Harbeth 40.1 - Need some tips on placement from current owners.

Do you now have 40.1s Granny?  I have never heard them but I have been very impressed with the 30.1 and Super HFl5+ at the Capital AudioFest.  I still love my Spendor SP100s which are similar to the 40.1.

Yes I do have the 40.1s coming. Really like the sound of Harbeth speakers and decided to go for it! 

Nice! Congrats Grannyring!

I'd like to have your dilemma! I have M30.1s, so not quite the same thing, just the top 1/4 for half the price : ) Not sure my siting will translate to the big brothers, but I used the Cardas method to get in the ballpark and tweaked to taste from there. That worked well overall, so something to try maybe with the big 40.1s. You have a lot more room than I do. My 30.1s are in a 12x17 space.

I'll bet they'll work great nearfield. I sit about 8 feet away from my 30.1s and they are about 6.5 feet apart with some toe-in, about 15 degrees or so. They are really not that fussy and they aren't heavy, so it's easy to play around with different locations.

Let us know how you get on with them! I'm excited for you!

My room is similar to yours...  18' x 26' with ceiling ht. varying from 7 to 8 feet, with carpet over concrete pour (basement).    Mine are approx 7 feet apart, pulled out approx. 4 feet from the front wall, toed in approx. 15 degrees and I sit approx. 9 feet away.  I love 40.1's so much I'm on my second pair.  Hope you enjoy them!

Pdreher, oh my why don't folks talk about these speakers more! What a revelation! So rich and full bodied with all the details of the finest speaker, but not thrust at you! 

I love them. 8 feet from the wall behind them, 7.5 feet apart center to center, and I sit 9 feet back from the front plane of the speakers. 

Slight toe in. They remind me of my Soundlab M1 speakers. No kidding. They fill the room with rich, full bodied music. Effortless and with a ton depth. 

at this price point there a lot of good sounding speakers to choose from--spendor,atc,proac.All british which come  to my mind:)
To speak abaut this paticular speakers,somebody must own or have some experience.I understand your joy to share this joy with music lovers:) 

This is true. I have owned many speakers through the years and these are so utterly different in a pleasant way. They do need a large room and some work to dial in. Once set up properly with the right gear, they are very special. 

I've always been surprised they don't get more love on this forum.  

Grills on or off? 

Grannyring, What amp are you driving them with?

Von Gaylord Legend Triode amp. 50 watts monoblock amps that are spectacular. Ray updated these for me last month and they sound as good as any DHT amp I have owned, but with power! That is their claim to flame.

What output tubes are in your Von Gaylord amps? 

Claim to flame? Ha that is funny! Meant to type claim to fame! LOL

6550 tubes. Salectric

My system consists of of a DIY tube preamp with beefy power supply, the amps mentioned above, Luxman DA06 dac and PS Audio memory player transport. All my wire is Western Electric NOS from the 70s. Thick gauge for the power cords and speaker wire .. 10 ga. 

This is system has zero fatigue and has me forgetting completely about how this or that part of the system sounds. The music, in totality, just sounds right. Very nice end result. The speakers are the main reason. They are not the most resolving. They are not the most extended in the top end. Other speakers image better...and do other aphile tricks better.  However no speaker I have heard plays music with more simply enjoyment. 

The he one exception may be the Soundlab M1 speakers I owned. The two sound very much alike really. The SLs are huge however and need tons of power. 

Congratulations Bill, 

I owned both the 5's and 40.1's and have always thought Harbeths were special. They are the type of speaker that you can just relax and enjoy the music.  I had the 40.1 driven by a BEL 50 watt amp and it was outstanding.  I bet te WE wire works well with them.

Btw I never found placement difficult with Harbeth's.  8 ft apart and 9 ft listening distant.  Slightly toed in with grills off.  Enjoy

Well I have had these speakers two weeks and they are just fabulous. They did take me awhile to set up for optimum performance. I found slight position changes impacted the sound. 

The bass was the biggest challenge. They can sound bass heavy and thick without that last bit of dialing in. I am enjoying classical music like never before. In general the speakers are just plain easy to enjoy music with. Easy to get lost into the music. No tipped up highs or upper mids. No thinness. Just a full bodied, natural sounding speaker. 

Sure my previous speakers were more impressive in dynamics and ultimate resolution, but the 40.1 just sound beautiful and right. Less impressive, but right. 

If if any of you have tinnitus, then this speaker is a must have! 

I agree with your description of the M-40.1's being full bodied and natural sounding.  They just sound right to me.

I compare my 40.1's to my previously owned Dynaudio C4's as follows:

Dyn C4's are like a sports care:  fast, exciting and electrifying... but after a while, you tire of listening too them and you just want to relax and enjoy the ride.

