!!! Harbeth M30.2 Xd,NOT Just Pipe & Slippers Speakers!!!
I've had almost a week now with my new Tamo Ash M30.2 Xd's..These are SOOOO different from the 30.1's I had..The 30.1's just didn't quite have the bite for hard driving Classic Rock,dirty Chicago Blues or deep bass driven reggae..Oh sure,the vocals were excellent but electric guitars just didn't have that see into texture & body resonance that really connects you to the artist..Drums seemed just a tad distant,horns didn't have that borderline,finger nails on a chalk board edge they have in real life..Forget about something REALLY heavy like full on Black Sabbath or Metallica..Thinking back,it seemed everything was just a touch homogenized...Maybe that had something to do with the amps I was using,I don't know..
Fast forward to the 30.2Xd's...OMG,those 8" bass drivers & 18"x 11"x 11" ported cabinets can REALLY pressurize a small room without being overblown & sloppy..These speakers really are chameleon's,able to take on the color & texture of whatever instrument they are fed...A great Rock Ballad,featuring orchestral backing,can make you cry,the beauty of the classical instruments fully realized but never overshadowed by a hard driving guitar,with emotional vocals tearing at your heart strings..
Bass guitar has such perfect texture & depth, despite these speakers being rated to only 50hz.on paper,that is HIGHLY under spec'd,easily hitting down into the high 30's in my smallish room,with the right song & volume level...Take the opening Bass riff from Jimmy Hendrix "Born Under A Bad Sign"off the "Blues"album..Oh man,you can feel it deep in your chest,then Jimmies Strat comes in,soaring up the scale in a manner that can be strident & WAYYY to hard on a lot of speakers,no such pain here,just musical brilliance...
On the right song, drums are absolutely visceral..Take the Metallica song "Sad But True"..The closely miked drums literally try to cave your chest in while the screaming guitars try to rip your throat out!!
All too often I read about how speaker A is good for classical & vocals but no good on other types of music...I think the M30.1's fell into that category...I believe a TRUELY good speaker doesn't favor one musical genre over another..IMO, the M30.2 Xd's are really,really good speakers...Capable of feather light,lilting beauty as well as punch you in the face & kick in your ribs violence,these really are great, all around music makers that will bring a smallish room to life...
So I spent the evening listening to one of my Pandora+ channels called Pine Top Perkins Radio..Boogie woogie,acoustic blues,heavy on the pie anno... |
Good to know. I’ve been a long time Harbeth user for more than a decade. Owned the SHL5 and SHL5+ for a long time, listened to all the M30 iterations from the original M30 to M30.1 and 30.2 40th Anniversary. The latter sounds best while the older versions sound too warm and laid back to me. It’s a pity I didn’t manage to listen to the 30.2 XD as I earlier made the switch to Graham LS5/9 which is a direct competitor to the M30.2 XD. Enjoy~
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+1 …. Big time! I drive them with a very beefy REGA OSIRIS integrated amp and an ATC C1 Mk2 subwoofer to flesh out the bottom octave ….this rig has serious slam and dynamics in addition to its legendary class-leading midrange. https://www.stereonet.com/sg/reviews/harbeth-m30.2-xd-loudspeakers-review ”…. Certainly, this Xtended Definition edition is easily the best Harbeth I’ve heard so far – to me, it sounds very special, especially when playing through a serious amplifier. It may not offer any particular technological frills, but this is still one of the finest speakers around at its price and will put a smile on many faces. …. “ |
