Harbeth Comparison

A note about "better" and the upgrade churn. Have owned several Harbeth models and have heard the entire line including the new 30.1. All models are well engineered broadcast monitors with family Harbeth sound. The difference is in scale and what matters most with all of them are room acoustics, correct stand height, and placement. Bear in mind with the internet it's become quite easy to start a little hype campaign with some strategically placed forum posts. Do yourself a financial favor audiophiles and read between the lines of some of these "over-the-top" forum reviews and keep in mind who is looking out for their income stream before you sell-off your already excellent Harbeth's at a third or more to buy another Harbeth that costs three times or more what you presently own.

The Harbeth's you have are the ones to keep unless listening room changes require more scale, or you just like spending money because you have enough of it that your kids and spouse won't suffer any needs denial because of it. As our friends in the UK usually pay more for North American manufactured audio components, so we pay more for their audio gear. I have two acquaintances in London area who own Harbeth's and we've had a good laugh at what I paid for my Harbeth's vs what they paid for theirs. I laughed at what one of them paid for a Pass Integrated. I have saved letters off internet forums from Harbeth/LFD retailer raving how fantastic C7's were, how fantastic LFD Mk III was, and lo and behold when newer NCSE and 30.1 appeared on market now the C7's and LFD Mk III are "fuzzy sounding" and/or "broken sounding" compared to the "much better" 30.1 and NCSE. My takeaway is keep your discretionary funds in your pocket and not in the pocket(s) of those paying for their spouses Botox treatments, kids college funds, restaurant dining, or whatever else it is that motivates audio sellers to make dubious claims. Like car dealerships, audio sales people are always ready to upgrade you to the new model.

Honeybee, the Super HL5's seem suited to your space. Do you use any acoustic treatments in your listening room? I've read of even the larger 40.1's being used in that size space, albeit with bass traps and other acoustic panels. Most focus on equipment and tweaks, but getting the speaker placement and room acoustics right IMO should be first priorities.