Good luck. Sounds like a real hard one. All my speaker changes have been large steps up. In other audio choices I have not had good luck with lateral moves. They then to be unsatisfying mixed bags of changes.
What comes after Harbeth 30.1s?
A few weeks ago, I created a post where I was asking for advice to help a family friend create a home office system on a $6-7K budget. He ended up buying a VTL I-85 integrated amp which he really loves. After searching for speakers, he really liked my Harbeth M30.1s. He eventually bought my speakers but was going to pay in October. Unfortunately, he has had some unexpected expenses and won’t be able to pay me. So the speakers will be back in my possession next weekend.
The problem is that during this time, I started researching my next set of speakers. Of course, a safe bet was to stick with what I know and buy another pair of 30.1s whenever they pop up in the used market. Now that I will be getting them back, I’m still wrestling with the idea whether I should try something different. At this time, I’m only looking to buy used and not spend much more than what I can sell the 30.1s for. And to be honest, I will only be switching for the sake of trying a new flavor. I really like the 30.1s and something tells me that I might come to regret the decision. This speaker does pretty much everything right for my tastes and music preferences. Okay, if you put a gun to my head and force to me to share just one thing I wish was better, it would be a more airy presentation and little bit more open on the top. But otherwise, it’s hard to find fault with this speaker.
My room is 12 x 13 with almost 20 foot ceilings. Just like my friend, I’m limited on positioning options -- I can only pull out the speakers from the front wall by a foot at most. Another restriction (spousal commandment) is that I have to sell the 30.1s first to obtain the funds for the next purchase. So I won’t be able to buy something else, compare, and resell the one I don’t like as much. Secondly, I only want to buy used and well-known brands. The idea is that whenever the next upgrade itch strikes, I should be able to sell the speakers without losing more than 10-15%. And the final (whew!) restriction is that I have to be able to drive them with a tube integrated amp. I’m planning to buy a Qualiton a20i next month. This is the smaller brother for a50i which I also own.
So what do you guys think? Is this an ill-conceived, wrong-headed idea? Feel free to talk me out of it :)
If not, I would love to hear from people who have moved from 30.1s to another speaker in similar (or lesser) price range and are happy with their decision. An obvious next step is to move up to 30.2, but I’m not sure if it’s worth paying an extra $1000 or so. Or maybe it is that much better? C7ES3 is another option, but I fear it might be a little too much on the warm/lush side with difficult to tame bass especially when placed so close to the wall.
Another speaker I would love to try is the Fritz Carrera BE, but again I don’t want to buy new and I don’t see them in the used market that often. I know they have a 30-day return policy but that’s not the point. Knowing myself, I would probably end up selling them after a year or two, and don’t want to take the depreciation hit.
Proac Response D2 is another option, but I fear that it might be too forward for my taste, especially in a smaller room. If someone owns one and disagree, please chime in :)
Thanks in advance for your valuable advice!
The problem is that during this time, I started researching my next set of speakers. Of course, a safe bet was to stick with what I know and buy another pair of 30.1s whenever they pop up in the used market. Now that I will be getting them back, I’m still wrestling with the idea whether I should try something different. At this time, I’m only looking to buy used and not spend much more than what I can sell the 30.1s for. And to be honest, I will only be switching for the sake of trying a new flavor. I really like the 30.1s and something tells me that I might come to regret the decision. This speaker does pretty much everything right for my tastes and music preferences. Okay, if you put a gun to my head and force to me to share just one thing I wish was better, it would be a more airy presentation and little bit more open on the top. But otherwise, it’s hard to find fault with this speaker.
My room is 12 x 13 with almost 20 foot ceilings. Just like my friend, I’m limited on positioning options -- I can only pull out the speakers from the front wall by a foot at most. Another restriction (spousal commandment) is that I have to sell the 30.1s first to obtain the funds for the next purchase. So I won’t be able to buy something else, compare, and resell the one I don’t like as much. Secondly, I only want to buy used and well-known brands. The idea is that whenever the next upgrade itch strikes, I should be able to sell the speakers without losing more than 10-15%. And the final (whew!) restriction is that I have to be able to drive them with a tube integrated amp. I’m planning to buy a Qualiton a20i next month. This is the smaller brother for a50i which I also own.
