Which Harbeths?


Trying to decide between the the M30.1/2 and the C7es3/XD. I’ve researched it a fair amount and I’m coming up a bid confused. Like most things it seems people have conflicting opinions. I’m coming from using various Totems for the last decade. I also just had a pair of Dynaudio special 40s for a short time before selling. I found the 40s were better at playing louder and had a bit softer top end, but overall just lacked that something special, ironically. What I’m really after is that just rightness I get with Totems. While I find there top end a bit much I’ve been willing to work with it because of the just rightness I personally get from them. My wife likes to say they sing which I think gets the just of it as well. Harbeth has sounded very attractive to me for a while and hope to find another version of a special speaker in them.  One that hopefully is a bit smoother in the presence and treble areas while also being very engaging and musical. I use a McIntosh mc302 and C46, so plenty of power for any of the Harbeths I’d think.  Anyways, I’d appreciate any feedback in these two models I can get. Anybody who has experience with both Harbeth and Toen I would have particular interest in your take. I live about 4 hours from any dealer and I don’t like to waste their time since I will inevitably buy used anyways.  
brylandgoodman

Showing 1 response by hshifi

Hello,
I am going to come at this from a sound perspective than picking which is right for you. I believe a speaker not having enough bass as a good thing as long as you don’t mind subwoofers and having to add one or even better two of them like the Rel T7? Through the T9? Series. I have two T9 RELs and truly love the sound that they add. Used these will run though about $700 each. The point is without a good crossover you cannot remove the right amount of bass from a speaker. You won’t have this issue. These speaker models will lack that harsh sound on the vocals. Thats that little bit of rasp that lets you know it does not sound real or live. It sounds like a recording. That’s a plus for you. So bottom line pick the speaker model with the best treble and mids. It sounds like this SHL5 speaker is the right choice because it sounds like it has the sparkle and sound you are looking for. If that is not in the running then the 30.2. Again because it sounds like it is not as laid back. The rest can be customized by the cables. I would look into power cords if you have not done so. They make a big difference. Typically when someone says this speaker cable sounded a little bright or even harsh it’s usually because they didn’t upgrade their power cord to the amp or preamp. This is a different perspective. I hope this helped.