Although designed as control room monitors I am still curious to hear how they compare to the P3.
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The stands that standmount speakers sit on affect the overall performance significantly. I wouldnāt even say it is a tweak. Itās a very careful consideration that one should put a lot of thought behind.
Iām convinced this is a massive reason why many people take away a negative opinion of Harbs. They werenāt setup correctly in the room and system. It took me years to understand this and Iām sure most people wonāt put in the time or effort to achieve the optimum result.
Btw our other gear is not immune to stands and feet either. I recently put ebony wood feet under my already upgraded SW1X DAC feet and there was a significant lift in midrange clarity. Fair enough my starting point wasnāt ideal with a Quadraspire glass rack sitting on a granite plinth but it still proves my point.
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For anyone interested there is a 30.2XD up for sale at a steal of a price on a popular auction site. Iām surprised how slow the market has become.
Correction. There are 2. lol.
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Have had SN1 w/HCDR, SHL5 and 2xREL Storm subs in a 30 sq.m room for 10+ years. Very happy with the sound. What could I expect from a change to SHL5XD in this setup?
Playing all kinds of music except classical.
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I agree in principle, but a different standās stuff - iron, sand or no sand, light rigid wood - cannot account for the overall sonic characteristics of a speaker. It cannot change its presentation significantly. I think that the reason why many dislike Harbeths is because a), they absolutely need to be placed away from all walls and, b), they will sound a bit āin the boxā and midrange-y anywhere you sit or place them.
Harbeth are fiercely idiosyncratic, totally dependent on their single designerās unchangeable opinions on audio reproduction. They are, in a way, the same and the opposite of Naim. I am more surprised that some like Harbeth and Naim than Harbeth or Naim. But thatās just my opinion. I easily acknowledge that Naim can do a lot of good to those Sleeping Beauties.
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Possibly the type of music that best suits Harbeth.
Iāve had many Harbeth speakers over the years and Iāve experimented exhaustively with them. I will repeat these speakers sound very different on different stands. All standmount speakers do but this is especially true of thin wall designed speakers (Rogers, Graham etc.)
Iāve heard Harbeths sound bloated and loose with bass output on ikea stands. Iāve heard them sound very nimble and fast on Something Solid XF stands and Iāve also heard them sound slow and restrictive on heavy mass stands. IME the stands completely changed my overall impression of the speakers.
I completely agree that speaker placement is very important with Harbeths but this is the case with any speaker. Naim speakers for instance need to be setup exactly as the designer intended for the full effect otherwise they sound thin and bright. My Naim SL2s didnāt sound anywhere near as good as Harbeth 30.2 AE but Iām confident that was more about setup than the actual speakers. Yes speakers have individual characteristics but setup is essential in fulfilling any speakers potential.
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I have Harbeth P3s and I think theyād only wake up with Naim amplification. Harbeth are very much a speaker that works really well in certain situationsā¦ I tried other speakers in my difficult room, and only they and my SA Aura 1s were successful in it, driven by my SU.
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Another thing I always forget to mention is I think the NAC A5 compliments Harbs. Itās gives good snap to the sound which is never overdone on Harbeths unlike many other brands which can become edgy especially if you have a dynamic source.
I also feel Chord gives a good synergy between Naim and Harbs. I use Odyssey 2 and I feel they give me more details in the upper registers while keeping the PRAT 
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In the end I decided the CD5si was a good player , but the Nait 50 deserved better, so I bought down the CD2.2, added aa ND5XS2 and am having a wonderful sound
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Right, had the C7se3 for more than 10 yearsā¦with those stands :
ATACAM HMS :
Very good and fast bass.
Nice Mid
Big soundstage
SKYLAN :
Iāve changed to this one based on forums commentā¦but
Heavy bass (slow) => Lot better with the Ā« magic ships Ā» provided by Skylan but still a bit slow
Superbe midā¦but sometime to much
Soft High
Had to move the speaker from the inital position to manage the slow bass
SOMETHING SOLID:
As i was not fully convince by the skylan i decided to go to open frame
Bass more fastā¦but very light
High Ringing
Keep them 1 monthā¦
TONTRƤGER :
Very good bass (strong , fast)
Mid as the best Harbeth could give
High sweet
Very Open sounstage
Best Stand by a big marginā¦ā¦but at a certain price.
So if you have enough money and want to extract the best from the Harbethā¦.Tontrager is the one.
With less budgetā¦ Atacama are working very well tooā¦.for a fraction of Tontrager stands.
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I had TonTraegers with 30.1s a couple years back and can confirm theyāre by far the best stands if you donāt have kids or animals that might knock em over.
Very open with clear well defined bass. Excellent stands.
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I bought second hand Ton Traeger stands, actually unused in original packing, on spec having not auditioned any in the past. I am very pleased and surprised at how the brought more focus to my SHL5-xdās. I now wonder in my previous undamped thin, square tube metal stands were perhaps resonating at certain frequencies. Maybe not, but the Ton Traegers really improved the sound.
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Hello all
I have Harbeth 30.2s with harbeth fitted jumpers.
I love them and they sound great.
Dim question-does it matter which connection you use (top or bottom)? Have always used top (they are not bi-wired).
Sorry if question been asked before (Iāve had a look on forum and couldnāt find)
Best
Tom
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Mine only have a single set of binding posts Iām afraid. Have you tried the manufacturers forum?
Answer is:
From what I have read Harbeth (AS) believe that bi-wiring was 80ās/90ās fad, which they had to had because everyone else did. Then they removed on later models.
Makes no real difference which connection you use if jumper on.
Thanks for tip re: HUR
Thanks
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I personally hate double posts. My simple suggestion is to leave it alone and try to forget youāve got jumpersā¦
Best
M
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Hi Straydog,
I am connecting my SL5 plus - left side red top, right side black down. This is the recommendation from the dealer.
Best regards,
Alexander
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