Harbeth M30 and M30.1

[wizons]

I'm trying a pair of Harbeth M30s at home, courtesy of an excellent dealer. The idea is to get off the 'high end' hifi bandwagon and have a definitive and accurate system that can be enjoyed without having to indulge in addictive box swapping and the ceaseless quest for the gas-guzzling big power amps required by power hungry floorstanders.

So far so good. The M30s sound superb and do a much better job of reproducing instrumental/vocal timbre accurately than my Sonus Fabers, without any part of the frequency spectrum dominating. However, they are the M30s and not the current M30.1s. The latter are not easily available for home demonstration due to the high number of demos booked by the dealer (quite understandably).

Has anyone compared the M30.1s to the M30s, or does anyone have experience of the two?

 

[Tarzan]

According to some on the Harbeth User group forum, the 30.1 is a bit of a jump up in performance.

 

[EJP]

I've heard nothing but good things about the 30.1, apparently they are quite similar but the 30.1 has a more refined and sweeter top end due to a new tweeter and the crossover has been revised.

I've not heard them myself but I'd like to

 

[andreweast]

The 30.1 is exceptionally refined, and what surprised me about it the most was that rather than being more revealing as a monitor speaker it is actually more forgiving than the C7ES3. It has just a little extra degree of tonal naturalism and this actually serves to flatter cd masters which are inferior to the vinyl. I've not compared it directly to the old Monitor 30, however a few years ago I did a three way comparison with the C7, M30 and SHL5, then sometime later I did a briefer comparison between M30 and C7. On those occasions I found the C7 just that bit richer, particularly on voices and saxophones. However I believe this has changed. I think they have tweeked the 30.1 to be slightly richer in the mid-range, although I couldn't swear to it. I've since done a comparison between 30.1 and C7ES3, both at KJWestone and at home. The 30.1 really shines in the soprano range; I imagine the superior tweeter is playing a role here. Personally I decided to stick with the C7's because it is a good compromise as an all rounder; the 30.1 has very little going on sub-50Hz. The C7 doesn't have that much, but its enought to get the force of a kick drum, and particularly the kick on a 909. So for rock and electronic music that makes the C7 better. For small scale classical music the 30.1 is an exquisite speaker, and it's a good all rounder as well. If you are satisfied with the 30 though, that's a superb speaker too; it may be that it's just slipped into greatness with the 30.1, or it may be that the differences are a tad exaggerated.

 

[Novak]

I have owned both, as well as the C7 and P3ESR.

I found the M30 veiled but good in the mids. But, after a while, they just lacked excitement for me. I later went for the P3ESR as they were more lively/revealing in the upper frequencies. I now own these but recently after some system and room changes I bought the M30.1.

The M30.1 are much better suited to me than the M30 were. They have a jump in detail and resolution, but still have the amazing tonal qualities, perhaps even more so. Still love the P3ESR...But the M30.1 sound even more fantastic and are my preferred choice all round. They really are lovely speakers. Saying that, they all are.

Like most speakers, they are very room dependent though. I wouldnt want anything bigger in my room than the M30.1 as the room can be a little boomy and they can look quite big when on decent sized stands.

If you like the 30, I'm sure you'd love the 30.1!

 

[wizons]

Thanks for the replies. I'd be grateful to hear from anyone else who knows these speakers. It sounds as if the 30.1s are clearly superior to the 30s. I'm going to play with the 30s over the weekend. As I said, they are clearly superior to the Sonus Fabers in terms of tonal realism, though I'm missing the SF's bass. The one instrument I'm not convinced by is piano, which has a slightly boxy sound to it.

I listened to the SHL5 during the demo but preferred the 30.1s. The tweeter does a superb job. I suppose the SHL5 would provide some of the bass I'm missing, but I felt the 30.1s were superior overall.

 

[Eddieedwards]

Hi - I thought the 30.1 was superb when I tried them at home - that was until I tried Stirling Broadcast. Without meaning to take the thread elsewhere, I notice that you are in London. Have you ever listened to Stirling Broadcast? Walrus do them and I found them to be absoutely superb when doing side by side comparisons of SHL5, 30.1 and the Stirlings.

 

[andreweast]

Very interesting Eddieedwards - can you tell us about the size of the room that you tried the Sterlings?

 

[Eddieedwards]

Very interesting Eddieedwards - can you tell us about the size of the room that you tried the Sterlings?

Yep, my room is 4m x 4m (the dreaded square!) and there was no boom at all. It was a few months ago now, and I've had a total change of direction since, but I remember the Stirlings being more articulate in the bass than the Harbeth. It was far clearer, better defined, tighter and more tuneful. When compared side by side, it was easier to follow a bass line with the Stirlings. Obviously they are larger, but the footprint is similar, so the space taken up is not much different really.

At the time I was struggling to find speaker for my Naim Olive system and, up to that point, I would've bought the 30.1. I then heard the Stirling and was set to buy them...... I then heard an Art Audio Jota and some Living Voice and sold everything and started again!!! :doh:

 

[andreweast]

Now I regret not giving the Stirlings a demo (my room is 4 x 5m and I thought they would be a bit too big). Now I've got giant horns in the room there is no room to try anything else!

