QLN
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
to @arafiq ’s last comment i believe that as we stay immersed in this pursuit for some time, we each become conditioned to a certain type of sound, a style of presentation that sounds right to us that is a good thing, as part of what is gained in this process is to develop clear bearings on what pleases us, what brings joy and comfort to us - at the start of the journey, it is a bit of a random walk, then over time, after hearing much music, live, and reproduced, in many many venues, we rule out what we don’t like and narrow the field repeatedly i personally started with bbc monitors in the early 80’s, from rogers, chartwell, spendor and so on, big and small ... to this day, i set up my beloved pair of spendor sp1’s from 1989 and they just sound oh so right to me - other newer better speakers may sound different, and more impressive/better in some respects, but the sp1’s clarity, palpability, especially of the midrange, then how the upper and lower frequencies support and envelope those voices and central instruments, it is simply right to me... here, 40 years later, after travelling through quads, proacs, magnepans, jbl's, ohms, martin logans, vandys, thiels, jm labs, atc's, horn loaded, ribbons, open baffle, i come back to sp100 r2s and harbeth mon 40s... and that is a good thing, a really good thing, for me :) |
@jjss49 The more I read your impressions of the Harbeth M40s, the more I feel that this should be my endgame speaker. By endgame, I don't mean the last speaker but one that you buy once and never sell.This is indeed high praise from someone who's been around and knows that they're talking about. Thanks for sharing! |
@arafiq , [please excuse my poor english] - Dito - Spendor S100R² (now "Classic 100", €11300/pair) could be considered, but, again, I think a M30.2 Anniversary, 2nd hand, is a better option given your context. Additionnally, the M30.2 are very linear (and deliver a little bit more energy in the treble than the M30.1 that I owned too). My current M30.2 Ann. retains all the musical virtues of the M30.1, but delivers more details and sound more "right". - Spendor Classic 100 Stereophile measurements (will deliver more bass, but is less linear)
- Harbeth M30.2 Anniversary Stereophile measurements (will deliver less bass, but is more linear)
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- 71 posts total