Moving up the Harbeth line

@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 ~

For your larger room, perhaps the 30.2XD or 40th? That way you keep the general sound profile (including unparalleled midrange/human voice reproduction) but gain, presumably, from the slightly more open and foward dynamics invited by a grander space.  There occasionally are some terrific deals on lightly used 30.2s here and on USAudiomart.   A nice set of subs would then balance everything out.   

@arafiq  As has been pointed out, the larger models above the 30.X are not all cut from exactly the same cloth.  I think you'd find more "family resemblance" between the 30.X and the 40.X rather than the SHL5+.  If you can accommodate them, the 40.X's would be a superb replacement for the Olympicas.  Gently used regular 40.2's are now affordable; the Anniversary model adds little but price, and the 40.3 XD bears a relation to it rather as the 30.2 does to the 30.1, and is now wildly expensive new.

With so many solid offerings from Harbeth, it is so difficult to pick a path. After listening to the 30.1 in the main system, it was hard for me to find faults with its presentation. Before buying this speaker, I had heard comments about the boxy, closed-in nature of the speaker. While it very well might be true, I’ve found that I don’t notice it, or at least it doesn’t bother me at all. That slightly forward sound of instruments and human voices emerging from a quiet background is very appealing to me. It’s by far the best I’ve heard, but then again my repertoire of speakers is fairly limited -- this is ’only’ my ninth pair of speakers that I have owned so far. You can argue that I don’t know what I don’t know, but at least I have a better understanding of where my preferences lie.

I almost had my heart set on 30.2, but my brain is telling to me to add some variety and go with an SHL5+. From the way @ryder describes the SHL5, it sounds more similar to the Olympica 2 that I already own -- airier and slightly leaner sounding with good bass extension. My media room is 20 x 15, so I have the space to work with. I also have a subwoofer and planning to add one more in a few months. Supplanting the bass with 30.x should not be a problem with a little bit of trial and error. If I can find a used pair of SHL5+ at a decent price, maybe I can scratch that itch. It’ll be easy for me to compare it with 30.1 since I already own it. Who knows, I might like it as much as the 30.1. Only one way to find out I guess.

@twoleftears -- actually, I have been thinking about the 40.x, but they rarely if ever show up in the used market, and even then the asking price is too rich for my blood. I bought my Olympica 2 for $5500 and was trying to stay in the same price range. Your comment about the 40.x sharing family resemblance with the 30.x is a very enticing prospect. If it is a bigger, fuller, better M30.1 then it sure has my attention. This can very well be the endgame speaker for me -- by the way, when I say endgame what I really mean is 3-5 years tops :) Buying a 40.x will require more planning, and convincing (you know who). This might be a very strong possibility next year!