Which Harbeths?

Hello,
I am going to come at this from a sound perspective than picking which is right for you. I believe a speaker not having enough bass as a good thing as long as you don’t mind subwoofers and having to add one or even better two of them like the Rel T7? Through the T9? Series. I have two T9 RELs and truly love the sound that they add. Used these will run though about $700 each. The point is without a good crossover you cannot remove the right amount of bass from a speaker. You won’t have this issue. These speaker models will lack that harsh sound on the vocals. Thats that little bit of rasp that lets you know it does not sound real or live. It sounds like a recording. That’s a plus for you. So bottom line pick the speaker model with the best treble and mids. It sounds like this SHL5 speaker is the right choice because it sounds like it has the sparkle and sound you are looking for. If that is not in the running then the 30.2. Again because it sounds like it is not as laid back. The rest can be customized by the cables. I would look into power cords if you have not done so. They make a big difference. Typically when someone says this speaker cable sounded a little bright or even harsh it’s usually because they didn’t upgrade their power cord to the amp or preamp. This is a different perspective. I hope this helped. 

I owned the C-7s for many years and have heard the rest of the lineup in different iterations, rooms, and systems over the years. My advice is to not over think this one—Harbeth makes wonderful, musically engaging speakers that sound very good with even modest electronics of sufficient power (at least 50 quality watts but more is better). I believe the C-7 is underrated in the lineup and superior to the M-30 in terms of sheer musicality and forgiveness of less than perfect recordings. It also plays well in all room sizes—I know, had mine in four very different rooms over the years. IMHO the C-7 is clearly the safer bet of the two. However, I agree with those who suggest a side by side demo is best. If you can swing it, resale on the brand is strong and they come up used all the time—purchase both and play them against each other in your system/room. Pick the one you like best and sell the other pair. You may lose a few hundred dollars in the exchange but will have piece of mind and saved the hassle of a long drive.

Before you lay down the big ones I would arrange a reasonably long home trial with whatever Harbeths tickle your fancy. Reason being, although Harbeths are, as a rule, absolutely top notch, really good Totems possess alternative strengths in areas that Harbeths probably don’t even aspire to excel.

This may be of little importance to you; however after years of listening and acclimatising to Totems you may find yourself reluctant to relinquish some of their positive attributes. And this may only become apparent after a honeymoon period with other speakers.

The two manufacturers have very different personalities and philosophies on just about everything, and this is reflected in the balance and compromises they build into every speaker. Harbeth fanboys would have you believe it’s a walkover in all departments. Having owned and listened to several specimens of each at length I can assure you it ain’t so. Take your time and don’t be seduced by first impressions or reputations.

Thanks everyone for all the input. I decided to order a pair of demo C7es3 xd in cherry. They are scheduled to arrive Monday. I’m pretty excited to finally hear what all the fuss is about. Wish I could have auditioned both but I think I made the right decision. It seems about 20-25% of people who have listened to both prefer the C7. I have a feeling I fall into this category. The thing that turns me off about the M30s is I keep reading words like refined. While this seems like it would be a good thing I find I generally don’t enjoy equipment described this way. I recently tried replacing a solid state McIntosh preamp with a tube  McIntosh C2500 preamp.  I came across much of the same when reading reviews on the tube preamp. Lots of descriptors such as refined.  I ended up really just not enjoying it very much. While in many ways the improvements were very noticeable overall I just felt it lacked excitement and engagement.  I’ve got the impression the M30s might be similar. The C7s on the other hand I continually read comments that fall in line with my preferences.

Anyways thanks again everyone and I will report back after I get them set up a chance to listen. 

congrats!  the C7s are incredible speakers.  
they are also very rich and refined, which really is not a bad thing.  
refined is not the absence of excitement and dynamics.  refined is walking the thin line between detail and forgiving so that even bad recordings sound good and there are no frequent irritants in the sound.  Harbeth walk that line like no other.  
You can greatly offset any overly polite sound qualities with your amplification which is unfortunately very polite to begin with. 
definitely listen with the grilles off to add dynamics and transparency.