Harbeth Comparison

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.

Original Poster Equipment:

Yamaha AS 2000 Solid State Amp. (90W X2 at 8 Ohm)

Original Poster Room:

W= 22Ft
L = 25Ft
H+ 13Ft

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.

Airegin. No acoustic treatment at present. Wood Floors, Persian Carpets and lots of leather furnishings

Existing Speakers (Vintage AR3As) sound fine. My research indicates that Harbeths are not bass heavy.

I am thinking that even 40.1 would not need treatment.

I own the SHL5s and have listened to the 40.1s multiple times. You have a large space(22' x 25') and both SHL5 and 40.1 will fit the space well. Most comments by Airegin have been spot-on.

Before you commit to the 40.1s, I feel it would be prudent to at least try them in your room if it's possible. As with most speakers, it's all about managing expectations, more so with large full-range designs that pump out considerably more bass. More bass usually equates to more problems, and more effort is required to control bass resonance unless one does not mind some coloration. Interaction between loudspeakers and the listening room is crucial in this context, more so with the 40.1s. The Harbeths don't go too deep in the bass but their warm and full sounding bass may present some problems in certain listening environments, (some "boominess" in some rooms), especially the larger 40.1s with an additional 12" bass driver. Ultimately it depends on the type of music that you listen to or how fussy of a listener you are. One will be able to live with the Harbeth without any room treatments if expectations are low.

Good luck.