Is there a point of diminished returns with amps and Harbeth 30.1s?

All good responses here. My 2 cents worth. If you are happy with the sound quality of the system, just stick with what you have. There will always be something out there which will sound different and/or better than the current gear that you have in your system, whether it’s the amp, DAC or any other component.

Attempt to upgrade or change the amp only if there’s something bothering you ie. some aspects of the sound that you wish to address. If you have unlimited funds and/or are bored and want to have some fun, you can always choose to tinker with the system by swapping amps on the 30.1.

I’m rather familiar with Harbeth speakers and have listened to the M30.1 but do not own it. They respond well to amp, source and cable change. The 30.1s are rather inefficient and require a powerful amp to provide the current and drive.

can’t pay attention to alan shaw and his blanket ’truisms’ on amps cabling stands etc for his harbeth speakers, as good speakers as they are...

Yes, that’s true. The leader has the support of his cohorts.. It’s a tight-knit clan on the Harbeth forum as anyone who doesn’t share the same ideas or philosophies will usually be cast aside like an unwanted child. Many have left the forum after they find the iron-fist style approach of moderation to be a bit intimidating.

I’m not sure if things have changed now as AS has been recommending Hegel amps for his speakers several years ago. I have not been to the HUG for 10 years now and have no desire to do so in the future.

Alan Shaw has long welcomed any debate on his opinions regarding cables and amps.

He discourages it to the extent the forum was split into two sections, one for technical discussion based on facts and science while the other section was for subjective discussion on amplifiers or all things audio not endorsed by Harbeth. Your contribution may be welcomed at first, but after a while they will be shot down by the moderator and the cohorts if they don’t coincide with the values that the clan preaches. As Whipsaw had suggested above, your opinion or post will mostly be disparaged.

If you go a step further, the post which you made will be modified by the moderators or completely removed. I have forgotten if some users have been banned for posting few issues they experience with their new speakers. Issues such as glue marks on the main driver and defects on cabinet etc.

The forum used to be a free view as a non-member can read the content of the forum. It now requires a member to log on to the forum just to enter the forum. You wouldn’t be able to gain access to the content on the Harbeth site before you become a member.

This is an interesting issue when you think about it. It’s tough to conceptualize a business creating a public forum that includes people complaining about their products. I would think somewhere in the forum rules it probably states that matters such as those should be handled directly between the customer and the company. Or at least I’d understand if those were the defacto rules.

Yes that’s rather true as most companies would want to protect their image and reputation. However, there’s less transparency with such practices especially when the complaints are genuine. The member who once posted issues with his new C7ES3 was a friend. That post he made on the forum was removed by the moderator and I am not sure if he was banned from posting on the forum for couple of days or weeks. There were others who experienced the same, and just lately another case resurfaced as the owner highlighted his plight on a British forum.

CD318, perhaps start a new thread on blind listening test with level matched amps if you are interested? You may attract more interest from people who are keen on the subject instead of posting it here on this thread.