Vandersteen 3a signature vs Harbeth 30.2 anniversary

I have owned a few Harbeth's, 40's, SHL5 and SHL5+ and a few Vandersteen's, 3A's, 5's, Quatro's (cloth) and currently Treo CT's. Like jjss49 I never warmed up to the M30's. I have moved back and forth between these two brands for the last 30 years as I have moved back and forth to Italy and had to sell my system each time. I ran my 3A's and 5's with Quicksilver V4's and a PSE HL-1 preamp and found the midrange to be a particular strength. I always liked the 3's with tubes better than SS. YMMV and only you will know what you prefer. 

My decision to move back to Vandersteen was due to the fact that all of the updates to the Harbeth's  created more accurate speakers that became less enjoyable to listen to. With each update of the Harbeth's I found I was not as engaged with the music and listened to my system less often. Just my opinion. The Harbeth's still are the best speakers I have heard for low volume listening. I haven't heard the latest Monitor 40.3 XD but I will admit that I miss the original 40's as they were extremely musical and involving. Also, I know that many Harbeth owners use tubes to power them. I tried multiple tube amplifiers with the various Harbeth's I have owned and they never sounded right to me. IMHO you need a SS amp to hear what the Harbeth's are capable of. I always used a tube preamp though. Now I have moved on to a hybrid integrated, the Aesthetix Mimas which sounded great with my SHL5+'s. 

Moving on from the 3A's I think the Treo CT's would be a better choice than going to the M30's. Depending on your room size either the C7's, the SHL5 or Monitor 40 if you go with Harbeth's. One other thing to consider is to add a pair of subs to the 3A's if you have the room. Somehow the subs will improve the overall performance of the 3A's.

I might suggest reaching out to JohnnyR at the Audio Connection in Verona, NJ who is a dealer for both and who sold me all of the above mentioned speakers. He can offer some insight on both speakers. Good Luck!

Joey54,
great feedback/ viewpoint. Thank you- and thanks to others input as well.
I truly am happy with the 3a’s for most of my listening and I rarely get the “ looking for something “ itch but the genesis of this was spending an afternoon with JohnnyR last winter to listen to some TreoCT’s as I was thinking about them.
I liked them but ,and maybe it was just the day, i just didn’t get the amount of improvement I was imagining...? That being said I am pretty sure I could have loaded up a pair and easily enjoyed them.
JohnnyR took me over to the other building to show me the eucalyptus finish ( wow) and when there played me a few tunes on a set of Harbeth 30’s, not sure what version that he had on consignment.
I quite liked them, very classic box speaker sound that I instantly knew I could listen to all day and be pleased. To be truthful we only listened for a few songs so I have to balance that impression with the, in my experience, often initial impact of something being a bit different that gives it a touch of special.
That listen and the general Harbeth fanboy aura is what got me thinking about trying some.
Really just got back on this thought train yesterday and part of me has already figured that the move would be to the 40’s as that is a definite up versus a bit lateral as I currently quite like the 3a’s.
One of the issues I have, as most of us do in some level, is that I don’t have wads of cash to try something and then swap other components to get it optimized. I probably could commit to a used pair of last gen 40’s but wouldn’t be able to “ tune” them with switching other items.
I have a Benchmark amp so your input about SS being good for you with Harbeths is good to hear. Adding a sub is also on my potential, or bi- amping , both would be not scary moves into the unknown.
Next step is to try and hear some 40’s and perhaps 30’s.
jjss49 makes a good point about big box aesthetic... but I had some huge ads boxes at one point and survived... lol
thanks again for feedback.

I think the Harbeth's you heard were my SHL5+'s in eucalyptus that JohnnyR sold for me so I could buy the Treo CT's. As far as I know they are the only Harbeth's John has had on display in quite a while.

When you heard the Treo's did he have the Aesthetix Mimas or the Belles integrated amp powering them? I can tell you that the Mimas sounds dramatically better than the Belles though, at their price points, the Belles amps are hard to beat.

From what I can find the pricing on the Harbeth M40's is somewhere around $10K used though you might find some a bit cheaper. I might suggest that you look into the Vandersteen Quatro CT's as well. They can be found occasionally in the $10-$12K range like the M40's. IMHO they are the sweet spot in the Vandersteen line.

@OP,
If you are working with Johnny, then you are in good hands already.
I didn't know he carried Harbeth. I'll go for a demo next time.

And, if you are open to adding a sub, then as @joey54 said, the Quatro's are probably the 'sweet spot'. I wonder if Johnny can add subs to the Treo's in the demo room? Those little VLR's with a Sub 3 really kick a** with the Belles Aria integrated and the William Tell cables. 
Bob

If you can find a used pair of 40.1 or 40.2 you should be all set.  The 40.1's wouldn't be all that expensive.  Don't forget either about the Spendor SP100 series--like the Harbeth 40's, there are differences between the different iterations.