I currently have some NHTs 2.3 & Infinity IL60s for surround....

Is the Harbeth 30.1 too small of a speaker for my spot?  what do you guys recommend! Thank You !
128x128tommypenngotti
murphythecat
181 posts
 
gosta
i had jbl lsr6332. couldnt warmed to it

vintage tannoys? had tannoy berkeley, gold, ect and never would desbribe them as warm. 
im surprised you dont love atc scm150a.
maybe devore 093 could give you the warmness you want. id also been curious about audio note ane and pap open baffle speakers. imo harbeth shl5plus are great and not unforgiving or analytical.

keep us posted on your speaker tryout
gosta's avatar
gosta
839 posts
 
Just to make clear. ATC 150 are my reference. Will have them forever. But the fact is that a lot of the music I listen to are not well enough recorded to play really loud on the ATC. Hurts my very sensitive right ear! Sometimes also you need another speaker to compensate for lack of bass in a recording or just to make it listenable. I use a vintage Yamaha M-85 amplifier with the possiblity to connect three speaker pairs.
Fine, often see recommendations for DeVore. Not easy to get hold on in Europe unfortunately. Will keep you posted!
tommypenngotti's avatar
tommypenngotti OP
219 posts
 
can't we all just get along !! ;) I've started a Harbeth vs the world riot ...

I'm leaning towards the Tekton DI's ...difficult to just buy something and hope it suits me , I'm very picky about speakers/sound. 
helomech
1,680 posts
 
08-12-2018 1:07pmi dont know
i feel like theres a limit to opinions and sometime we need to compare two speakers in the same room and the preference will be much less subjective then we think.

everyone who both heard, in my room, the graham ls59 and harbeth shl5plus prefered the harbeth. all i care to say.


This debate could go on endlessly if we start throwing in the differences in partnering gear and rooms. If we all heard exactly alike, we'd have the same size and shape of ears - our ear bones would have to be identical in shape and size as well, and have suffered the same level of deterioration. 

It seems to me you're inferring that you have the final say in what constitutes "natural" sound, simply because you've made some A/B comparisons with a few buddies. 

 You apparently believe in the importance measurements. If measured performance is so critical to the enjoyment of a speaker, you might as well go buy a $500 pair of studio monitors.

Peace.
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,477 posts
 
I have ATC and have auditioned Harbeth extensively. The mid range of Harbeth is excellent. The bass is not as tight as I would like and the driver integration isn’t as good. That said Harbeth would easily be my second choice for a warm FM sounding speaker that works great at moderate volumes. They sound really sweet. Great for acoustic, small jazz ensemble, vocals etc - not the speaker of choice for a rock drummer though.

Harbeth mid range uses a soft cone material that is inert. Some form of polypropylene that remains soft and stable. Similar to ATC which use a doped fabric both drivers are intrinsically damped. I believe this is the trick to audibly superior mid range - others are chasing highly rigid materials for cones and these all have a characteristic resonances that are imparted on top of the music. An intrinsically damped cone has blacker blacks to use a visual analogy. This is why Harbeth mid range sounds so clean.

FWIW - the other BBC designs with the harder polypropylene material a la Rogers etc. can not compare to Harbeth. The harder polypropylene cones used in most other BBC knock offs imparts a nasal character to the mid range.
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