British speakers, house sound?

I prefer 30.1, mids are similar but prefer more refined top end and tighter bottom end of 30.1

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Any chance you can post a photo of your 30.1’s?

No but I do know the Totems knock the Harbeths on your list into a cocked hat IMO.

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No but I do know the Totems knock the Harbeths on your list into a cocked hat IMO.

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You are entitled to your opinion, remember, I am looking for late night, low volume listening.Mostly Jazz and acoustic music will be what they are used for.

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Very nice Halloweenman, seems like we are on a similar path. I use Core/NDS into Mscaler/TT2 as my DAC/Pre directly into the Belles 150A revference V2 driving Dyn excite 12’s right now, but Harbeth eventually…

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Totems are the best voiced speakers I personally have ever heard! And I’ve heard a good few.

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Speakers are a personal choice. If I could properly accommodate panels I would, but not easy in a cottage although I have tried with Magnepan. I settled on Spendor in my lounge and have not heard anything significantly better. However, I tried quite a few brands before settling on Spendors and can understand why folk like ProAc, PMC, Harbeth and Falcon Acoustics as they are all very good.

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I would also add ATC to that list.

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Harbeth does have their own web-site and i think they have pictures of most models. I have the m30.1 in rosewood, which i bought 2nd hand but it was the model and wood that i wanted. They have alot going for them, but they can be a bit too polite, which also makes them listenable for long periods. It’s a trade-off I can live with. I also just noticed your requirements, and have to say that while the harbeths improve with some volume (all speakers do) they are very good at relatively low level listening. Often my 282hcdr and250dr are kept low - the “0” is at 6 o’clock and they are used no higher than 8 o’clock (not always though)

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Yes sorry left out ATC, but they definitely should be there.

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I just got an email from, and talked on the phone to Planet of sound in Toronto, and they have the Harbeth 30.1’s available to demo, and also have the 30.2’s in stock.This means that next Saturday (21st) I will be heading there to hear them, and whatever other speakers they have on display, but the 30.1’s are my priority.

…with respect to the original posting, I don’t think that there is a particular ‘house-sound’ to describe British 'speakers. Some may disagree, but I think that we are a nation of cosmopolitan tastes in this respect, and I cannot believe that British manufacturers would agree with each other to produce a certain sound.

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Hope it works out for you this time, and that you like the speakers. Will be interesting to know how the 30.1 and 30.2 compare if you get a chance to listen to both.

30.2 look stunning. The differences seem mostly cosmetic but I could be wrong. There’s a good review of 30.2 here:

30.2 are included in the Stereophile recommended components A list for speakers.

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Yes me too, knowing my luck, there will be a major winter storm that weekend. I have read pretty much every Harbeth review I can find since hearing the P3esr’s. In his email, he said “ There is simply no better speaker at any price in that box size”, which has to be taken with a grain of salt of course, but has me pretty excited.

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Suspect things like the Falcon & Stirling L3/5SA would sound pretty similar but that the Harbeths are much more widely available

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I have an unfortunate update to this thread. I was planning on going to pick up my new Chord Mscaler, and demo some Harbeth speakers this past Saturday. I had a slip and fall accident at work on Thursday night, resulting in my Quad (thigh) tendon becoming detached from my knee. I had successful surgery on Sunday, but with at least 3 months off work ahead of me, possibly more with therapy, upgrades to my system are on hold for now. The dealer is holding my Mscaler for me until I get back on my feet (literally). Fortunately I have all the time in the world to listen to music now, with my already excellent setup.

Blimey this puts a different slant on relaxing and putting your feet up for Christmas wishing you a speedy recovery.

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I hope you recover quickly.

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