People That Have Upgraded From Harbeth 30.1s....

@cd318 I can’t help but think you’re being a bit condescending when you infer that it might only be ’Punk or Metal etc.’ listeners who prefer say ATC to Harbeth. These are hardly genres known for their dynamics either.
For the record, a very large proportion of my listening is to acoustic/vocal dominated music - genres that the ATC Scm19’s excel at.
To me they are simply a more neutral, evenhanded speaker than the Harbeth m30.1 - which was a speaker I enjoyed for many years (in fact I’ve owned 3 different Harbeth models over a 12 year period).

I became infatuated with the idea of owning a Harbeth speaker for a while.  I auditioned the 30s but ended up buying a pair of SuperHL5 plus as I felt they were a step up in every way - airiness, neutrality, bass depth and control, realism.
Thought maybe I could replace my Thiel 3.7s with them but no.  I found in comparing them the Thiels did just about everything better than the Harbeths.  They had the beautiful tone, but were just less boxy, cleaner and more realistic, without sounding thin.  So I sold the Harbeths.  Great speakers to be sure though!

tobesI  I considered responding to   the music choices  the OP mentioned but decided not to as it did not matter
Punk & Metal ? lol  is kind of funny

Thanks Tobes. Really appreciate your response. We actually have an ATC dealer close by and I think he's also a Harbeth dealer now that I think about it. Definite plan for this Saturday!

@dhcod I'll be interested to read your thoughts on the comparison.
The dealer where I bought my ATC's also sells Harbeth, perhaps that's evidence that different types of listeners gravitate to one or the other, though as indicated I like both.

I do wish I'd listened to the ATC's sooner as their strengths do align better with my wide ranging taste in music. While auditioning the 19's I also briefly heard the m40.2's set up in the same room, that just convinced me the ATC's were the right move.