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Moving up the Harbeth line

I was fortunate to move my home office to another room which is a bit bigger than the previous one. Dimensions are 12x13 with almost 20-foot ceilings. As much as I love my Harbeth P3esr's, I can't help but notice that they've been outclassed by the bigger room, especially the high ceiling. This pair of speakers has been a mainstay in my home office/study for a number of years, and I find it to be a perfect fit for my listening habits and music preferences. But in the new setting, it's not able to fill the room as well as it used to. For examples, horns and piano now sound much smaller and distant. So that got me thinking of an upgrade. I have been using a Raven Audio Blackhawk MK3 for a few months and would want to stick with it if possible. There are very few speakers that have allowed me to make an emotional connection with the music, and Harbeth is certainly one of them. So my preference is to stay with the brand.

Now, before the 'search bar is your best friend' folks come swinging at me, I have read a few threads on similar topics but they all seem to be inconclusive, or at least I'm not able to decipher a reasonable consensus. Having spent way too much money on this addiction, err, hobby, in the last 12 months, I have to resort to buying used equipment only, and that too has to wait for at least 2-3 months. So, doing an in-house demo is going to be difficult if not impossible. And, AFAIK, there are no dealers nearby (Dallas area) either.

I would love to hear from people who have moved up the Harbeth food chain. The M30.x seems to be a logical next step, but I see an equal number of negative opinions (too polite, too boxy, pipe and slippers) as positive ones. Is there anyone who thinks that the M30 retains the same magic as the P3esr's but serves it in relatively bigger portions? Because that's what I'm mainly looking for to be honest -- a bigger version of P3esr. Or do you think the cons negate the pros offered by the bigger cabinet size?

Next up is SHL5+. Again, the opinions vary widely. Some are saying that this particular model deviates the most from the classic Harbeth sound. Another concern is that my room might be too small for them (?). Also, I cannot pull them more than one and a half feet from the front wall. Is that going to result in ugly bass problems?

I'm not against trying another brand, but would prefer an opinion that is based on an actual comparison with Harbeth speakers.
128x128arafiq
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,318 posts
 
Will be very interested to hear results.  Switching in and out speakers in same position in same room with same system.  Ideal.
Do you have stands to compensate for different heights?  Harbeth recommends ear aligned with tweeter axis.  Not sure about the SHL with its super tweeter.
arafiq's avatar
arafiq OP
1,662 posts
 
@big_greg - I really loved the P3esr's and never thought I'd move on to something else, but here we are. When I was in a smaller room and seated about 5 feet from the speakers, the P3s were very satisfying. However, once I moved to the bigger room and sat about 8 feet from the speakers, they just couldn't keep up. Also, my Blackhawk was never able to drive them all that well.

The M30.1's, in my opinion, build upon the P3esr's with better scale, dynamics, and go deeper. They're also better for low level listening, I can easily hear more details at low volume. They're also an easier load for the Blackhawk. As I mentioned before, the way the sound leaps forward from a dark, quiet background is something to behold. But I think if you're listening near field, i.e. 5 feet or closer, 30.1 might not be that much of an improvement. They definitely need more space around them. Now, when it comes to human voice the 30.1s are superb, much better than my Olympica IIs, but I still think the P3s hold a slight edge.
arafiq's avatar
arafiq OP
1,662 posts
 
@twoleftears -- Currently, the M30.1s are placed on metal plate-top stands from Pangea. Although, I've filled them with sand, I'm aware that they're not ideal for Harbeths. With my previous P3 speakers, I could hear a little bit of ringing that was definitely due to the stands. Using blutak solved the problem. I now face the same issue with 30.1 since they're currently on the same stands.

I have ordered wooden open style stands for both the M30.1 (24 inches) and SHL5+ (18 inches) from Z Audio (Terry, the owner also sells audio racks on this site under the user name trn). Unfortunately, it will be at least two weeks before I'm able to pick them up from Austin. I will refrain from providing any type of critical assessment until I've had a chance to put them on proper stands. Will definitely share my opinion once everything is settled.
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,318 posts
 
Excellent!  Open topped wooden stands are definitely the way to go with Harbeth.  
arafiq's avatar
arafiq OP
1,662 posts
 
The SHL5+ were delivered this morning. So far I've only put a few hours on them. They're not new so I'm assuming they have enough hours on them to rule out burn in related issues. Since I don't have proper stands yet, they're sitting on a wooden audio rack which is barely 8-10 inches from the floor. I know it's unfair to form an opinion just yet, but the bass is a little too much for my liking. It's not the booming kind but there's definitely some bloat that is bleeding into the mids and highs. I'm definitely missing the clarity and detail retrieval of my SF Olympicas 2. I'm seriously hoping that getting proper wooden open style stands will make a change for the better.

The sound is similar to 30.1 in many aspects but I feel that the SHL5+ are not as coherent and immediate. The sound is definitely bigger and fills the room better but, man, that bass is getting on my nerves. And I do miss that quality of the 30.1s sound emerging from a dark background. My room is fairly well treated, so I'm pinning all my hopes on getting them on proper stands at the proper recommended height (18"). 

Other than getting better stands, please feel free to share what else I could be doing to get them to work better in my media room (20 x 15 x 12).


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