Thought My Harbeth M40.1's Were Forever Speakers - Guess Not

@pdreher  I promise you won't regret it.  I felt the same way as you do now but once I got them I realized what a big upgrade it is.  Let me know your thoughts once you've spent some time with them.  You should know that the first hour or so of listening is pretty awful.  Once they loosen up though, they are magical from the first day and only improve with time.  

The Hegel H590 is at the top of my list of amps I want to hear with my 40.2A's.  There is a local dealer near me that I am planning to ask for a demo.  
My current amp is a LFD NCSE Mk3 and I am really happy with it, but when Mr. Shaw speaks I tend to listen.  

@pdreher I hear ya, man.  I have been so happy with the 40.1's I was happy never hearing the upgraded versions.  Just didn't want to know first hand lest I be tempted.  The upgrade bug is strong in me now, however.  
I'll definitely share my impressions.  
Cheers

@audiojedi 
My amp is a Lyngdorf TDAI-3400 and it drives my 40.1's with ease.  
Previously I had a Primaluna Dialogue Premium HP and it also sounded great with them.

@pdreher 
No regrets but sometimes I wish I had the PL tube amp in addition to the Lyngdorf just so I could spend time with both of them since they are both so great.  
The Lyngdorf is the best SS amp I have heard, but it's not a tube amp.  

Hi guys,

Sorry for the delay.  It took me a while to get the speakers and set them up.  Holiday madness delayed things a bit.

Here are some initial observations of mine:

Hooked up the new speakers yesterday.

Unpacking these speakers is a chore, and best done by two people, but I didn’t have anyone around to help when I opened mine, and honestly I prefer to do it myself so I can give 100% focus to it and block out the noise.  Moving them is also a chore.  I did have a friend help me with this and I’m glad I did.  It's nice to have the grunt work done and be able to relax and spend time with them now.

I have Tontraeger stands for them, which are perfect IMO.  

At first listen they sounded tight and bright.  Really harsh is the only way to say it.  Not good.

30 minutes later they began loosening up and sounded much better.

Five hours of listening on them now and they are starting to produce their magic.  

Absolutely love them!

They already sound better than the 40.1’s, and that is really something considering how good those speakers sound.

I think they need several more hours of break-in.  Some people have said as much as 200 hours.  Not sure but I guess I’ll find out.

Just took the grilles off, and can honestly say I think they sound better with them on, but the olive wood finish is just too beautiful to cover up!

Feeding them a steady diet of analog and digital music, ranging from folk to classic rock to classical and loving it all.  The best way to describe the sound is that the music just sounds "right."  The sound is so natural and easy on the ears that it calms me to just sit here and play them all day, which is what I plan to do today (it's Saturday and there is freezing rain outside - no need or desire to leave the house).  

I played the new Mofi UH1S copies of Blood On The Tracks as well as SRV's first album last night.  Holy Schitt was that a treat!  This morning it's digital versions of Wilco's library that are providing the magic.  

Thanks,

Peter

@karmapolice 
The Tontraeger stands are amazing.  Expensive but they look and sound great.  You can add Blue Tack under the speakers but I never have and they stay put for me.  I do not live in earthquake country.  I used to live in Japan and had Sound Anchor stands with B&W 805 speakers.  I never had the speakers fall off the stands but sometimes noticed they were a bit off kilter, probably caused by minor seismic activity.  I added Blue Tack and that solved it.  

@joeinid 
Yes, as far as I can conclusively say right now.
It's too difficult to say I'll be happy with them forever.  Someday I might hear something I like better and switch them out.  Maybe the next gen of 40's will outdo these.  But it's safe to say I will be hanging onto these for a good while.  
I'm very interested in the Tannoy line of speakers, particularly the Westminster and Canterbury models.  I once had the pleasure of hearing Westminsters while I lived in Japan and to this day I've never heard anything so transparent and real.  
I can see buying a pair of them someday if I ever have the perfect room for them.  I can see putting them in a common living area where they don't look out of place.  They are so large they really do require the right size room.  And they are works of art in themselves.  The cabinets are beautifully made.  Very intriguing to me.  

Those Avantgarde speakers look pretty cool.  I could never rock those in my listening space but they are beautiful.  

@pdreher Yes I still have them and am completely satisfied with them.  No plans to change them out anytime soon, if ever.  I think you will be happy with the upgrade if you decide to go for it.  The improvement over the 40.1's is not small.  
@mapman The 40.2's have all new drivers and tweeters, and the crossover has been redone.  

@pdreher Are these brand new?  I ask this because you need to break them in for a good 20-30 hours before they start doing their real magic.  Others have said 50+ hours but in my experience it wasn't that long.  
I never felt these speakers sound dry, but I guess it could be a factor of the amplification used.  Let us know how they do as they break in and open up for you.  Cheers