Harbeth 30.2 in a new room.

My favorite Harbeth’s!


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Mike you have the advantage of listening to them all so I'll take your word for it. I only have the 30.2 and they are definitely keeping me happy.

Dialed them in a bit more. 1/4 inch at a time to get them to focus better and improve coherence. I'll call it pretty good for now. Diana Krall test of coherence and emotional engagement. I'm pretty happy with the speaker/room interaction before adding any acoustic panels. Harbeth 30.2 PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium HP - YouTube

Great news Serge! Looking forward to seeing what goes in the bigger room.

Thanks Joe. Not exactly sure where the big room system will take me yet. I could go with the PrimaLuna Evo tube DAC and this Jazz room will be golden. I have the Luxman integrated and the Luxman SACD for the big room then. So a streamer and speakers and it is also done.

TheOctopus said:

Thanks Joe. Not exactly sure where the big room system will take me yet. I could go with the PrimaLuna Evo tube DAC and this Jazz room will be golden. I have the Luxman integrated and the Luxman SACD for the big room then. So a streamer and speakers and it is also done.

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Sounds like a nice plan !

The 30.2s are great stand mount speaker. Great perfomers for jazz and acoustical music.

That room sounds great! Superb near field setup. What you call "small" is pretty decent for many of us!

IMO monitors really shine in intimate setups like this.

Regards.



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Nikhil said:

That room sounds great! Superb near field setup. What you call "small" is pretty decent for many of us!

IMO monitors really shine in intimate setups like this.

Regards.



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Thanks

Near boundary reinforcement certainly helps if the speaker couples nicely and a balance can be established between too much and just right amount of coupling. The Harbeth 30.2 do not seem to mind and play along nicely. Bass response certainly improved with the smaller room boundary coupling but not at the expense of articulation or resolution of the lowest octave the speaker is comfortable playing.

Ritmo said:

The 30.2s are great stand mount speaker. Great perfomers for jazz and acoustical music.

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I beg to differ!

They're pretty good with Rock with a REL sub (with EVPs under it) and a Rega Planar 10 banging out the hits from the 70's and 80's...

looks good Serge, what's your listening chair of choice ?

Mikado463 said:

looks good Serge, what's your listening chair of choice ?

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My chair doubles as my computer desk chair. I can roll it a few feet and I am center stage. It's not a big room. It's just an Amazon Basics office chair of some sort, I bought it years ago for the computer and it is still holding up well.

Never underestimate live plants and their ability to add nice amount of diffusion to "relax" the sound and tame some of the reflections. No, they are not quite as effective as panels all over the room but one will be surprised how much they do effect the overall speaker to room interaction.

So before adding some of the specialty panels, I wanted to add appealing to the eye acoustic helpers in the form of live plants which I enjoy.

This morning I added a nice Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum wallisii) front and center for the window/glass treatment. Glass is always problematic but between the shades which I use in a 45 deg angle and the generous diffusive area of the broad leaves of the Peace Lily, it worked like magic. Noticeable increase in imaging focus and added sense of coherence. Most noticeable on vocal tracks.

For the left side after I decided to add a taller, vertical plant to diffuse the sound before it has a chance to create lots of early reflections from the computer desk and the lamp. That was the right call after experimenting with the Left and Right position of the tall Corn Plant (Massangeana Dracaena) of the tropical African climate region that do well indoors.

Another benefit is humidity control and I am a big believer in proper humidity not only as a health benefit but humidity has a direct effect on sound propagation and proper humidity rooms make the sound just a bit more lively and natural.

I have taken this approach before with positive results and this time is no different.

The sound improvement was very noticeable and I am happy to have a few more live plants to share the Jazz Room with. Total cost including pots was less than $200.

All frequencies are affected although not proportionally. Having said that, even bass will benefit slightly.

I have no major issues with any hardness of tone, early reflections, ringing or bass bloat/overhang in this room.

I have spent 10x more and had less in return in the past...

Highly recommend going the live or even artificial plants route if a room full of acoustic panels is less desirable.

Proof/listening test:

Youtube is no quality conveyor of sound but if you know what you are listening for, it serves its purpose.



The all important midrange: PrimaLuna Dialogue HP Harbeth 30.2 - YouTube





Bass resolution/articulation:

Also of note is that these are the EL34 running in Triode Mode or approximately 35w of power. The musicality and the gutsy drive of an EL34 tube is simply stunning. The power and musicality of an EL34 tube running in triode mode - YouTube







:audiophile: