Harbeth Is Not Suited For Rock Music: Fact Or Fiction?

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by rnrmf1971

Thanks. This was my mom’s house and she curated her home to be minimalist and elegant which made her feel calm and comfortable. Most everything is white and she added dark hardwood a few years back which added a nice contrast. The house is near the water and it has a beachy vibe.
She’d have gone nuts at the thought of a stereo in the house. But I thought the Marantz champagne gear would be as unobtrusive and keeping with the feel of her home. Luxman silver was the other option but I really wanted to try the Marantz SA-10 with its unique design.

It looks very nice. You did a good job with the photo, too. There's a little extension distortion at the sides of the photo from the wide-angle lens, but overall it looks very nice.

[rnrmf1971]

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

It looks very nice. You did a good job with the photo, too. There's a little extension distortion at the sides of the photo from the wide-angle lens, but overall it looks very nice.

Ha, all the credit goes to the iPhone.
I was sitting underneath a table with my hands above the table bent and stretched back to get everything in the shot as I looked up at the screen through the glass table top and tried to keep my hands out of the shot!

Here’s the original with the glass tabletop at the bottom:

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by rnrmf1971

Ha, all the credit goes to the iPhone.
I was sitting underneath a table with my hands above the table bent and stretched back to get everything in the shot as I looked up at the screen through the glass table top and tried to keep my hands out of the shot!

Here’s the original with the glass tabletop at the bottom:

Well, you did pretty good, all things considered.

[GeAllan70]

Harb's!!

[rnrmf1971]

Originally Posted by GeAllan70

Harb's!!

They are!

I got home at around 9:30pm from a family function, expecting to go to bed because I was exhausted. I was falling asleep all afternoon.

I’m still up, almost 4 hours later, putting in one disc after another, mesmerized by details and clarity in each recording I listen to. And that low end. It’s something else. It’s enabling enjoyment of recordings in a deeper way. And the speakers fill the room with sound - not just the listening seat but 15 feet to the left and right of the speakers sounds great. These are going to be played non stop when I’m here.

And I’m sure there’s room for improvement with some alternate cable choices and overall system run in as it’s virtually brand new, speaker cables included. The speakers were demos but I don’t know how often they were played.

It’s been making music for almost 24 hours straight because I left it on last night as well as today, while I was out. I’ll give it a rest tonight.

As it stands, this is the sound and presentation I was aiming for with this system so I’m thrilled. In fact, my expectations are exceeded.

[bradleyc]

Originally Posted by rnrmf1971

They are!

I got home at around 9:30pm from a family function, expecting to go to bed because I was exhausted. I was falling asleep all afternoon.

I’m still up, almost 4 hours later, putting in one disc after another, mesmerized by details and clarity in each recording I listen to. And that low end. It’s something else. It’s enabling enjoyment of recordings in a deeper way. And the speakers fill the room with sound - not just the listening seat but 15 feet to the left and right of the speakers sounds great. These are going to be played non stop when I’m here.

And I’m sure there’s room for improvement with some alternate cable choices and overall system run in as it’s virtually brand new, speaker cables included. The speakers were demos but I don’t know how often they were played.

It’s been making music for almost 24 hours straight because I left it on last night as well as today, while I was out. I’ll give it a rest tonight.

As it stands, this is the sound and presentation I was aiming for with this system so I’m thrilled. In fact, my expectations are exceeded.

Big Congrats! I know your expectations were extremely high, so to find out those expectations have been exceeded right out of the box means you’ve really found your sound this time around. As a satisfied owner of two PM-10S1’s, an SA-10S1, an SA-KI-Ruby and other Marantz Reference gear, your choice of big Harbeths inspired me to order a pair of 40th Anniversary Edition Harbeth 30.2 speakers on Saturday for my other PM-10S1 amp. They will share time in rotation with Klipsch Cornwall III speakers, sort of at opposite ends of the spectrum. Looking forward to more diversity in system sound and genres of music.

[rnrmf1971]

Originally Posted by bradleyc

Big Congrats! I know your expectations were extremely high, so to find out those expectations have been exceeded right out of the box means you’ve really found your sound this time around. As a satisfied owner of two PM-10S1’s, an SA-10S1, an SA-KI-Ruby and other Marantz Reference gear, your choice of big Harbeths inspired me to order a pair of 40th Anniversary Edition Harbeth 30.2 speakers on Saturday for my other PM-10S1 amp. They will share time in rotation with Klipsch Cornwall III speakers, sort of at opposite ends of the spectrum. Looking forward to more diversity in system sound and genres of music.

Congratulations on the 30.2 Anniversary speakers!
I hope you love them as much as I love these. They are getting along very well with the Marantz gear.

I've been playing a mix of various rock and jazz music and I haven't identified any that this system doesn't reproduce with aplomb.
It's revealing enough that I can identify the deficiencies of some of the early Barry Diament Led Zeppelin cd masters in ways I haven't noticed, before, too.
Conversely, everything sounds great and checks all the boxes that I want checked - dynamics, detail, warmth, natural sounding, realistic bass, etc...

Two nights ago, when it was about 1 am and I turned it all on and put in the first disc, I was sitting on the floor about 4-5 feet away, and closer to the right speaker. I used the remote to hit play, the music started playing and I could tell right away this system was something special because despite my physical location on the floor, closer to that speaker, the music seemed free of the speakers. I didn't hear it coming out of that right speaker but instead the soundstage was in the air around and between the speakers.

I'm glad I got the Tiger Ebony color from the dealer because I don't see it listed on Harbeth's site as an option, anymore. I like a number of other finishes, especially the Anniversary ones, but this was first choice for this set up.

What Anniversary finish were you able to get and how long will you have to count the days 'til they arrive?

[bradleyc]

Not sure how rare they are, but all that was available were some white eucalyptus pairs, and one pair of walnut. I pounced on the walnut, which is one of my favorites thanks for asking. Hoping for less wait this time around, the P3ESR Anniversaries are finally tracking for Monday delivery.

[bradleyc]

My new Harbeth order changed today, delivery date will be mid-June. Was able to change 30.2 order to Super HL5Plus Walnut Anniversary Edition. At 37 lbs. per speaker, they are as big and heavy as I can deal with rotating them in and out of multiple systems

[rnrmf1971]

Originally Posted by bradleyc

My new Harbeth order changed today, delivery date will be mid-June. Was able to change 30.2 order to Super HL5Plus Walnut Anniversary Edition. At 37 lbs. per speaker, they are as big and heavy as I can deal with rotating them in and out of multiple systems

So no P3ESR until June?

Interesting choice on the Super HL5 Plus. Did the extra super tweeter play into your decision?