I have m30.1 on what would conceivably be a wobbly stand. The room itself is wood paneling (free space behind the wall behind the speaker and wood sub-floor. It is in a portion of a finished attic. The bass is certainly not boomy
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Most speakers can either boom or not boom, dependent on the rest of the system, the room and positioning. There are virtually no guarantees, which is why home auditions are particularly important with speakers.
Harbeths are not particularly known for being any more prone to bass issues than other speakers as far as I’m aware. In fact they’re often claimed to be relatively forgiving of positioning. But it’s all room-dependent. My speakers are closer to the rear wall than most manufacturers would recommend, and they sound good to me. But a different room could produce different results.
With correct setup (involving spikes and maybe blu-tac), stand mounts can be almost entirely wobble-free. But it’s down to personal preference and domestic circumstances what will be appropriately stable versus asking to be knocked over. If I had kids or a large dog running around I may have chosen something different.
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Yes, I have 3 of these plus their friends, the in-laws smaller kids, etc.
A good reason not to get standmounts.
Hi Jim
I have to admit that took me several week to adress the boomy bass .
I learned the hard way that stands, furniture, space behind and around the speakers…(in a similar room) are making real changes.
But the good news is as soon as setup the right way it will be very hard to change…really nice speaker and neighbour friendly as well 
Talking about « Skylan » stands, the « magic black chips » are a must to tame the boomy effect.
Hope helps
Phil
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I’ve got some Compact 7 Anniversary’s on loan after liking what I heard at the Bristol show. Currently a few inches from the rear wall, on some old Atacama stands. Definitely a lovely sound, but lacking in punch maybe.
Previous speakers (Dynaudio, PMC, Totem) have had boomy bass in my room. No such issue here and when called on, low frequencies are there but maybe lacking a little … dynamics and excitement maybe?
Is this a trait of Harbeths? Are they maybe not so well suited to rock and dance music? Appreciate they have just come here from a cold storeroom and I haven’t adjusted placement yet.
Stands make a difference to the sound because they are thin wall speakers (they are supposed to resonate). Pull them out a little and work with distance and tow in. They actually can do rock very well… properly set up.
Agree that current set-up isn’t optimal, will see what some positioning tweaks will bring, but they’re quite deep and if pull them out much further, it’ll interrupt my wife’s line of sight to the TV and that will be the end of this home demo 
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My own feeling with the 30.1 is that they are very good speakers but not perfect. The lack of detailed low end could be improved upon. Ultimately , if I had to define the negatives of the speakers it is that they can be a bit too “polite”. They can take the rawness that is in some recordings and refine it. Perfect (?) - definitely not , but eminently listenable and completely non - fatiguing . I was unable to audition speakers and bought them from comments - hoping for the best. If I weren’t always looking for something better, I could live with them (happily) forever
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Pretty much how I’m feeling so far. “Polite” is also a word I was thinking of, a little more aggression would be welcomed. That said, there is so much to love about the sound - warmth, sense of scale, very open sound. Me and the dealer were having a good chat in the room whilst some dance music was playing loud, and we didn’t really need to shout at each other. But so far, there’s a “but”.
Anyway I’ve got them for the weekend so time to get more accustomed and to try a few placement tweaks.
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Good description. That is my impression as well as I find the M30.1 (and M30.2) to be a little polite. Some of the rawness in recordings is somehow made to sound smoother hence there is a loss in sparkle and excitement. Nevertheless, the positive trait is it’s a completely non-fatigue listen as you have mentioned, which can be a good or bad thing depending on the priorities of the listener.
Due to this “politeness” and lack of bass presence with the M30.1 and M30.2, I had gone with the Super HL5 Plus which seems to sound more open with more excitement and sparkle. The SHL5+ is a more balanced or linear sounding speaker whereas the M30.1 and 30.2 are better with human voices and macro-dynamics ie. you can hear the dynamics bursting out from a silent background more prominently with the M30.1/30.2.
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I didn’t do a direct comparison between the M30.1 and M30.2 but have read that the latter is a more detailed speaker which may show a bit more excitement and openness than the 30.1 which may sound a little closed or shut-in.
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I would add, that when just listening/enjoying music and not analyzing, the 30.1 is a very easy speaker to enjoy. A nice “sized” soundstage and never a shrill top - end. These are speakers that are very enjoyable and listenable for any length of time. Also placement is relatively easy - I think a front port instead of rear is helpful.
Did Skylan change the design of their Stands?
Correction - They are Sound Anchors stands, I bought them 4, 5 years ago, and completely forgot the brand name (I was under impression that I bought the Skylan instead).
I think the Sound Anchors are more expensive than the Skylan ones.
My memory is bad
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I’ve found my 30.1 need at least 40cm space at the back, and at least 80cm to the side. My room is quite a difficult room for controlling bass, around 4.2 x 4m with solid walls and suspended timber floor. No bass boom whatsoever. The Harbeth’s in comparison to other speakers I’ve tried do not excite the room modes, perhaps ATC SCM19 being the exception.
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Try to toe the speakers in so they are pointing towards the listening position. This will give a little more top end. Make sure they also have space to the back and side. At least 40cm to the back and 80 to the side if you can.
Harbeth is certainly not as forward as PMC or ATC. You’re sitting a little further back. Less fatiguing. I find my 30.1 play all genres well, I love them.
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Yes. Harbeths tend to be quite susceptible to on-axis / off-axis shifts. So experiment with the width spacing of the speakers as well as the toe-in / toe-out and room wall spacing.
Quite small changes can have startling improvements.
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Definitely consider toeing them in and as harbeth states, try to put them so the tweeter is about ear height. No need to remove the grills to see the placement- enough pics can be found showing where in the cabinet the tweeter is. Again,my “speaker stands” are folding iron bookcases with silicone mats between the speakers and the shelf. If I touch the legs I can feel some vibration,but I can’t discern any sound from them and I’m happy with the sound and it gives me more space for several more automotive books. If I hadn’t bought so many books,probably could have afforded a nice collectible car. Have to make due with my daily driver- a mini-cooper.
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