Harbeth vs IPL

FennerMachine

Established Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2011
Messages
112
Reaction score
3
Points
35
Before reading, I am getting a home demo of IPL speakers this week so this might be moot.

Bought a new amplifier, Abrahamsen V2.0 UP.
Works well with my Quad 21L2 speakers but I'm still itching to hear what this amp can do with better speakers.

I am in a small room, about 11'5" x 12' 11".
My speakers are on the narrow wall, but as the stair are opposite my seating position I lose around 4' from the longer wall.
With the speakers around 6' apart I have a nice triangle.

My Quad 21L2's sound good with the new amp.
Bass is better in every way, voices and instruments are very natural and treble is smooth.
The amplifier has solved most of my problems.

However, I think that the Quads might be unsuitable for the room as they try to go down to 35Hz but using a 6.5" mid/bass cone and a rear firing bass port. I think they need more space around them.

I am planning on getting large stand mount speakers instead.

The two I am thinking of are Harbeth M30.1 and IPL Acoustics SM2 MKII.

Is this the correct route to go down?

Any opinions from experience with these speakers?
 
A bit late, but Harbeth are launching their 40.2 monitors at KJ West One in London today - I'm about to pop down and have a listen, so I'll be able to give you an idea on the Harbeth sound although that might of little value.
 
How did the Harbeth demo go tfboy?
I've demoed M30.1 and SHL5 before but not at home.
They sounded ok, easy to listen to, but a bit boring.
The IPL SM2 sound good.
Easier to listen to than my Quad's, more bass and more detail.
They have a problem in the bass though, a bit too much and affecting male vocals at low frequency.
Could be room interaction, speakers generally too bassy, or according to dealer he can fit more acoustic foam, only half cabinet has foam in these demo ones.
IPL have transmission line speakers too.
Tight, fast bass but not sure if suitable for my room.
So, 6" transmission line or 8" large standmount?
I like the effortless sound of the 8" but need to sort the bass issue out.
6" standmount I don't think would be a big enough change from my Quad's.
 
It was an interesting experience.
I turned up for the last slot of the day and we were all inevitably running short of time. Alan (Harbeth's designer) was there and had prepared a varied set of tracks to listen to emphasising the importance of how music is recorded and what effect that has on how it is then played back through some speakers.

As a result, it was difficult for me to compare as I didn't have any real reference point apart from the speech tests run (radio drama where human voices immediately sound good or bad). We ran out of time so were unable to try any of the music I had brought with me. Also, the power amp was switched for our demo: the Krell that had been used until then was swapped out for a high-end Constellation Audio power amp (this one).

The speakers sounded very natural and clear. I think it's fair to say they provide absolutely no colouration of the sound and what you get (providing your source and amplification are good). The only two tracks that were played that I knew very well were Money from Pink Floyd and Michael Jackson's Beat It, although the vocals sounded quite far back and removed on the latter. I have the SACD version and the vocals are presented in a more forwarded fashion which I personally prefer. But that's clearly a different mastering of the track and nothing to do with the speakers. Bass response was very very good and went well into subwoofer territory without any boominess or uneveness. Complex instruments like brass sounded very natural and pleasing to the ear with a lot of detail in the harmonics.

So in summary, it was good, although naturally, I couldn't expect a real one-on-one with listening to music that I know well. If you have the opportunity to arrange a listening demo, it would be worth it. I think I'd really like them as nothing I heard put me off. I just didn't get the opportunity to be bowled over by them. :) Oh and I had a long chat with Alan afterwards (I had brought one of my power amps in the offchance we could try it), and he's an absolute gent with no high-pressure sales and very open minded whilst happy to share his wealthy experience in speaker designs over the last 40 years. Incredibly approachable chap :)
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom