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Harbeth XD shoot out

N

novak

pfm Member
Hello!

I'm enjoying a home demo of the Harbeth SHL5 XD and M30.2 XD. I already have the Falcon LS3/5A Gold Badge which are excellent. The new room is a little bigger than before – around 5.5m x 4.5m with high ceilings.

I thought to try the new Harbeths, as a long-time fan. I have owned P3ESR, M30, M30.1 and SHL5+ in the last few years. The P3ESR and SHL5+ were my favourites – particularly the latter.

First impressions are very good. I loved the SHL5+ before but a house move prompted a sale. The new XD to me sounds very similar – I was never left wanting with the older models, and the new XD deliver also. They're big and bold, but very open and natural. They're a great speaker.

I was quite surprised when I switched to the 30.2 XD. They're much closer to the SHL5 XD in terms of detail and transparency. I found the M30 (and M30.1 to a point) a little warm and dark for my tastes. Not the 30.2.

I'm on the fence, they're both fantastic. The '5's are painting more of a 'wash' across the room, whilst the 30s are perhaps more from the box, but the texture and tone are wonderful.

Does anyone have experience with these two speakers? How did they compare over the longer term? I'm only a few hours in!
 
Yes, had the Plus, now have the 30.2XD.

Spot on with your appraisal of their respective merits - the 30.2 do sound more from the box, while the 5's given space do present a larger, freer picture. With some material, you can hear more of the box resonance with the 5's IMO.

For me, ultimately the 30.2 fit my space better. I simply couldn't place the 5's properly without upending the room, so my opinion of them may be somewhat unfair. Gladly I more or less plonked the 30.2 down and have pretty much forgotten about placement matters.

But yes, on the whole tonally speaking, very much more alike than not.

The C7XD further complicates the picture - reportedly like a smaller SHL5XD!? Perhaps form factor and space concerns are the ultimate arbiters of choice with the range, with the presentation more or less aligned.
 
novak said:
I found the M30 (and M30.1 to a point) a little warm and dark for my tastes. Not the 30.2.
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Same experience other than I found the M30 to sound exceptionally warm and dark, not little. M30.1 slightly better and M30.2 much better in terms of transparency and openness but still didn't quite cut it in my book in comparison to SHL5+ which sounds more airy and open.

Good to know the 30.2XD is closer in the presentation to the SHL5XD. I would expect the differences to be somewhat aligned to 30.2 vs SHL5+ non-XD versions.
 
barryb said:
For me, ultimately the 30.2 fit my space better.
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I've always liked the small form factor of both M30 and C7ES3 more than the SHL5. I still recall seeing the Harbeth in the flesh for the first time back in the day (must be more than 15 years now), all M30, C7ES3 and SHL5 non-Plus during that time. Even before listening to any of the models, I was hoping the M30 would sound the best as I really wanted to own it. The M30 in ebony finish looks really posh and exquisite. Unfortunately I found it to sound the worst out of the 3 models. The C7ES3 actually sounded a bit better than the SHL5 but I settled with the latter for its larger presentation and deeper bass.
 
I have M30.1s with my naim gear and prefer it to my Sopra no1s. Much more natural sound to my ears. Moving it 1.2m from the front wall and adding room treatmenrts has improved them no end and they are now detailed, tight and rich all at the same time.
 
Thanks for the thoughts… yes would love to try the C7xd also one day.

I have been enjoying some more time with the two models, and also comparing them to the Falcon Gold Badge. It really is like Paper Scissors Stone with the three of them!

I’d say the SHL5xd probably have the all round edge due to their effortless sound and very open presentation. However, the M30.2xd are contenders, perhaps a little more punchy, slightly thicker, very natural, and delivering as much detail and texture as the ‘5s. More from the box, but they are very special. A big step
up from my memory of previous M30 and M30.1.

Switching to the Falcons, you get the magical mid range as always, and good dynamics, despite being from a tiny box. They’re the best small speaker I have heard.

The room can take the SHL5xd visually and acoustically, so these perhaps will give me more flexibility in terms of low level listening through to adding a bit more power and being more immersed in the music.
 
I recently did a huge listening exercise of many current offerings across lots of brands up to nearly £6k.

In my opinion the C7 XD was the pick of the bunch and I kept returning to them. They are very special speakers.

You should definitely add them to your list. They are outstanding.
 
Amormusic said:
I recently did a huge listening exercise of many current offerings across lots of brands up to nearly £6k.

In my opinion the C7 XD was the pick of the bunch and I kept returning to them. They are very special speakers.

You should definitely add them to your list. They are outstanding.
Click to expand...

Nice! Did you compare them to the 30.2xd and SHL5xd?
 
novak said:
Nice! Did you compare them to the 30.2xd and SHL5xd?
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I did not do a Harbeth shootout (the SHL5 would be too big for me personally anyway, and there's not a huge size difference between the 30.2 and C7).

However, the dealers comment was that I have to listen to these... Crikey he was right, they are phenomenal speakers. I must add, my brief was for floorstanders only, he threw a curve ball and they are seriously impressive.

Get a listen to a set if you can.
 
I've also read elsewhere that the C7 XD is supposedly the sweet spot in the range? Hearsay on my part, but apparently these are the ones that Harbeth always take to shows.
 
My experience take:Which XD model stirs your drink is entirely dependent on two things:
(1) Your integrated amp upstream (I don’t drink the HARBETH forum KoolAid that their speakers are agnostic when it comes to amps and cables)
(2) Your bespoke room size.

I found the 30.2XD’s were the preferred model for me. If I elect to change them, it will be directly to the 40.3XD’s

https://www.stereonet.com/au/reviews/harbeth-m30-2-xd-loudspeakers-review
 
AKG said:
My experience take:Which XD model stirs your drink is entirely dependent on two things:
(1) Your integrated amp upstream (I don’t drink the HARBETH forum KoolAid that their speakers are agnostic when it comes to amps and cables)
(2) Your bespoke room size.

I found the 30.2XD’s were the preferred model for me. If I elect to change them, it will be directly to the 40.3XD’s

https://www.stereonet.com/au/reviews/harbeth-m30-2-xd-loudspeakers-review
Click to expand...

I'd like to hear the 30.2XD. The price these days is a bit of a shocker though - £4,365 plus stand cost.
 
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