Talking about stands … if one were to place something like the Isoacoustic Orea puck between speaker and stand, would the stand make any difference?
I'm using Linton stands. They're fine. They come with isolators so the speaker rest on those and not directly on the plate.
never tried them but all situations are unique. the speakers i have had all sound best with a rigid coupling like spikes to my concrete floor including stands or floor standers. this may be different for people with suspended floors. for stand mounts high mass have sounded the best regardless of type of speaker isolater dot used. basically a rigid platform under the speaker. with that said the iso dots under the speaker matter quite a bit for lossy cabinets like my Harbeth SHL5+. generally speaking a soft iso dot like sorbothane causes too much loose bass and a hard material iso dot like silicone rubber makes the speaker sound thin. a medium hardness material iso dot made for speakers sounded best, as measurements in my room confirmed. Final word about stands and isolaters for Harbeth is that height is critical for best sound. If the isolators are too thick they may raise the speakers too much. Many go by the tweeter at ear level rule but my Harbeths all sounded best with the tweeter an inch or two below ear level height.
Interesting. I love the sound of the P3's. Only really looking for more realistic scale and a more effortless sound. You don't think bigger drivers in bigger boxes would achieve that? "Looking into a soundstage" is a great way to describe the sound of the P3's, by the way. I would love to try panels but I only have so much room that I can give them. They wouldn't work in my room. Small towers may. I like a lot of things my Spendor towers do but I just get this congested, boomy sound from them at times. They probably need more space.
If you’re listening near field nothing will based on my experience. FWIW, I really like my Harbeth 30, but they are not ideal for symphonic music, big band jazz, that kind of thing. The SHL5 does big sound better, but it’s a lot of speaker for a small room.
Fully agree, I have two systems one with Wilson Alexia 2’s and the other with Harbeth 40.3’s. The Harbeth puts you into the studio and reveals everything about the recording, the Wilson recreates the performance but obscures small details. Both good but for different reasons.
Fully agreed...these are precisely the observations i had when i went from Vandersteen Quatros to Harbeth shl5 + ....might not be for everyone,but a few years later i'm still hearing little things in my music that where obscured by my previous speakers.I think it makes for more interesting listening
I'm using HiFi Racks stands....a little flimsy construction for my taste,but larger screws and some construction adhesive sorted that out quite well.
You guys seem to be comparing larger Harbeth models with other brands. I think the comparison I need to make is the P3ESR versus larger Harbeths (and other similar speakers). What does the M30 or C7 give me over the P3? Will I get more of what I'm looking for? If not, maybe I accept the P3's limitations and live with them. It sounds glorious enough that I could easily do so. Music like large symphonies and big band jazz aren't on my playlist very often (big band jazz never is). I prefer rock the vast majority of the time, and more intimate jazz and classical music on occasion. But I appreciate the thoughts. I am going to have to try to listen to bunch of speakers and I'll keep this conversation in mind, focusing on scale and effortlessness (or lack therefore) when I compare the P3 to larger standmounts. I will probably bring the P3 to a dealer or two at some point and do some shootouts. If and when I listen to the AN/K, I may bring my amp. I think the K may prefer a lower powered amp so I'd want to make sure about that before buying a pair.
Well keeping that in mind...i would say the monitor 30 is the linear step up from the p3.I see the c7 as a more complete but slightly less refined speaker....horses for courses...good luck and enjoy the process my friend
Perfect....it's a purchase that will bring you enjoyment for many years....it's worth getting it right
I think you may be referring to yours truly. For the time being at least, I have in-house the Graham LS6, P3ESR (non XD), Compact 7 (non XD, 30th anniversary) and even a pair of Falcon LS3/5a Gold Badges. I figured if you can't visit a dealer to hear the speakers, bring the speakers to you. (Yes, I went temporarily insane last year, and brought them all in. They will not—and can not—all stay here!) Anyway, I haven't been following this thread closely enough to know exactly what the question is that I may be able to help out with, so please fill me in if you can. I will tell you this: My idea was to try to displace my long-time daily driver Compact 7s with something smaller. I don't think that's going to happen. The Compact 7s just do too many things right, as good as the other speakers are. Note that I'm a classical music guy, so I probably wouldn't be much help regarding these speakers and more popular genres.
I used to have Skylan stands , the Sky-4P18 models . They sounded fine, but they're kinda blah looking, textured black vinyl ... things. So I got my BIL to build me a pair of wooden stands to my specs using an African hardwood that is very hard & dense... the name escapes me, I'll have to ask him what it was. Anyways , those are what I'm using now, and the looks & sound are much more to my liking :>) Will post a picture if I can remember how to do it ...
On 30s, I’m using the metal KEF stands that came with my ancient KEF 103.2. They keep the tweeters at or near ear level, which is 90% of the battle IMHO.
These are photos from a few months ago when I first got the stands ... they're actually darker than the speakers now. Also the tube amp is gone, now replaced with the Ayre & the BelCanto. The Skylans : Custom Stands :
When I first appreciated the nice sounding of P3-XD, I ordered C7 ES3 XD (without auditioning other Harbeth) hesitating between M30-2 XD, HL5+XD and C7. Now after many months of "hearing/listening" the two pairs in different rooms (and systems), I can say that C7 complementing P3 was not a bad choice. But M30 or HL5 may be also good choice that I would never know. In my short experience, P3 for "intimate listening" ( all type of musics ! ) and C7 for more "dynamic loud listening". I tend to listen alternatively the two pairs and I tend to listen the "C7 room" door closed (otherwise my wife would close the doors herself, being in another place).
@LeBud Are you such a tall guy or is your seating position elevated? The speaker stands seem to be way too tall. "Optimally to bring ears level with tweeters. (Tweeter: 475mm up from cabinet base)"
I'm not the owner, but I think HL5 stands are generally around 17-18 inches (44cm) tall and those look about right to me
I have compared them with the Skylan C7 stands he has used before and they are too high (exception see:#2269).
I have my 40.2 Anniversary on a pair of Ton Trager stands. The speakers weigh 84 lbs each and I use a miniscule amount of blue tac between the speakers and stands. They don't budge. I am more concerned about my kids running into them and hurting themselves than knocking them over.
I found the Skylan stands a tad too low for my liking so I had my stands built to be 19.5" tall. The Tontrager's are even taller at 20.5" .
Got me wondering how tall the TonTragers under my Shl5+, so went to measure and its 17". No slate base or spikes - just straight on carpet.
