Is there a point of diminished returns with amps and Harbeth 30.1s?

first i will say harbeths are excellent speakers, even great speakers

that said, the man behind the company is a first rate capitalist (no shame in that), uses many modern tools of marketing to maximize economics of his venture... including setting up a ’user group’ that effectively sings praises of his products (and quashes negative comments by and large, as well as useful discussions of ancillary gear)... he personally ’moderates’ the group, and posts actively as a participant, so it is heavy hand employed there

as for the ’offer’ of a blind a/b test, it would have been one that he controls, so grains of salt taken there

finally, a few years back, i have personally (with help from my son and a good hifi bud) done a blind a-b-c test, which took some doing, with my son doing the switching and db level match, using two sacd tracks - comparing an audio research vt-50 tube amp, audio research 100.2 solid state unit, and a w4s class d st-500, running into harbeth shl5+’s ... we could pick out which amp 6 out of 6... treble detail and imaging was different, bass tightness was different, midrange articulation was different...

bottom line, excellent speakers, pedantic and self serving owner, the user group is kool aid drinkers only (dealers, inexperienced or lazy fanboys), other discriminating, experienced, intellectually honest/curious folks usually find the b-s factor too high to stomach

I’ve never really understand the usefulness of blind tests. Do people actually know what they prefer in a short listening A-B session? It takes me a week of listening to determine if I like the sound of a component, unless it’s truly horrible or completely mismatched. I’ve fallen in love with many things upon first listen…. only to want to hang myself for a stupid purchase a week later. 

The amplifier thread on HUG (!) is interesting if only for the remarkably *wide* range of amps that owners are using with Harbeths.

I think the company went over the edge in the issuing first of the Anniversary series and then the XD series, both of which entailed very large price increases, one on top of the other.  I'm just glad I snagged my (regular) 40.2's when I did.

I had listened to a couple of Harbeth models some time back, and my impression is that they are definitely in the warm and fuzzy camp. It is such a subjective thing, and different people have widely varying preferences for sure. They do play women singer voices very nicely.  But to me I prefer a bit more clarity and impact in the sound of my system.

I’ve never really understand the usefulness of blind tests. Do people actually know what they prefer in a short listening A-B session? 

I agree that this is potentially problematic, but to be fair, such tests are not about preferences, but differences. In other words, can the listener simply and consistently distinguish between components, irrespective of which they may prefer.

But while the science suggests that humans have very short auditory memory, I'm with you on the value of listening to longer stretches of music in order to make confident judgments about differences in components.