I haven't been this excited in a while!

Happy Friday

I have had the Harbeth about 2 weeks now.  They are still very engaging and really impress me.  One really interesting factor that I have discovered is how they present my vinyl compared to streaming.  I have not invested as much in my streaming gear as my vinyl.  This is because I have not been able to appreciate the SQ difference going from a modest streamer to a high end model.  I have another thread on this so won’t go into detail on that, just that while I don’t have as much money invested across my digital front end compared to my analog, it sounds great.  In my experience, buying newly produced music on vinyl offers no SQ advantage over digital.  For example, Van Morrison’s latest album sounds exactly the same on both sources.  Where my vinyl does shine is on older music and some audiophile releases.  Back to the Harbeth, now digital sounds better than vinyl whether it is old or new vinyl.  The warmth that vinyl offers combined with the Harbeth sound(in my room)is too much and the midbass is bloated.  I did try moving everything out from the front wall about 2.5 feet(speakers and my seat).  This improved the sound and helped with the midbass bloat, but unfortunately is not realistic for my space.  I am not ready to abandon vinyl, but IF I was, these Harbeth would make that a much easier transition.  I have not moved my Wilsons back to see how I react to their sound and will likely do that this weekend.  

Thanks for sharing. 

I look forward to hearing more when you swap back. I always find more obvious conformation when swapping back. 

I still haven't swapped back to the Wilsons.  These Harbeth have been more enjoyable by far than any of the newer/bigger Wilsons I had.  Tonight I tried something for the excessive bass....rolled up some dish towels and plugged the ports.  Initial assessment is this was a success.  It clearly reduced the bass energy and cleaned up the sound.  I ordered some actual foam plugs off Amazon and also emailed Harbeth to get their blessing.  I don't believe there is any risk to do this, simply not likely recommended by Harbeth.  Assuming that there is no risk, I suspect that this is not recommended because you are expected to place them properly in an ideal space, but if your space is not ideal then it is a reasonable adjustment to tailor the sound.  My Hsu Research home theater sub has two ports and Dr. Hsu provided two plugs to make those adjustments.  At some point, I will move the Wilsons back but have just been enjoying these Harbeth.  

Also, I need to strike my comment above as upon further vinyl listening, I was incorrect, sometimes the Harbeth also sound better on vinyl.  

Things are not looking good at the moment...bet the excitement is starting to dwindle...hmm, So, let us fix it.

Return the Harbeth within the return window and replace it with a Yamaha NS5000. Its a great speaker with a similar form factor of a Harbeth. But Instruments will sound like Instruments again with the Yamaha (something you never had befote). Harboth doesn't know about stuff like that. Yamaha is a brand with unmatched engineering aptitude and extreme knowledge of Instruments, since they design/fab all your musical instruments as well. Further, you can't even compare the exquisite fit and finish of rhe Yamaha to the Harbeth garage diy box.

Next, let us tackle the brightness and pain that Wilson might have caused you, .

Well...the following is a good strategy if you are outside return windows...

a) talk up the speaker, sing praise on a few threads and get the merry-go-round riders excited for a Willson purchase.

b) Very quietly, slip your wilson into the classifieds section.

c) Wait for some excited lad to buy it

d) Get the cash and buy a PS Audio FR10, FR20. FR30, etc..i.e. one of those with the ribbon midrange. It has a lot of real detail, etc and is a hifi speaker, but it is also enjoyable. Bright sounding stuff posing as detail is not real detail (one of the cheapest tricks) 

You should be in good hands thereafter.

It is very obvious how I have lost the detail which the Sophias gave. The voices and instruments are not as focused...everything is kind of smeared in the soundstage. With the Sophias, on a really good recording the vocals were so realistic and made you feel like the artist was there. I didn’t take note of the albums but there are some which the Harbeth also are super impressive in how musical and realistic they sound.  

I feel that I am still early in the adjustment phase of not only setting up the speakers but also my ears and brain getting used to the sound.  

I know that with the other Wilson speakers, it was an immediate NO. They were bright/hot in my room and there was no denying this, it was annoying and no amount of positioning had any effect on this sound.

You have a great looking system and congrats on branching out in other directions. My journey went through a few B&W speakers back in the late 90's and varied pretty widely. Two speaker brands I've really enjoyed over the years (on my progression towards higher efficiency speakers have been Verity Audio and Devore Fidelity. I did work with a Wilson and Magico distributor years ago and have had The WP8 and the Sophia in my home, but long ago. 

I recently had the Harbeth C7es3 and found the sound to probably be a bit more detailed than you are describing from this older, and from my understanding, warmer earlier versions. I was really impressed with them. The detail retrieval was there but the annoyance and tension that the upper mids and treble was really non existent. 

I would pull them out a little, move your set back if you can. Also when nobody is around if you have WAF issues, take some blankets and pillows and toss them in the corners behind the speakers. It's easy and a fast way to change the sound and experiment a little, as this seems like what you are doing. It will look awful but just close your eyes and listen for differences. I've used the bass "bungs" they're called to plug the ports, but have always worked with position for better results when possible. 

Have fun and enjoy!