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Harbeth P3ESR sounding boxed in?

I pay little attention to the specifics and idiosyncracies of Harbeth loudspeakers.

So it isn't that they've only got 20 hours on them then. They'll always sound crap ;-)
 
HiFi expert, golden ears, linguist, grammarian and now weatherman and ornithologist.

Is there no end to the talents of Steven?

I think Mr Shaw has a point. A lot of running in or burning in, say 99%, is you getting used to the sound.
 
it's probably steven's dunning-kruger effect playing havoc with the perspex and valves causing some intergalactic resonance...(steven this is humouress banter just in case!!!)......:)
 
Darryl, <in google mode> did you mean...

humourless

or

humourous?

;)

well spotted - see i gave you a line to reply to avole but all in a good natured way....

by the way i'm glad you have found those youtube seminar things cool as it helps us all get a common understanding on some of the techniques and even problems that need solving in audio....good on you for checking them.
 
I tried the PS3ER speaker myself when I was running Naim amps and cd player, a friend of mine brought them up from his house in South Wales, at the time I was using Jamo Concert 8 speakers.

We both came to the following conclusion;

Dont they sound boxed in compared to the Concert 8's, the sound was quite flat and lacked any dynamics.

To me this was the biggest disapointment, I had my heart set on buying these speakers after reading so much about them in reviews. In the end I kept the Jamos and my friend sold the Harbeths after he heard mine.

For the record we used his stands which were the ones reccomended. I also recall Alan from Harbeth saying that Harbeths can be used on anything, even a pile of old phone books!

This from the Harbeth user group from the man himself

7. Harbeth speakers do not need exotic stands. You can use wooden stands or metal or plastic stands. We use them all through development and critical listening. Distrust rumours that 'Harbeth's only work with 'xyz stands'. It is entirely your free choice, what takes your fancy, fits in with your furnishings and budget. If all you have available to get you going is something as basic as the IKEA plant pot stands (even used during the design of the Compact 7ES3 - see picture) or house bricks or telephone directories. The key point is to raise the tweeter to about ear level. The Skylan stands are an excellent value-for-money choice that we have used at exhibitions ourselves. Filling stands is your choice.

FWIW - have a look at the link, it may be able to help you out with setting them up!


http://www.harbeth.co.uk/usergroup/showthread.php?373-Basic-facts-about-Harbeths-at-home
 
well spotted - see i gave you a line to reply to avole but all in a good natured way....

by the way i'm glad you have found those youtube seminar things cool as it helps us all get a common understanding on some of the techniques and even problems that need solving in audio....good on you for checking them.

Alas this video format is unsupported by my phone but I shall have a look on my PC when I get the chance.

Your own take on compression was of interest. Adèle 21 proves to be listenable after all.
 
Just seen this thread.

It is tempting to blame run-in for the change but a couple of things are at play here and are worth saying for anyone else in the same situation.

Lots of loudspeakers have a deliberately spiced-up presentation, usually done by lifting tweeter output but there are other ways. It makes the loudspeaker stand out in a demonstration and will give apparently more clarity and detail compared to something flat and neutral - i.e. against something like the Harbeth. I recall speaking to Noel Keywood of HFW a couple of years ago and noting his comments that a majority of loudspeakers passing through his lab have a rising response. Great if that's what the listener likes but it does bring some baggage.

While its quite safe and in fact desirable to A/B electronics, this isn't the case with loudspeakers where differences are orders of magnitude greater. Ears adjust to the presentation but it takes time. Unfortunately, due to the way human hearing works, when going from overly bright and livel to neutral we don't immediately perceive it quite that way, and the neutral system invariably sounds wrong until the ears adjust.

So you really do need to live with loudspeakers for at least a couple of weeks, particularly if the difference in presentation is very marked.
 
Unfortunately, my Kudos C2 sound horrible to my ears. I have the inclination to turn up the volume on those, but that just makes it all louder. I guess I might have to trade the Kudos C2s in for Harbeth Compact 7s...

With the Kudos C2, I feel like they're missing midrange and uppers. That's strange, because they're supposed actually to be bright sounding and midrange and upper seems to be their forte.
 
Maverick,

A rising response means tipped up treble relative to mids and bass.

It makes a speaker sound more articulate.

Joe
 
Unfortunately, my Kudos C2 sound horrible to my ears. I have the inclination to turn up the volume on those, but that just makes it all louder. I guess I might have to trade the Kudos C2s in for Harbeth Compact 7s...

With the Kudos C2, I feel like they're missing midrange and uppers. That's strange, because they're supposed actually to be bright sounding and midrange and upper seems to be their forte.

You've lost me at bit here.
You began the thread by saying that the Kudos sounded awesome.
Why are they now sounding horrible?
 
I have no idea. A few weeks ago, I loved the kudos, and didn't like the P3ESrs. Now, it's the opposite.

Maybe I've gotten used to the Harbeth sound?
 


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