Harbeth Owners - I Need Some Help


Just got a pair of Compact 7ES-2s and have these questions:

1) Grills on or off? I know Harbeth says to leave them on - what's been your experience?

2) Stands - what are you using and what do you like?

3) Am I wrong or are these speakers not really height sensitive? I mean, adjusting 2-3 up or down in stand height may not make a great difference. Is this your experience?

Thanks, A'goners.
tomryan
When my wife first saw the C7s she said, "oh my God, they're beautiful!" This is with the grills removed which is how I'm listening.
I'm using Monitor 30's with 24" sand-filled Skylan stands. Absolutely perfect. The consensus -- and this is coming from the designer -- is that an inert stand is best.

Noel recommends topping off two diagonally-oppossed posts and 5-6" in the other two. I followed his advice and haven't experimented again; it all sounds very right.
After speaking at length with Noel at Skylan Manufacturing I ordered a pair of 21" four post stands (my sofa is a bit higher than average but, again, I don't hear a difference with 1-2" height changes) and have found them superb. I had them put together in 10 minutes and used 'em without sand for a couple weeks. Filled with play sand they grip the floor better and the music sounds more solid and real, and they look quite nice - a little more of a 'finished' look than the Sound Anchors and a lot less expensive.

With the Skylans I now have the grills in place and like the look much better than naked. Kind of dressy and classy looking.

Noel also followed up after the sale with a phone call to make sure I had no problems with set up, etc. Skylan is another quality high end company that seems to be in it for the passion. I've had really good luck throughout the years being fortunate to deal with companies like Noel's, conrad-johnson, ModWright, Cary, Joule Electra, Merlin (even though I sold those speakers), Perp Tech, etc.