Joseph Audio Perspective2 vs Harbeth SHL5+

@prof I will share my impressions in detail over the weekend, but let’s just say that the Perspectives have met exceeded all my expectations, and then some more. There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that they are superior to the SHL5+ in every aspect -- including vocals, which was a surprise to me to say the least :) I think it’s fair to say that the Perspective’s real competition is the Harbeth 40.x and not so much the SHL5+.

I have them placed 4 feet from the front wall, 2.5 feet from side walls, and about 9 feet from the listening position. After tweaking with positioning for a bit, there are absolutely no issues with bass.

You were spot on with your analysis! These are by far the best speakers that I have owned. I will write some more in the next few days.

@ghdprentice Thank you for your kind words. I have to say I'm somewhat envious of your ARC gear. At some point next year, I also plan to start upgrading to ARC separates -- but very, very gradually so it goes unnoticed by the spouse :)

Those stands look great.  Love your amp BTW.  Jeff Joseph has told me his speakers do well with tubes (except obviously the flea-watt type) so I guess I’m not surprised.  Glad you’re so happy!  Color me jealous. 

Sounds good arafiq !

Two things I forgot to mention about when I owned the Harbeth SuperHL5plus:

For some reason I could never get them to image with much depth.

I’ve always valued soundstaging and imaging (though tone/timbre above that), my room supports fantastic depth of soundstaging, and all the speakers I’ve owned have achieved this. But I could never get more than a somewhat for-shortened soundstage with the Harbeths, which was frustrating. Even if I moved them closer to nearfield.  My Thiel 2.7 and Joseph speakers do wall-melting depth of soundstaging in comparison.

Also, I just remembered that I actually briefly, just for kicks, drove the Perspectives with my old Eico HF81 14w integrated tube amp. And it sounded gorgeous. I don’t remember having any particular sense of the speakers running out of steam with those amps, though the bass was a bit more rich and loose, which was the sound of those amps on every other speaker I had as well.

@arafiq OP:

Thank you. Great plan. It has taken me decades of slow upgrades to get my system together. But the rewards have far exceeded my expectations.

For most of my time as an audiophile I researched endlessly, listened with ever increasingly discerning ears to greater nuances of sound reproduction and made good choices compromising on price. But when I put the last couple of pieces of ARC into place to sound changed to a level above anything I have heard. There is a naturalness and balance of details across the audio spectrum I have not heard before. To me a level of sophistication I have not heard. Which makes sense when you are buying from a company that has been assaulting the high end for over forty years. This stuff is not made by folks just getting their feet on the ground.

Of course, this is not to say that the ARC is for everyone. Folks listening to rock and hip-hop that want their system to loosen the nails and screws in the house might opt for something else. That is not to say my system will not play well and loud enough to deafen you… it can, but MAC / B&W might do it better for greater propondence of bass..