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Harbeth again…or other speakers for acoustic music?

Hi!

I’ve been without any decent hifi setup for a few years now but lately had the thoughts of investing in a good system again. Let me tell you little about my background and what I’m searching for. I live in a place far from any hifi-stores, I’ve not so much experience of listening to a lot of different systems or visiting hifi shows, but I’ve been playing music myself, mostly jazz, for about 20 years and have been in many performances both as musician and as audience.

About 5 years ago I first bought a pair of Harbeth P3 second hand along with a Rega amp. Pretty soon I wanted something bigger in scale so I swapped the speakers for a pair of 30.1 and the amp for a Croft 25/7 combo. The sound was really really good in so many ways, best sound and midrange I’ve ever heard before! Even though my apartment back then was not optimal with concrete walls the vocals was very lifelike. But after a while I feeling somehow that something was missing. I’m no bass junkie or so but I was tempted to try something that had little more depth and covered the bass region better, so I was started looking at SHL5+ and C7ES3. I also thought about integration some subs but never tried that route. Swapped the 30.1 for C7 but I was immediately disappointed. I never got them to sound good at my place. I thought they lacked the magic I felt 30.1 had.

 

I ended up selling all my gear, but the sound of 30.1 and Croft combo really etched back in my mind. It was more emotional to listen to music as I ever before had experienced. I prefer listen to acoustic music, jazz, small groups ensembles but occasional big band and some lighter pop, but looking for something that excells with vocals and acoustic instruments. It can absolutely be little on the warmer sound, I can’t stand harsh and cold sound.


So now I’m looking for a system again and would like to hear what suggestions you have. I listen to low to modest volumes. No heavy rock or metal. I need something that can play good on low volume. HE speakers and a SET amp would be an alternative but also is Harbeth. I know there’s 30.2 now and XD. Integrating with subs could be Ok. My living room is about 15x12 feet and the speakers cannot be to big and dominant, ex Quad ESL is not an option. There is a few softer walls and I think 1 concrete wall.

 

Happy to hear your thoughts..

philsons

Showing 2 responses by steveashe

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steveashe
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I’ve owned a pair of m 30.1’s for about 4 years. I really enjoy them and I too like jazz, vocals, acoustic guitar, piano etc. Acoustic music with space and realism mixed with artists like Monk, Bill Evans, Billie, Etta, Esperanza, Glenn Gould, Yo Yo Ma, Tommy Emmanuel, etc.). Live when possible. I’ve considered "upgrading" but I wouldn’t want to give up anything about the m30.1’s. I listen at low levels as well.

I made the decision add an SVS Micro 3000 subwoofer to my setup last week and am now experimenting with placement, volume, etc. I simply want to augment the m 30.1’s to fill out the sense of space in my room which btw is similar in size to yours philsons. I read a stereophile review of the SVS Micro 3000 which convinced me to give it a try. From what little I’ve played I think it will work nicely in my system.

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steveashe
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A couple of guys asked how its going with my SVS Micro 3000sub and Harbeth m30.1 setup/integration.

First just a little context so you know my particular situation. I retired about 6 years ago and have moved 4 times since then. Always a 1 or 2 br. apt., from NY to Florida, then back to NY 2 years ago to a rental apartment in Long Beach, NY. I bought a 1 bedroom apartment on the Long Beach boardwalk last year at about this time. I mention this as monitor speakers like the Harbeth’s (in my case the 30.1’s) are relatively portable and easy to pack. So size factored into my personal equation.

Now that I’ve put down roots, I’m able to flesh out my system. To me, that meant I’d either buy a larger Harbeth like the SHL5+ or simply add a fast, small sub to my present system. I decided to just augment the 30.1’s with a sub and see how that goes over the winter. I’ve been an audiophile for the past 30 years or so and have heard hundreds of systems so I have a pretty good understanding of what to expect.

So far so good. I had to work with Pass Labs to understand how to connect this particular sub to my Pass INT-25 speaker outputs (ain’t no line out). So I thank Kent English from Pass for helping me to come up with a solution over the past few weeks.

The SVS Micro 3000 is "tiny". About 22.5 lbs. That makes it easy to move around the room. The remote android app (I’m sure its the same for apple) is easy to use and works fast and well. That makes it easy to tweak from my couch. I hear what i wanted to hear and that makes me happy. Sure it might take some time to integrate "seamlessly" but it’s doing what I expected right now. I don’t understand all the controls on the app but I’ll learn, no biggie. I’m concentrating on the Low Pass Filter on the SVS app now and have set that close to 50hz which is where the Harbeth really loses its bottom end. I’m looking for "space" not "bass".

Personally I think the SVS / Harbeth combo is the cats meow. Sort of a no brainer for under $1k all in. I hope this information helps someone else. Sure it’s going to take a while for me to futz around to get perfect sound but that’s what winter is about. Don’t be daunted!!

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