Harbeth 30.1, 30.2, XD

I have listened to both 30.1 and 30.2 at the dealers about 3 or 4 years ago and they surely sound different. 30.2 sounds slightly more open with better clarity. The 30.2 sounds slightly brighter than the 30.1 which is warmer in comparison where the treble is less airy or sparkly.

I do not have experience with the XD version of the 30.2.

In minor increments Harbeth has been inching its way towards a more "modern" sound, though it's still far from aluminum enclosures and beryllium tweeters.  If you favor warm, stick with the ones you've got.

+1 @twoleftears

choice of associated gear easily bridges the fairly minor tonality adjustments harbeth (primarily uptilt) has made to its later versions of the various speakers in its line

Thanks all! This is very helpful.

While I haven't heard the 30s, I tried the P3 Anniversary Edition and then the P3 XD - I far preferred the original P3esr to the two newer models.  The Harbeth sound that drew me in seems to be lacking in the later models.   

+1 smrex13!

New is not always better. +2. Having said that, I find the 30.1 to be much better than the older M30 which sounded too warm and shut-in in the midrange and treble, severely lacking clarity and detail. My first Harbeth experience with the M30 was more than 10 years ago.

FWIW a 30.1 owner on another forum tried the 30.2 but went back to the 30.1 as he prefers the warmer sound of the latter.

I'm quite happy with my 30.1, though admittedly haven't had any extended listening sessions with the newer versions. I'd be more likely to try something quite different before upgrading slightly within the same model line.

I recently bought the 30.2 XD’s.

The new Monitor M30.2 XD is an update of the M30.2 40th Anniversary Edition, which in turn was an update of the M30.1, and the M30 which in turn was a significant refinement to the original BBC LS5/9 upon which it is based. With each new model has come sonic improvements that are the result of decades of research and finessing.

The M30.2 Anniversary model sports better performance WBT ‘Nextgen’ binding posts, Harbeth’s ‘new-look’ tweeter, and upgraded audiophile-grade polyester capacitors that are made in England specifically for Harbeth.

The 30.2 XD in turn has all the Anniversary model upgrades and then some. Alan Shaw is constantly on the lookout for ways to improve the sound quality of his products and the crossover and internal wiring is the place to find to the largest gains. His latest measurement techniques are said to enable a “microscopic” representation of the frequency response, where it can uncover the smallest irregularities so they can be smoothed out. The connection terminals have been changed, so they now go directly to the circuit board, in addition to higher quality capacitors used in the crossover and upgraded internal wiring.

Harbeth manufactures one of its tweeters, the one used in the 30.2 is made especially for it by SEAS, and is made to a different specification than the tweeter used in the Monitor 30.1, even though that one is also made by SEAS for Harbeth.

A further audio refinement comes from following HARBETH’s recommendations for speaker stands. Ideally, the tweeter should be at ear level when the listener is seated. Harbeth doesn’t make its own stands but recommends the UK-based Hi-Fi Racks Ltd brand and Germany’s TonTraeger brand.

https://www.tontraeger-audio.com/lang/en/Reference_Stand_Harbeth_P3.html

I had the TT’s bespoke cloned by an expert local master wood craftsman as an upgrade to my prior TARGET steel stands - the new ones work as advertised.

@twoleftears @Ryder comments are spot on.  This also applies to Harbeth 40.1 and 40.2 Anniversaries as well.  Both great speakers, but I find the 40.2's are more difficult to place and benefit from room treatment.

I would stick with the old model newer speakers tend to sound thin and bright with the sound all about the soundstage and not about natural tone or a musical tone.

I was blown away when I first heard the 30.2 40th anniversary editions in my system.  Bought it on the spot. Then I was even more impressed by the Graham Audio version of the LS5/9, sold the Harbeths after extensive a/b testing. Much more open sounding, much nicer treble. Minimal if any drawbacks. Graham Audio may be the modern pinnacle of the original BBC speaker. Harbeth is better than most speakers out there, but they get a LOT of hype.  

@redwoodaudio -- I'm assuming you haven't updated your system page yet (?) I, for one, am super interested in a detailed comparison between Harbeth 30.2 and Graham Audio speakers that you mention. I have the 30.1s, but would love to give Graham Audio a try.

@speakermaster
“ …I would stick with the old model newer speakers tend to sound thin and bright with the sound all about the soundstage and not about natural tone or a musical tone…”

Not so in my audition circumstance.

