[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by CGabriel

Ok, let’s not overstate the actual issue with cabinet vibration. I hear it stated many times that the Harbeth cabinets are “intentionally” designed to resonate. That is pure nonsense. I have the 40.2 and the cabinet is quite well damped - for a conventional wooden cabinet type enclosure. I think that statements made by some people have been misconstrued. What I understood about the cabinets is that if they made the cabinets “more” ridged that the secondary vibrations are shifted to a high frequency that is then less musical.

EVERY type of speaker has primary and undesired secondary vibrations. This included encloses of wood, aluminum, concrete, composites and many others. Even the frames of planar type speakers refract and reflect the vibrations of the radiating surface. So, ALL speakers have “colorations”.

The question for me is -how effectively does the designer understand and deal with those secondary radiations. Some designers are better at this “art” than others. I prefer a speaker that has colorations that are harmonically sympathetic to the music. Some (not all), so called, insert speaker enclosures simply shift the energy vibrations in frequency and more importantly in the time domain making them sound less musical than something seemingly less sophisticated like the Harbeths.

The Harbeth has a particularly musical and organic signature that allows you to enjoy the music. This is not to diminish any other speaker or ones personal preference for a different set of colorations. It is all about choices. We live in the golden of audio. There are so many incredible speakers to chose from. I see no reason to pick out one single design parameter to exclusion of all the others.

I've been considering getting a pair of Harbeths for a while now, but have been giving it much more consideration of late. I check the auction sites almost daily for Harbeths that are for sale. Trying to decide betweeen 30.1s or the C-7ES3.

Haven't heard the C-7ES3s (yet), but I've heard 30.1s with entry-level C-J tube amplification (ET-3 and LP66S), and it was one of the most musically-satisfying systems I've ever heard, regardless of price. A good buddy who had never them before was with me on that visit, and his thought was that they might sound, "too beautiful".