Harbeth P3ESR or Monitor 30?


I’m leaning strongly towards a (used) Harbeth upgrade, and was focussed on the P3ESR until I noticed a pair of Monitor 30s available for around the same price.

My room is far from ideal. Hard floors, about 15'x18', with a further, narrower extension on one side of the longer dimension, and a small window bay on the other. The speakers are set up on one side of the 15' space, and I sit on the other.

I have done some searching and read a few opinions, but if anyone has experience with both, or any thoughtful opinion, I’d welcome your thoughts.

Cheers,

Tony
whipsaw

Showing 2 responses by mapman

Whipsaw what speaker maker wants customers to sweat what amp is best?   None I know.  Same applies largely to amp makers. 

Is it possible the different Harbeth models under consideration will sound radically different in different rooms, with different amps, etc.?

I ask because a single comparison in a single room with a particular amp would not be sufficient to judge one model superior to another. Different results might be found in other cases with a different setup in general.

I am not very familiar with Harbeth models and their sound, but in general I would lean towards the larger model with larger drivers that probably also costs more retail and then work to optimize the sound.

OP has very good powerful amps. That alone should help assure either model is performing optimally. What sounds better to any one person then is a totally different story. But size and performance usually does matter, at least in larger rooms. I would only rely in general on a smaller model alone in a smaller room. The laws of physics are the one thing you can always bank on.