Current or Previous Harbeth Owners…


For those of us that have had or currently have, are there other speakers you’ve listened to that you found sounded “better”?  I’m eyeing stepping into a set of 40.2 or 40.3’s, but am also willing to step in a different direction.  I realize “better” is subjective, but a speaker that does what Harbeth does, but better.  

I have a set of Pass Labs XA100.5’s, FWIW.

toddcowles

The BS regarding the cabinet resonance of Harbeth is laughable..WTH do you people think a Cello,Violin, Les Paul,Strat or even a close mic’d drum kit would sound like without the body resonance?
I’ve heard VERY VERY expensive,MASSIVELY heavy,dead cabinet speakers like Krell & Magico,IMO they are lifeless & soulless!

@freediver I believe instead of BS, it’s called an opinion, and believe it or not, some members actually have differing experiences that shape these things called opinions.  Enjoy the music!🎶 

@dpac996 ,this replier continues to parrot his "opinion" in thread after thread regarding Harbeth speakers,denigrating speakers & a maker who are cherished world wide by end users & reviewers..IF the cabinets contributed so much "coloration" as he states the WHY are they so highly regarded by EVERY SINGLE professional reviewer that has put their time & effort into providing the potential buyer needed Intel?
 Also to address this "issue" I offer the following excerpt from Stereophiles M30.2Xd Anniversary review:
" the thin-wall cabinet construction advanced by the BBC type of designs is intended to minimise such resonance, by means of a layer of heavy and lossy bituminous coating on the inner surface of the panels. Just as a car's shock absorber converts spring rebound energy into heat and stops the car from continuing to bounce long after the initial bump has passed, so this damping layer absorbs and dissipates most of the energy transmitted into the cabinet wall, thus reducing the amplitude and duration of unwanted vibration.
Research carried out by the BBC back in 1976 proved that this construction method reliably put any cabinet wall 'noise' at least 30dB below the main sound output level, meaning that this coloration became inaudible. In engineering terms, that is 'job done'.
As always, there is a compromise in that vibration cannot be totally eliminated (any more than a car can have 'perfect' ride comfort!). The effect of heavy damping layers on thin timber panels is to place the remanant vibrational modes in the mid-bass 100-250 Hz range, where the worst they can do, if faintly audible, is add a modicum of 'warmth' to the sound."

@arafiq thanks, I will try a good solid state amp with the 40.3 sooner or later. Maybe a Hegel. At the moment I run a full tube system with a Mcintosh c2600 tube preamp into various tube power amps.

The Harbeth matches nicely with the MC275 and the Music Reference RM-200 which is a hybrid solid-state/tube 100 wpc.

About the lossy cabinets, I thought that this is backed by scientific data from the BBC research. This type of construction allows the cabinet to dissipate energy in a way that produces a natural and uncolored sound, especially for voice reproduction.
Voice reproduction is one of the greatest strengths of Harbeths imo.