2. speakers
  3. 152781-3674

Thought My Harbeth M40.1's Were Forever Speakers - Guess Not

I've owned my Harbeth 40.1's for about 4 years and absolutely LOVE them.  
The only speakers I've considered replacing them with are the 40.2's, and while I've dreamed of getting a pair, I really never felt like I needed anything more than the 40.1's.  They are SO good!
Well, after a great year for my business along with a great opportunity to buy a pair of 40.2 Anniversary model speakers, I've decided to pull the trigger.  
I'm posting this mostly because I can hardly contain my excitement and wanted to share it with you, but I'm also looking for feedback from others who've made this same move.  
Everything I've read about the 40.2 model has been overwhelmingly good.  I do not expect to be disappointed.  
Thanks!


128x128snackeyp

Showing 7 responses by twoleftears

twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,313 posts
 
@cd318  Yes.  When your "gist" of these two sentences:

"the bass has been progressively optimized, that is, made drier, for those less damped acoustics. So the 40.2 is better balanced for the majority of modern rooms."

is "drier bass", then yes, that's a classic example of selective quotation.
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,313 posts
 
By that logic all Harbeth owners should limit themselves to Hegel amps.  Which is clearly not the case.  Some of us prefer to trust what we hear ourselves.
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,313 posts
 
On HUG, the Harbeth Users Group forum, the "A-list" of amps thread makes interesting reading for the diversity of makes and models that owners are using.  For a manufacturer testing or even displaying speakers, an amp that is reliable and whose sound is neutral and repeatable may certainly be the way to go, while an individual in a home environment may have other priorities.
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,313 posts
 
"Drier bass" sounds kinda bad until you ask yourself whether you want wet bass.  Your precis is a classic example of selective quotation.  AS wanted to make the 40.2's more room-friendly, i.e., make them perform well in a larger range of environments, w.r.t. positioning, size of room, and acoustic environment, something that he achieved handily.
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,313 posts
 
The woofer breaks in around 50 and the tweeter around 100.  The midrange undergoes very little change.
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,313 posts
 
@cd318 Unless you own or have owned 40.2's from new, and have gone through the process, you hardly seem like the best qualified to opine on this topic.  Most of us are posting based on first-hand empirical experience.

twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,313 posts
 
"My position on Hegel is abundantly clear. It is the only hifi amp I have ever measured in my lab that has what I consider to be a proper gain structure throughout." ~Alan Shaw

More to discover