 

[Nagraboy]

When in was thinking of changing from P3ESR to M30.1 a while back, Harbeth MD/Designer Alan Shaw told me it wasn't necessary to change. He told me to just enjoy the P3ESR as they're a great speaker already.

He's also of the opinion that the 'upgraded' 30.1 is not really worth getting if you've already got the original M30, although it does represent an incremental improvement over the M30, mainly due to more advanced speaker design software unavailable when the original M30 was designed nearly 20 years ago.

The US magazines have really hyped the M30.1, but barely mentioned the predecessor which amuses Alan as they are really very similar. Food for thought...

 

[wizons]

When in was thinking of changing from P3ESR to M30.1 a while back, Harbeth MD/Designer Alan Shaw told me it wasn't necessary to change. He told me to just enjoy the P3ESR as they're a great speaker already.He's also of the opinion that the 'upgraded' 30.1 is not really worth getting if you've already got the original M30, although it does represent an incremental improvement over the M30, mainly due to more advanced speaker design software unavailable when the original M30 was designed nearly 20 years ago.

The US magazines have really hyped the M30.1, but barely mentioned the predecessor which amuses Alan as they are really very similar. Food for thought...

Yes that is food for thought, particularly as you'd imagine the MD pushing sales. I haven't had a chance to set up the M30s properly yet, but if they sing I believe they are on offer for a good price.....

 

[wizons]

Hi - I thought the 30.1 was superb when I tried them at home - that was until I tried Stirling Broadcast. Without meaning to take the thread elsewhere, I notice that you are in London. Have you ever listened to Stirling Broadcast? Walrus do them and I found them to be absoutely superb when doing side by side comparisons of SHL5, 30.1 and the Stirlings.

I actually visited Walrus back in April for a demo of the Stirlings, after having heard the M30.1s and SHL5 at KJ West One, who have superb demo facilities but were unable to loan out Harbeth speakers for home trial, which makes purchase a shot in the dark. I Posted a review of my findings around that time and I remember preferring the Habeths by some margin. I found the Stirlings coloured; best of all to my ear was the M30.1. However, I recognise this was not a completely fair test as the demo rooms etc were completely different. Mind you, the owner of Walrus described the Stirling (I heard their equivalent of the SHL5) as 'pure coloration'.

 

[Nagraboy]

Yes that is food for thought, particularly as you'd imagine the MD pushing sales. I haven't had a chance to set up the M30s properly yet, but if they sing I believe they are on offer for a good price.....

I've seen the ones at Radlett Audio - they do look a good price. My old pair of C7-ES3 sold on here the other day for £1250 with stands. Nearly bought them back myself, but they didn't hang around for long.

 

[andreweast]

Ultimately when choosing Harbeths or any lossy box speaker you need to let your room make the decision and not have any sentimental attachments according to what you heard in a demo room. I was heartbroken when the SHL5's didn't work at home, and I spent ages trying to get the 7's to sound like 5's. A couple of years later and a move into a larger room, I probably could get the 5's to work, but the 7's are appreciating the extra space. The move from a 17 x 12 to a 20 x 15 really opened them up, and alleviated any little bass issues I might have had. IN between I had them in a 15 x 12 room, on the short wall, and they were good, but I just didn't quite feel they were breathing. This is the key really - get the model that your room will allow to breathe a bit. They just don't appreciate being cramped, in my experience.

 

[cdb3]

I went to Radlett for a Harbeth demo anticipating getting the ex-dem Harbeth 30s that were on offer. However, I bought new 30.1s instead as I thought there was a significant improvement. It's a little while now since the demo but it was in the area of detail and articulation. I don't find them particularly lacking in bass on rock music - but they are less coloured than the floorstanders I had before.

 

[monad]

There is no Harbeth thread on earth without Andrew's contribution. You must be by now numero uno specialist and the (unofficial) ambassador of the breed. Which makes your post always interesting reading. And good luck with la Maria Scallas.

 

[wizons]

I went to Radlett for a Harbeth demo anticipating getting the ex-dem Harbeth 30s that were on offer. However, I bought new 30.1s instead as I thought there was a significant improvement. It's a little while now since the demo but it was in the area of detail and articulation. I don't find them particularly lacking in bass on rock music - but they are less coloured than the floorstanders I had before.

Did you have a chance to hear the 30.1 at home? I haven't been able to hear them at home yet and I'm not prepared to buy a speaker I haven't heard in my room. Given the 30s are said to be different/better, I'm reluctant to extrapolate from my experience of trying them at home to what the 30.1 might be like at home. This has been a frustrating part of trying to buy Harbeths to date.

 

[rockmeister]

could you not buy them under the normal sale of goods act conditions? And/or explain to the shop that you have doubts, but lay down your cash with a clear understanding that if you return them mint, boxed and in all the wrapping within a week, you expect your money back? If it's Radletts he is a very good chap and should be ok with that surely?