Harbeth P3ESR or Monitor 30?

Thanks offnon! Not worthless at all, and a very interesting read.

You have highlighted the most important variable of all – listening at home with your associated components. There is no substitute.

As I am using an integrated amp from the '80s, and consider it to be outstanding, I am open-minded about the quality of older components. B&W certainly made good speakers, and they clearly sound very good in your system. I applaud you for being objective enough not to been seduced by the speakers that are, at least on paper, superior.

Oh, and thanks for the CD recommendations. I have eclectic taste, and will give them a try.

Cheers,

Tony

Is it possible the different Harbeth models under consideration will sound radically different in different rooms, with different amps, etc.?

I ask because a single comparison in a single room with a particular amp would not be sufficient to judge one model superior to another. Different results might be found in other cases with a different setup in general.

I am not very familiar with Harbeth models and their sound, but in general I would lean towards the larger model with larger drivers that probably also costs more retail and then work to optimize the sound.

OP has very good powerful amps. That alone should help assure either model is performing optimally. What sounds better to any one person then is a totally different story. But size and performance usually does matter, at least in larger rooms. I would only rely in general on a smaller model alone in a smaller room. The laws of physics are the one thing you can always bank on.

@mapman 

Well, if you were to ask the designer of Harbeth speakers, Alan Shaw, he would downplay the importance of the amp. There are actually some very interesting related threads on the Harbeth forum.

However, while Shaw has forgotten more about audio than I'll ever know, I, and most audiophiles, would disagree with him on that issue.

Harbeths, like any speaker, can certainly change based on room acoustics and associated equipment, but given my experience, I'd say that the P3s are probably the most forgiving. I tried one of their larger speakers before settling on the P3s, and found them to be less open, and they suffered more from being placed fairly close to a back wall.

Whipsaw what speaker maker wants customers to sweat what amp is best?   None I know.  Same applies largely to amp makers. 

I am currently auditioning both speakers in a similar sized room. In my mind I was convinced it would need to be the 30.2 but the little harbeth stole the show at this house.