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

prof... let me know if you hit upon anything special. Lately I'm really digging Tom Petty: Full Moon Fever, with Future Disk stamped in dead wax. Cheers -Don

Sorry for the RANT! No coffee and I love the sound of my Harbeth's! Guess I should dial back the passion.....

avanti,

From my auditioning the 30.1s are more even and controlled through their frequency range. 


When I auditioned the 30s I really liked their sound, but wished for some deeper bass.   The C7es3 did that and I liked it for the bigger sound, but found the bass to be a bit overwarm and less tight than I'd like.

That's why I ended up owning (for a while) the Super HL5Plus which were for me the perfect version - bigger and more full than the 30s, but also the best controlled and most balanced bass of the line (not to mention, more realistically open and extended on the top end, without losing the Harbeth midrange magic).

The sound of 30.1 is just more refined. It handles delicate things better. Bass is less but it is punchy. The 30.1 tweeter is a tough to beat. I'm considering trying at home a set of Raidho C1.1s that my dealer has.

This was my experience too. The m30.1 tweeter endows it with a more sophisticated and complex sound than the C7ES3. In my 20x14' room I found the presentations similar, but the m30.1 was more lucid and less warm. I much preferred the later.
Some of the differences between these two may also be down to cabinet construction - the m30.1's thicker, braced, cabinet was obviously a bit different to the C7. A simple rap test showed this.