Harbeth 30.2 or Falcon Gold Badge

I have Harbeth 30.2 Anniversary powered by Hegel H390 - to my ears, in my room - they are sublime: punchy, musical, engaging beyond words. They do something very few others do in my room - there is an airy ambient presence - almost like Maggie’s - very very “live” sounding. They don’t produce the slam of big floorstanders of course, nor are they analytical with detail, but as another said earlier, I too auditioned a lot - up to $20k - and chose the 30.2. 

The 30.2 XD are a step up in dynamics and scale from an LS3/5a speaker and are world class.  

The only caveat is that they might be a bit too smooth sounding with an overly smooth amplifier like a Luman.  I demoed them with the new Luxman L 507z and the sound was golden and euphonic and a touch too smooth overall.  

Good news is that the sound is still exceptional and can be made to pop simply by removing the grilles.  Recommended.  

I am going order a pair of Falcon Gold Badge’s. I don’t understand why Falcon recommends 24” stands when the tweeter being 8” off the bottom would place tweeter at only 32” off the floor. Most of our ears fall a sitting 35-36” off the floor. Anyone successfully using 27” stands with their LS35a? 

I’ve owned many LS3/5a type speakers including Harbeth, Spendor, Falcon and KEF. I found 28 inch stands my preference. BTW, if you get 24 inch stands you can always raise the height!

I need to correct what I said above.  I thought it was a Falcon vs. P3ESR comparison (similar size speakers).  The 30.2 is a different matter.  Yes, I still hear a sibilant edge to the 30.2, but, it is a more versatile speaker--it can play more demanding orchestral and choral music with more authority and a larger sense of scale than any of the smaller speakers.  I still think the Falcon is wonderful, but, I might be willing to live with the slight problems I hear with the 30.2 given how nice it sounds in all other respects.  If the larger 30.2 is in the picture, then something like a ProAc D2 should also be considered, and of course, I think any of the Audio Note spekers should be in the contest, particularly if space is a consideration because they are willing to hide in the corners while the others really want to be out in the open well away from the walls.