The big Harbeth's on the other hand are like a fine luxury car:   smooth, powerful and great for long rides.... never tiring, always enjoyable and good for the soul. 

Perfect description! Agree 110%. 

may be you have to try luxman power amp ,I see you have luxman dac,may be the sound will be more controled without thickness

I am trying out a Job 225 to see what solid state does with these speakers.

Bill the Harbeths will sound great with any quality amp ss or tube.  You will have fun.  Also bring out your jazz cd's and enjoy.

Hi Bob. I hooked the 40.1s to a Goldmund Job 225 SS amp today and have been listening for several hours. I must say it seems these speakers like more power and SS amps. I like the sound better and I did not think it could get any better. 

These speakers like a fast amp with great bass control and at least 100-150 watts to really open up. At least that has been my experience thus far with  25 watt SET amps, 50 watt triode PP tube amps, and finally the Job 225. The Job is the best of the group on this speaker. 

all three were good, but I really enjoy the Job 225 more.

That's great Bill.  I know Alan Shaw recommends SS amps but I owned both the 5 shl's and 40.1 and found a Quicksilver 90's were incredible.  Anyway if the Job 225 works well just enjoy it.

Since selling my VAC 70/70 Signature, I've been using and old Bryston 4BST with surprisingly good results.   Most of the amps I've used with the 40.1's have sounded great in their own way, with only two exceptions:

• Musical Fidelity NuVista M3 was awful... flat and uninvolving
• McIntosh MA2275 seemed underpowered and soft.  A pleasant sounding & good looking amp... just think it would pair better with more neutral, higher efficiency speakers.

Amps I have liked with M-40.1's:

• McIntosh MC275 MKV - really nice!  Would not hesitate to go back to this pairing.
• Plinius SA-102 - a very solid performer, but slightly dark with the very organic M-40.1's.  A well built amp.
• VAC 30/30 MK III - the best midrange I have ever heard!  A bit underpowered if you like it loud... but this amp is special.  I can see myself owning it again some day.  A pair of these monoblocked (30/70's) would be incredible.
• VAC 70/70 Signature - more neutral than it's little brother (30/30), but this amp is awesome with jazz, vocals and orchestral.    I sold mine because it was getting up in age... and at 130 Lbs it was too heavy to manage as it started needing some repairs.  Great amp if you can deal with the massive size and weight.
• Bryston 4BST - this one caught me by surprise!  At only $1,300 used, I was not expecting this to sound as good as it does, but it really does have nice synergy with the big Harbeths.  Very neutral and surprisingly musical.  The Bryston is not at the same level of the MC 275 or either of the two VAC Renaissance amps... but at a fraction of the cost on the used market, it's a strong value play. With regards to SS amps and the M-40.1's... I put the Bryston ahead of the Plinius SA-102... but would go with the Plinius if paired the  SHL-5's (which I also owned) because I found the SHL-5's to be more neutral (almost bright) compared the the 40.1's.

I have a VAC Phi 200 on order that I hope to have in a week or three.  I'm thinking it will be a synergistic match with the 40.1's.

Nice post. I bet the Bryston is a good match with the 40.1s. Best to avoid dark or warmish sounding amps for best results. I bet the new Vac will be very good indeed!

Oh my, congratulations Grannyring, I'm so happy for you! One of my brothers own the Harbeth SHL-5s. I always liked the various Harbeths. I'm still on the hunt for my ultimate. Again, glad you found so much satisfaction in your latest combo.

Thanks Rob. These are a simple joy for me. I played all my Rickie Lee Jones CDs today and so enjoyed it! 

It's not exactly apples to apples, but happy to share my experiences with Harbeth Compact-7es3s.

The great room in my 3rd-floor condo is an imperfect rectangle 22X14X9, with a 4-wideX6-deep "cutout" in the far left corner (carpet over concrete floor, with a wood/plaster ceiling). Something that eventually factored in was that local building codes required concrete & steel for the first 2 floors, but allowed wood & plaster from floors 3 and up.

I put the speakers 8 feet apart, 6 inches from far wall, and on 19" sound anchor stands. The compact-7s became temperamental at "higher elevations." Using taller stands substantially increased the level of bass-bounce/reverb in the room. In addition, I initially tried 22 degree toe-in, but found for the room that 0 toe-in gave the best sound.

Overall, the speakers were very easy to drive and not fussy about cable. Worked great with Linn separates, and later an Ayre integrated. In the end, I swapped them out for the smaller P3-ESRs. Unfortunately, the Compact-7s were borderline too big for the room, given that I'm in a condo with both floor and ceiling neighbors. I never received any complaints, but found it judicious to go with the smaller speakers, which I have on 22" Linn stands. Not quite as resolving as the Compact-7's, but the upstairs neighbor did mention at an HOA meeting that she appreciated that her floor "wasn't vibrating anymore on the weekends."