2. speakers
  3. 169638-114280

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 starwarrior

starwarrior
53 posts
 
HI, I latched onto a pair of Harbeth SHL5+ about a year ago and I'm quite happy with them.
I compared them with the 40.3 but they were way too big for my room and quite more expensive. Basically the differences are that the cabinets are 2Cu3 and 3Cu3 respectively and the 40.3 sports a bass driver whereas the SHL5+ utilizes a super tweeter. The bass driver does lower the frequency response slightly but not enough in my view to eliminate the need for a SubWoofer. I think any smaller than the SHL5+ your looking at a bookshelf speaker as opposed to a monitor. It really comes down to the area you need to cover. A well balanced pair of speakers especially in the mid-range frequency range. Highly recommended.
More to discover