Harbeth 30.1 ? The Ultimate Speaker under $5K ?

Tommy, I would like to truly apologize to you, as, some of my content does not make this thread a sharing and learning experience for you. This is what the "Gon should be about. Enjoy ! MrD. 

@murphythecat

Interesting, in 2017 you bought unheard harbeth c7es3. was it because there was no dealer around? Did you really only heard the C7es3 model, yet go on and on talking about harbeth but only heard the C7es3 and rely on Youtube videos? My experience with c7es3 was that the treble was tiny bit edgy. is that why now you say that Harbeth are bright speakers?

You’re making assumptions based on my past threads here. I’ve heard other Harbs in person, including the SHl5+. I went to RMAF the last 2 years. Heard the 30.2s just last year and the 40.2s the year before. I live fairly close to a Harbeth dealer. As I stated earlier, the C7s were the only ones I’ve owned. I bought them unheard because my dealer didn’t have any set up for demo at the time, but they were the model within my budget. Earlier that week, I spoke with Gene Rubin (not my dealer) and he claimed the Harbeths are best, regardless of model; so being that I preferred the Harbeth aesthetic, I ignored the advice of my dealer and took the plunge on the C7s. I’d agree with you that they’re Harbeth’s least enjoyable (or the least pleasing tonal balance) speaker. I’d also agree that they have an edgy treble. However, it’s not so much the treble that bothers me when it comes to Harbeth, it’s a "house sound" I’ve heard in all my auditions -- a sort of cold, metallic-like overtone in the midrange/upper midrange. Since they use various tweeter types, I can only guess that it’s attributable to the Radial cones. I only mentioned YouTube because I found that sound character is even apparent through some video clips, such as those made by Cyrus Audio. I also found it was very apparent in HR’s binaural recording of the 30.2s. I didn’t expect it to be so through compressed YouTube audio, but it is. Please read over this paragraph again, so you don’t make any more false assumptions regarding my experience.

The Grahams I heard at the home of a guy who bought some Maggies from me. He had a large collection of speakers. I couldn’t understand why he wanted 1.7s when IMO, he had a wealth of far superior speakers, but that’s a conversation for another day. I’d agree that the Grahams don’t throw as large a soundstage, if that’s what you meant by "distribution." I already mentioned earlier that Harbeths throw a larger soundstage. They are better in creating a sort of "wall-of-sound" experience. I personally don’t care for that type of presentation. In fact, it reminded me of the Maggies, in that they created an expansive soundstage but at some expense of resolution.

I find it odd that I’m being the one accused of having an agenda, yet you are the one who is claiming a single brand (Harbeth) is the all-around superior BBC-lineage brand. I have my favorites so far, but if Harbeth ever comes out with a speaker that knocks my socks off, I won’t hesitate to buy it (assuming I can afford it of course).

That’s all I have to say on the matter, we’ve hijacked this thread enough already. I hope the OP will audition many brands and decide for himself, which is what I initially suggested.