@dromme, thanks for telling us why you upgraded from the Harbeth's. Nothing to be offended by at all, as an (ex) owner you would be in a perfect place to know so I am grateful for your reply. Horns do tend to still split opinions amongst certain audiophiles, but Klipsch speakers though still rare in the UK, were once an important part of audio history over the pond. In any case I'm pretty sure that Harbeth, with it's BBC heritage, wouldn't claim to be the loudspeaker for where high energy and dynamics are required such as for Punk or Metal etc. Therefore it's reasonable to assume that alternative brands like Klipsch (or ATC, JBL, PMC etc) might be preferred by fans of the Sex Pistols, Motorhead, Metallica, System of a Down etc. Unfortunately as no speaker is without flaws, its still a question of choosing which compromises you can best live with. Upgrades are often just a case of shifting preferences as I can testify having been through at least 8 'upgrades' over the last 30 years. |
@prof, your comments re the SLH5+ are very interesting given that their designer Alan Shaw had revealed a while back that he felt it was time to open up the sound a little bit more with the new model to be more in line with modern musical tastes. Those Thiel 3.7s of yours sound like they are wonderful loudspeakers. Surprising also that a number of comments have mentioned alternate speakers that they found to be more neutral than the Harbeths. With their BBC heritage behind them Harbeth have prided themselves on the almost self effacing neutrality of their sound, (especially through their ruler flat midrange) majoring on vocals. I guess we can conclude that things are very competitive in this sector. With all this in mind it will be interesting to hear what @dhcod makes of it. |
@prof Thanks for that. It's a good a write up on the Harbeth sound as I've read since R.E.G. The Harbeth lossy cabinet design is in direct opposition to the brute force inertia approach adopted by almost everyone else so it's very helpful to read your impressions. I guess Alan Shaw himself would be happy to hear that all his efforts result in 'an almost peerless' rendition of the the human voice. This has always been the key priority for Harbeth, no doubt stemming from it's BBC legacy where it's major emphasis on the clarity of speech. |
I can't think of a single voice in audio today that speaks with as much clarity, logic and common sense as that of Alan Shaw. Many, many times I was taken aback by what he had written on the HUG website, only to later find out that he was right... https://www.harbeth.co.uk/usergroup/ |
Upgrading from the 30.1s is a challenge due to the lack of criticism regarding Harbeth speakers in general. Some of the above comments suggest that the bigger models in the range will give you more of the same as to what the M30.1s will give you. Alan Shaw has stated that he had tried to get the SLH5+ to sound a little more open than its predecessor (SLH5). However, these improvements seem to be of an incremental nature rather than anything dramatic. Heck! I've even read reviews where the diminutive P3ESRs have been compared to the mighty M40s. There really does seem to be a family sound between the models where even the M models (monitor series) share an affinity with the rest of the line. I guess it's natural enough given that all models share the same material for the main driver and that the cabinets also share a similar construction design. So it looks like it's down to the SLH5s or if funds allow, the M40.1s. I've read that they work really well for nearfield listening. Or just stay with the M30/1s which share the same tweeter as the M40.1s. Here's a great write up on the M40.2s. https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/harbeth-monitor-40-2.25222/ I'd be very surprised if the original Quads were an upgrade. They certainly didn't impress in my system. A totally different kind of sound, comfortable with even mids, but somehow sounded challenged at both frequency extremes. |
@dhcod , yes that terrible anticlimactic comedown feeling... On the other hand you might find consolation that your Harbeth's are pretty high up the sonic tree. They have to be if you prefer them to the ATC SCM19s. With any loudspeaker anywhere, its a question of give and take something. Even the giant Avantgarde Trios at £62k will concede something to the Harbeth's despite their huge dynamics and attack. |
