Which Harbeth would work in my room?

Harbeth speakers are truly wonderful. One of those rare cases where the hype is justified. However, from my own experience of owning the 30.2 - they need more breathing space than the size would suggest even comparing to other equivalent speakers.

My living room of 12'Wx17L'x9'H, 30.2 without room treatment (but with Lyngdorf digital room correction), was harsh sounding. After adding significant room treatment to both first and second reflection point, front and back wall, ceiling and heavy floor to ceiling bass traps, I could hear them in their full potential.

With just digital room treatment, they sounded great esp with light acoustic stuff, vocal, etc. But with rock/electric guitar/heavy bass were little muddy and harsh. The famous Harbeth thin wall vibration makes the wall proximity worse in my experience.

I think some Harbeth owners won't know the true capability of this british monitor unless you add SIGNIFICANT room treatment. Especially if you listen to bass heavy/rock/average quality recording.

I've since moved on to better speakers (Joseph Audio Perspective Graphene). However, Harbeth speakers are really special. But make sure you are thorough with room treatment.

I have a 14x12 foot rectangular listening space with an 8 foot ceiling, and I am using the 40.2’s in there. I had C7’s prior to these. Both speakers have sounded incredible. I admit that I placed acoustic panels around the room to avoid booming and resonance after installing the 40.2’s. However, I still have room to keep the speakers a fair distance from the walls and from each other. Once you get a pair of Harbeths it’s likely you’ll never want anything else. But to answer your question, I think you have room for any of the Harbeth speakers, as long as you take care to set them up properly. Good luck, and enjoy!

jazzguy43 wrote: If you love the Thiel sound, the Harbeths are not that in any way.  

I do appreciate the Thiel sound. The CS5's are so much better than the 3.6's, which I also have, but I cannot seem to get a good sound stage or separate images with the CS5's due to their size and how they must fit in my space.

I have found that I seem to like inner detail and warmth as I played with preamps, amps, and interconnects. My sense is that Harbeth would be more of that, which is what is driving my interest.

Your comments really are advising me to listen first and not make a mistake! 

Thanks for listening,

Dsper