Harbeth Owners which model?

Smatsui,

I appreciate your experience with both SHL5 and M40.1 in the same room and with the same equipment. And I agree about the significance of WAF that varies with individuals.

Yes, my room has a ceiling height of 8 to 9 feet. Your room certainly has a very high ceiling, and I can imagine the M40.1 to load the room more effectively than the SHL5 with the added space. I find placement of larger Harbeth speakers to be critical for an even bass response and 3-dimensional soundstaging. They need to have some space from wall boundaries to sound their best or some uneven boomy bass or "flatness" may be perceived. The bass of the M40.1s in your room may be "better" than the SHL5s, but in smaller rooms with a common ceiling height, the bass of the M40.1 may overwhelm the room. Placement of the M40.1 is far critical than the SHL5s in a mid-sized room, from my limited experience with my friend's setup. The placement of the M40.1 has been changed numerous times with the speakers pushed out from the walls, back nearer to the wall, and distance between speakers fiddled many times just to get an even bass response. For a fussy listener, the setup of the M40.1 ain't as easy as it appear to be.

And I believe room treatments, especially bass traps do help improve the bass quality a bit especially in smaller rooms.

I am not denying that the M40.1 is an excellent speaker and may very well be superior than the SHL5. My point is they may be a fussier speaker to set up than the SHL5 in smaller to mid-sized rooms, and can disappoint in some setups if compared to the smaller Harbeth models. As usual, large speakers produce more bass, and more bass usually equates to more problems if not properly addressed (unless the listener is not too critical on this aspect).

Cheers.

I appreciate all the feedback from everyone. I have been on vacation for the past week without a computer and see some more great posts. thanks! Any M30 owners?

Hi Bobheinatz,

This is my take on how the 30.1's and SHL5's differ:

The 30.1 is more clear and more extended sounding. It is more accurate sounding and "tighter."

The SHL5 goes deeper and has more bass weight. Its top end is not quite as open and "airy" as the 30.1. It doesn't sound as tight, but the SHL5 seems to have more "bloom."

The 30.1 seems to be more revealing of the recording - but it does not exaggerate the negatives in a recording, nor does the SHL5.

They both are excellent stand-mount speakers and excel in the midrange. Both should work very well in your room size (but the 40.1 is probably too big and might be more difficult to place).

I hope this helps, and YMMV,

Vinnie

Please check out my question on Harbeth posted 6/27 in "speakers" category. I have not gotten any feedback. I think I should have posted it here. Thanks for any help.

I worked my way up through the Harbeth range via a very co-operative dealer who has subsequently (and happily, apparently) resigned the agency and settled on the SHL5 models. I then borrowed a pair of 40.1 speakers. Big, big mistake bass-wise. I hoped for everything the SHL5s did, or better, plus more weight to bass. I did in fact get this – but not in the way I expected.

The bass ‘bump’ I experienced made the 40.1 sound like an entirely disconnected ‘cinema’ subwoofer. Yes, the integration of the mid and top was magnificent and other than the Vandersteen 7 probably as good as I have ever heard from cones. But to me, in my room, using various transistor amps and at the volume I listen to, I just didn’t ‘get it’. I tried various cables, stands, hoped for divine intervention and so on, to no avail. A miserable experience. So I went back to the SHL5 with an ‘Underdog’ subwoofer. Absolute bliss for a fraction of the 40.1 offering.