I had a pair in a 14 by 21 foot room, firing the length of the room. First thing to consider, these are very big speakers. They will dominate your room. Second, as mentioned they need to be away from the walls. If you can get them 4-6 feet out from the front wall and at least 3 feet from the sidewalls, you might be ok. For me, they were just too big for my room. Too much bass and presence overall. The Harbeth magic is there when the speakers disappear. For this I’d rather go smaller speakers in a big room, rather than big in a small room. I downsized to the M30s and was much happier. Since they are expensive even used, I would recommend trying a pair of SHL5s in your room. If you buy used you can always resell them without too much loss, and you’ll know if you like them or not. The SHL5s also work really well with tubes. You may just find these are exactly what you are looking for as well. I think they will be better suited to your room, and then easier to integrate with a sub than the 40s in that room, if you need one.
Harbeth 40.3's. Should I buy them?
I've owned a lot of speakers. I've just finished auditioning a pair of Alta Audio Alec's. Not good at all in my system. I own a pair of Spatial X3 open baffle speakers. I really like them and my wife doesn't. I recently bought a pair of Buchardt S400 MKII's for a second system. I say second system because I have a dedicated 2 channel room 15' x 19'. Upstairs in a much larger room, the Buchardt's were anemic, fine, 2 Adam subs solved the anemia. Then just for the heck of it (and because audio is a hobby) I moved the Buchardt monitors downstairs in the 'big guys' room. The Buchardt's loved that room and my wife loved the Buchardt's except they are to small for the listening room and our listening tastes.
I'm tired of buying and selling speakers. I've been to a hundred audio shows and have "favorites". Harbeth have always sounded great, not a show stopper, but, at shows, they've been totally inoffensive, warm and engaging in the same way I like Audio Notes AN-e.
We play all types of music. My wife especially likes classical, leaning towards female singers but too, she'll rock out on Led Zeppelin, Ozzy Osbourne, Black Keyes, Journey, you get the idea. Me, classic rock but anything that soothes my soul works. I like to play loud. My wife - louder, but not teenager loud.
We have an awesome front end to work with. Allnic T2000 30th integrated (60wpc in triode 150wpc in pentode), Allnic H5500 phono and Allnic D10000 DAC.
Why wouldn't we happy with this speaker?
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@yogiboy that's amazing. I am usually the opposite, I can only sell hifi gear at a huge 30/50% loss. |
I would have 14 days to return them. I would lose on shipping costs, that's it. Yes, I'm often losing my ass on audio purchases, even used, but I'm gaining experience and knowledge (like I know anything after 57 years in this hobby). My room was built for audio. Size does not matter. The reason this speaker had piqued my interest was that it's a Harbeth, and seemingly a good deal if of course it worked and sounded amazing. It has to sound... amazing. |
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