Moving up the Harbeth line

UPS bashed a pair of speakers. Fedex left a subwoofer out on my lawn in the rain. I think they are all really feeling the extra workload from this year. Second set of speakers came through Fedex flawless.

Fedex finally decided to deliver the second box today after a 4-day delay. I hooked it up to the Blackhawk and have been listening for about an hour or so. Within the first 5 minutes, any trepidation I had about the switch from P3esr's ceased to exist. It's basically the same sound signature as the smaller P3esr, but everything is served on a bigger, richer, and fuller platter -- wider soundstage, much better depth, and the sound is all around me. I was worried whether the vocals would match the quality of P3esr's ... well, it's better in every way. That feeling of 'the singer in your room' is enhanced and more realistic than before. I'm hearing more details than before.

So is there anything I'm missing about the P3esr? Well, I would say that I do miss the laid back, easy going nature of the little ones. The 30.1's are more immediate, everything seems to pop out more. While I'm enjoying this particular aspect, I do wonder if it might lead to the dreaded listening fatigue in longer sessions. But it's too early to form an opinion. On some songs I do miss the buttery smooth presentation of the P3esr's. Other than this, the 30.1 is a definite step up in every way imaginable. No regrets so far. A big thank you to all who nudged me in this direction.

Glad to hear the M30.1s are a clear improvement over the P3ESR. All the differences that had been described mirrored my experience as well. The M30.1 has a monitor sound which is more controlled than the domestic models (P3ESR, C7ES3 and SHL5). It has a forward and dynamic presentation where the sound leaps out more from a silent background. The same experience when you hear everything pops out more. The other Harbeth play it safer with a smoother or flatter presentation.

Enjoy the M30.1. I do think it is an overall better speaker than the P3ESR although all Harbeth are great. You may need some time to acclimatize to the presentation of the 30.1 since it sounds quite different from the P3ESR as you currently experience. Listening fatigue may be slightly higher with the added dynamics of the 30.1 but it’s still very smooth at the top. In other words the treble doesn’t sound bright or shrill and the overall sound is still smooth, full and warm, not harsh.

@ryder -- Now that I have had some more time with 30.1s, I can say without a doubt that they have far exceeded my expectations. They sound glorious in my home office, and a substantial step up from the P3ESRs. Right now, they are a little too close to the front wall due to the way the rest of the furniture is laid out, and this is causing a little bit of boominess on some bass heavy tracks. I pulled the speakers out by about 6 inches and that took care of the problem. I’m going to rearrange the furniture this weekend so I can position the speakers optimally.

Now, here’s something else I did that took me by surprise. So my main system in the media room consists of Sonus Faber Olympica II driven by Luxman 590AXII. On a whim, I hauled the 30.1s to the media room last night and connected them to the Luxman. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.Yes, it was one of those cliche’d jaw dropping moments. The Harbeths sound so much more musical than the Olympicas that I’m now questioning if I need to just sell the SF and buy a pair of 30.2s instead.

As good as the Luxman/SF pairing is, there are a few issues with the way they present the music. Mind you, the issues are relatively minor and some of them I didn’t even realize existed until I swapped the SFs with 30.1s. The first problem is that on some songs I could feel just a tiny bit of harshness (brightness), and I always felt that the midrange could have been richer. I chalked it up to the neutral nature of Luxman. The second problem was that the vocals were a bit recessed for my liking, plus I could hear some sibilance, although very recording dependent. The way the Olympicas portray the position of the singer is as if he or she is standing alongside, or maybe even a couple of steps behind other musicians. With some songs I felt that the drummer was either in front of the singer or on the same horizontal plane, which always came across as a bit unnatural to me. In a few concerts and live jazz events that I have attended, the drummer is always behind the vocalist by a good 5-10 feet.

Once I paired the 30.1s with Luxman, it was definitely one of those educational moments where you learn more about your preferences -- something you did not even know existed until you experience it. So here’s a quick summary of the Luxman/Harbeth 30.1 combo ...

- Much more musical -- which for me means more warmth without sacrificing detail retrieval.
- No harshness/brightness -- I played some songs that I knew didn’t sound amazing on the SFs, but the 30.1 just took the edge off without losing anything else in the process. Even some old 80’s recordings sound more bearable.
- Improved vocal representation -- I understand that this might be a personal preference, but I like the way the singer is the most prominent element in a song -- a couple of steps ahead of the rest of the musicians. The drummers are in the background, the way I like it. The famed Harbeth vocal prowess is at full display here.
- The disappearing act -- this should come as no surprise though. The 30.1s disappear far better than the Olympicas. The music starts from the center and flows in all directions from thereon.

I will do more comparisons in the next few days to make sure it’s not just a case of the ’new toy’ enthusiasm. But at this point, I’m seriously considering another Harbeth. The question is which one -- 30.2 or SHL5+.

Arafiq, the comprehensive and detailed account is surely useful. I’m glad the 30.1s have worked out well in your system, particularly with the Luxman L-590AXII. There’s nothing more for me to add here since you will be more familiar with the speakers when you spend more time with it.

My very brief experience with 30.1 vs 30.2 is the latter sounds more open and forward than the 30.1. However, there was an owner of the 30.1 who upgraded to the 30.2 and felt that listening fatigue was a bit too high with the 30.2.
SHL5+ is a much larger speaker than the 30.1 and will have a larger sound and fuller deeper bass. The sound will be slightly tame in the sense instruments and vocals do not pop out from the background as much as the 30.1. However, the SHL5+ is an airier, leaner or lighter sounding speaker(as opposed to warmer and fuller/thicker sound of 30.1) and will need more space from wall boundaries to sound good.

Lastly, the 30.1/30.2 that you have now is one of the best if not the best when it comes to reproducing human voice to sound as life-like or natural as possible. Even the SHL5+ can’t match the 30.1 in this respect. There are many high end speakers costing much more than the Harbeth that do vocals well but the Harbeth just have that extra edge or magic.

Enjoy ~