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

[rnrmf1971]

Originally Posted by GeAllan70

craft sand...

Probably a little messier but conveniently available.
I just looked at some and it comes out of every microscopic pore of the bag.

[rnrmf1971]

Originally Posted by Higgens

Does Stillpoints make an audiophile-grade kitty litter?

Somebody should make some, right?

[ATC2]

Originally Posted by rnrmf1971

I’m looking at one of the silicone gel litter varieties for the reason that it doesn’t attract pests, to the best of my knowledge.

One of the brands that I zeroed in on was Fresh Step Premium Crystals - no clay, no paper, wood, or food derivatives.

The description of this litter, from a Chewy.com article is “Silica gel crystal cat litter, like Fresh Step Crystals Premium Cat Litter, is made from sodium silicate sand that is processed with oxygen and water. The result is a bead with tiny pores that allows it to absorb around 40 times its weight in liquid. These beads are similar to the desiccant “Do not eat” packets you find in medications, shoes and other products that need to stay dry. Silica crystals are big and porous, making them effective at odor control. While they look solid, they are actually filled with a network of small hollow channels that immediately absorb moisture as they come in contact with liquid”

I’m thinking that this is the “cleanest” choice.

Why do you think?

Sounds good... it should work as well. I just went “el Cheepo” route. Get it so you’ll have it when the stands get in, I didn’t plan ahead and found myself rushing out to the store because I was anxious to get them setup. I could have waited to the next day but honestly that wasn’t going to happen.

[bradleyc]

Ordered a pair of P3ESR 40th Anniversary Edition speakers a couple weeks ago for a 2nd set of speakers in the rotation. Amp is Marantz Reference PM-10S1. Skylan stands arrived early, drop shipped directly from Canadian factory. Will fill with whatever is least messiest, have dumped sand into carpet years ago with last pair of bookshelf stands, hated dealing with that mess. When I want to feel the kick and slam of rock music will activate the Klipsch on speaker A. When I want to hear more vocal-based easier listening will activate the Harbeths on speaker B. Doing the same type of rotation on my B-rig with Marantz PM-10S1 powering Klipsch Cornwall III’s in rotation with a new pair of Maggie 1.7s. Rock, Metal and Blues are strengths of Klipsch Heritage speakers but they sound good playing anything. Harbeths and Maggie’s both have other strengths but they also sound good playing anything. Have heard you need a large room for Harbeth 40.2’s to sound right. I think that would be for higher volume music to sound right, but don’t know.

[Weirdcuba]

Originally Posted by bradleyc

Ordered a pair of P3ESR 40th Anniversary Edition speakers a couple weeks ago for a 2nd set of speakers in the rotation. Amp is Marantz Reference PM-10S1. Skylan stands arrived early, drop shipped directly from Canadian factory. Will fill with whatever is least messiest, have dumped sand into carpet years ago with last pair of bookshelf stands, hated dealing with that mess. When I want to feel the kick and slam of rock music will activate the Klipsch on speaker A. When I want to hear more vocal-based easier listening will activate the Harbeths on speaker B. Doing the same type of rotation on my B-rig with Marantz PM-10S1 powering Klipsch Cornwall III’s in rotation with a new pair of Maggie 1.7s. Rock, Metal and Blues are strengths of Klipsch Heritage speakers but they sound good playing anything. Harbeths and Maggie’s both have other strengths but they also sound good playing anything. Have heard you need a large room for Harbeth 40.2’s to sound right. I think that would be for higher volume music to sound right, but don’t know.

Wow. You have spousal consent for dual speakers?!? Congrats. Particularly congrats on the harbeths. One of my favorites.

[rnrmf1971]

Congrats on the P3ESR Anniversary speakers!
I’m hoping and expecting the PM-10 will match up well with Harbeth, too.
A big room seems to be a leftover recommendation from the 40.1 speakers. Dealers have told me the 40.2 is great near field and in most smaller spaces, too. There’s a gentleman on the “What’s Best...” forum that posted pics and a review of the 40.2 when he got them - but I honestly thought the picture was a gag. He had them in the smallest imaginable room with a chair the looked like it was 4 feet away. It was serious, though, and his review of the 40.2 was almost faultless.

[bradleyc]

Originally Posted by Weirdcuba

Wow. You have spousal consent for dual speakers?!? Congrats. Particularly congrats on the harbeths. One of my favorites.

Thank you! The other pair of speakers in the room are Klipsch La Scala II’s so my wife probably won’t even notice the new Harbeth’s. Maybe I should just tell her they’re super-tweeters for the Scalas?

I think where the 40.2’s could have issues with a small room is at higher volume levels the bass frequencies might overpower the rest of the sound? Hopefully that won’t be the case.

[GeAllan70]

Originally Posted by bradleyc

Maybe I should just tell her they’re super-tweeters for the Scalas?

[rnrmf1971]

Originally Posted by bradleyc

Thank you! The other pair of speakers in the room are Klipsch La Scala II’s so my wife probably won’t even notice the new Harbeth’s. Maybe I should just tell her they’re super-tweeters for the Scalas?

I think where the 40.2’s could have issues with a small room is at higher volume levels the bass frequencies might overpower the rest of the sound? Hopefully that won’t be the case.

I’m putting them in a room that for all intents and purposes has no side walls so I shouldn’t have an issue with too much bass. It’s a pretty open room.
They arrived an hour ago and I’ve started putting the stands together!

[rnrmf1971]

After talking with Skylan, I've decided what I'm using to fill the stands.

Skylan suggested plastic pellets as an option - the kind that one would fill a bean bag chair with. They've used them and liked them. The gentleman at Skylan said the only reason they don't really use them or regularly suggest them is that they're a bit more expensive and some of their taller stands would require a lot of them.

I asked about using bb's but he said not to fill it with something that would be too heavy as that could detract from the sound and make it too bass heavy, based on his experimentation.

But these are readily available, not a food for any pests, won't absorb humidity or moisture, and won't leak out the stand like sand could. They're available near me, so they're going to be my ticket. I don't expect to spend more than about $50 for them.