I heard them in an A-B bake-off with the old 30.1 (pre-owned) against the new 30.2 XD in a couple of solid state systems… a $10K and a $25K system.., in both, the new model was an incremental step-up in audio performance. There was nothing thin or bright or compromised “natural tone / musical tone” in the new model.

What was witnessed was that the better the upstream components (and price strata ….) = the added incremental refined audio improvements. No surprise there.

@arafiq No I haven't updated my system page yet... too many recent changes... and I don't even have the LS5/9s anymore... having upgraded in a big way to Graham's LS5/5s.  They are incredible, but LS5/9s would be my choice for a smaller room.

The Graham LS5/5 is a fascinating speaker.
https://www.grahamaudio.co.uk/products/ls55/

@redwoodaudio  You are the first person I've encountered to have heard them and actually own them!

In the impossibility of me auditioning them, I ended up with Harbeth 40.2s, which I'm enjoying very much.

LS5/5s are ridiculously good. That's a future purchase for sure, job willing.

@twoleftears and @dhcod - I had to buy the LS5/5s without an audition. I was auditioning another interesting speaker as a potential upgrade to the LS5/9s (Wolf von Langa SONs) and wasn’t totally sold on the sound in my system. I ended up speaking with Erik from Gig Harbor Audio in Washington by phone who told me how good the LS5/5s are, but said that they were in such short supply that he couldn’t let me audition it without purchasing it. I went back and forth, ultimately taking a gamble on a new pair in Cherry (serial number 42) that was arriving a few days later to his store (he gave me a nice trade-in for the LS5/9s, though). The LS5/5s are virtually without flaw in my few weeks with them, sitting on top of custom stands from Gig Harbor, with footers by Isoacoustics on the stands. They’ll play any type of music, have a rich smoothness that has to be heard to be believed, and disappear completely with the right recording and amplification. They also look great (with the grills on) in my room. For $18k, they’ll be my reference for a while...  I've never heard the Harbeth 40.2s but I'm sure they're incredible too.

Piggybacking on Twoleftears’ remark, Harbeth recently hired Terry Miles who had worked at Spendor for decades and was responsible for all their designs over that period of time. I have owned over a dozen Spendor loudspeakers over the years, including the pair of  Classic 2/3’s I currently own, and if you have kept up with the progression of those designs, especially the newest A, D and Classic series, you know Terry has incrementally moved Spendor from a somewhat classic British sound to one that is more immediate, being highly transparent and detailed, yet at the same time retaining a high level of musicality. Even though Alan Shaw would probably say it’s the other way around, I think Harbeth brought him on board to do the same thing, albeit with perhaps a bit more oversight and collaboration. Just a guess.

@vdotman very interesting, indeed. Derek Hughes (now mostly with Graham) and Terry Miles have very different approaches to updating the BBC sound (as does Alan Shaw). Top end Spendor classic speakers are probably excellent too (I haven't heard them either). Always down to personal tastes of course. Erik at Gig harbor audio was of the opinion that Hughes is more of a purist, and he seemed to prefer his designs overall. 

I've heard the Spendor Classic 100.  For me, it was streets better than the D7 that I also heard that same afternoon.  It was just pipped by the 40.2.

Vu of Deja Vu (Wash DC) says the earlier incarnations of the '100 were better.

I previously owned the SP 2/3R2 Spendors and found them quite special. Their tonality is more presence centric than the new Classic, which tends to favor clarity and detail over a warmer midrange. It’s not that the newer version is bright. Quite the contrary. It simply takes a more even handed approach, and as a consequence requires a bit more careful matching with the rest of the system. I’m driving mine with a Bel Canto E1X integrated amp with excellent results. One thing certainly hasn’t changed and it is just how big these speakers play. They can easily fill all but the largest of rooms.

If you go to terry miles’ LinkedIn profile (which I can’t seem to access right now on my iPad but viewed recently), he lists all the spendor designs he was responsible for.  Previously, Derek Hughes was the designer, i believe.  So, by cross checking his page with your model, you can tell which one designed it. 

In correspondence with Harbeth I am understanding that the 40th Anniversary brought bigger changes to the 40 and SHL5 series and smaller changes to the series below. For the XD line the 40th Anniversary were continued with no real changes in the upper 2 models but brought the smaller speakers up to the same level. They simply couldn’t keep renaming the speaker after the 40th Anniversary to the 41st etc so they brought out a .3 or XD. The only change in the 2 biggest speakers is the loss of the bi-wire capability from the SHL5+ to just two WBT posts. I have the bi-wire-able 40th Anniversary so no need to upgrade within the same line since they have the radial2 drivers, better crossover and the WBT posts.