So what do you guys think? Is this an ill-conceived, wrong-headed idea? Feel free to talk me out of it :)
If not, I would love to hear from people who have moved from 30.1s to another speaker in similar (or lesser) price range and are happy with their decision. An obvious next step is to move up to 30.2, but I’m not sure if it’s worth paying an extra $1000 or so. Or maybe it is that much better? C7ES3 is another option, but I fear it might be a little too much on the warm/lush side with difficult to tame bass especially when placed so close to the wall.
Another speaker I would love to try is the Fritz Carrera BE, but again I don’t want to buy new and I don’t see them in the used market that often. I know they have a 30-day return policy but that’s not the point. Knowing myself, I would probably end up selling them after a year or two, and don’t want to take the depreciation hit.
Proac Response D2 is another option, but I fear that it might be too forward for my taste, especially in a smaller room. If someone owns one and disagree, please chime in :)
Thanks in advance for your valuable advice!
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- 71 posts total
Whipsaw, how did you find the Marten Parker Duo? Did you manage to listen to the Oscar Duo and Duke 2? The Parker Duo is the top-of-the-range standmount in the Marten line of speakers so I would expect it to sound better than the other two models, but I’m not sure how is the sound different. I own both Harbeth SHL5+ and Marten Duke 2. Both have their own sets of strength and weakness, both good. I use different amps to drive the Harbeth and Marten as they are rather selective in matching (they sound off driven by the wrong amps). Having listened to the 30.1 and 30.2 at the dealers several years ago, the things they do well, they truly excel. The Marten or any other speaker will undoubtedly offer something different. Better, is subjective and dependent on the listeners’ preference and expectation. Personally I find the Marten to show higher refinement, nuance and fine detail than the Harbeth in general which I presume is typical of quality high end designs(obviously I don’t regard Harbeth to be in that group although it’s fairly high quality). The sound quality is different in the way music is presented. FWIW I still find human voice to sound more like the real thing on the Harbeth although it’s a fairly close affair. A Harbeth M30.1 owner on the Naim manufacturer forum moved to Dynaudio Contour 20 as he found the 30.1 to sound too polite. He was happy with the change. |
under normal circumstances, these are the obvious upwards moves in the food chain, since you already have the super 5... https://store.acousticsounds.com/d/132377/Spendor-SPENDOR_CLASSIC_100-Speakers https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisab16h-harbeth-40-3-xd-full-range?acq=fuel&creative=shopping&gclid=CjwKCAjw-sqKBhBjEiwAVaQ9a1WFRC6mEQygVtE8LBR88AK1vm7iPj3gI1IR86D6oSxZq4UGn37EYxoCvEsQAvD_BwE&keyword=speakers https://onahighernote.com/shop/speaker-systems/monitors/graham-audio-ls5-5-loudspeaker/ ... but your room is limited, so i would consider top tier smaller proac floor standers, or same from joseph audio, or the fritz carrera be w/ sub (gotta pay to play... 🤷♂️) |
@ryder In an effort to avoid hijacking the thread, I'll be brief, but you can PM me if you'd like to discuss the Marten in more detail. I did not listen to the other models that you mentioned, mainly because I spent ~three hours with the Parker, and didn't want to impose on the dealer any further, at least that particular day. The dealer is sophisticated, and likes Marten very much. He paired it with an Accuphase E-480. My impressions were largely very positive, but with one important qualification: I found the Parker to be underwhelming at lower volumes. It changed dramatically at more "realistic" levels, and was able to strut its stuff. Surely a very high-class stand-mounted monitor under those conditions, but for those who like to listen at lower volumes, they may fall short. Not surprisingly, I found the Parker to be able to disappear more completely than the Harbeth, and their ability to reproduce bass was more visceral and impressive. I thought that the sound was well balanced, and, as you suggest, detail retrieval was excellent, and I was listening through the ceramic, rather than (much more expensive) diamond tweeter. With funk and soul, I found the Parker to be superior, and, interestingly, it produced more pleasing sound from an older Warner Brothers Tower of Power CD that I brought specifically because it is an early '70s pop recording, and has limitations. I agree completely about the human voice, though, and believe that it is Harbeth's greatest strength. |
- 71 posts total