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.
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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).


By the way, I have them 4 feet from the front wall and 3 feet from side walls. Slight toe in, still experimenting with positioning. 
I presume 3 feet from side wall and 4 feet from front wall are clear space from wall to speaker cabinet? Placement does not seem to be an issue if there is ample space from the walls. Is distance between speakers in the range of 6 to 8 feet centre to centre?

Open frame stands do make a difference but the sound quality with stands which come with a top plate should not sound too shabby.
Not all stands are created alike. TON TRAGER is what you want for any Harbeth Speaker to bring out the best they have to offer.
Agree that the TON TRAGER stands are the best for Harbeth’s but if you cannot spend the $1500 for them the Something Solid XF stands are really good.

https://www.hificorner.co.uk/something-solid-xf-speaker-stand.html

The bass issue will be fixed with proper stands.