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Tannoy vs Harbeth

N

novak

pfm Member
Hi all, I'm returning to this topic after a few months of doing home renovations.

What do you guys think when comparing something within a similar range/size – let's say Tannoy Legacy Cheviot vs Harbeth SHL5 (e.g. Plus or XD)?

Do you have any experience here? Which delivers the most lifelike sound? Most detail? Most natural? What are the downsides? Any insight would be super helpful at this early stage.
 
I am guessing that you'll probably find more Harbeth users than Tannoy Dual-concentrics here.

A lot of the time the answer will be that it depends what you want. Others will know more than I do on both of those, for example, but doesn't one like to be very close to a wall and the other want some space to shine?
 
Yes the tannoy Eaton legacy are the same size as the shl5plus . So the harbs don't like walls , they have an incredible midrange that is so open and very enthralling . There is huge love for them . Imho they don't do rock as well as the Eaton. My son absolutely hating them ..boring Beth's and trashbeths was their name to him. Lovely finish on them and piano is so delightful. I tried to get them to work in 2 rooms with different amps with no success . Now 4 years on I think a nice moonriver 404 or even better a Norma 70b would be a superb match

The tannoy Eaton legacy do do walls , have absolutely superb bass , are adjustable for your ears . They really ROCK. Imho they image better than harbs and that dc driver really gives a holographic sound . They are natural and you can listen for hours and hours to them . They go with many amps . Tried about 40 amps on them now from msb to class a . All sounded good .the best was thrax enyo .

Some on here prefer the harbs and some prefer the tannoy . There is a second hand pair at 3.5 k i think . Listen to both but if I had 20k tomorrow about the only speaker that would budge them is sabrina x or verity audio
 
We could carry on...

The Tannoy DCs are not exactly tonally neutral to many ears, and won't help you forgive bad recordings. On the other hand, if you want to move a lot of air to fill a big room with big volume, extremely wide & deep stereo image, deep bass and excitement - all from a speaker that goes against the wall and doesn't look like it belongs on a space ship - they are a great option. Being so sensitive means they will go loud with a lower-wattage amp, but they won't reward any lack of control so budget amps are probably a bad idea.

Not much of that is true for the Harbeths.

Partnering equipment tends to be different too. Some partner Harbeths with Naim (lots of users of that paring on the Naim forum) and other boxes very willing to boogie, while Tannoys still seem mostly to be paired with valves or amps leaning toward the delicate.

I'd be surprised if someone heard (say) 8 good speakers at home and did't rank one of these two near the top and the other near the bottom.

They are both really nice things to have in a living room and play music very well indeed. However, rather than reading lots of comments, I'd suggest the only option if considering the question seriously would be to hear both (and perhaps 1 or 2 others) in your system and room.
 
Thanks, interesting insights there, and I agree they do look very room friendly. I like the classic looks, not the modern stuff.
Do the Tannoys sound a little less 'airy' the the SHL5? Surely the large tweeter, meeting a large woofer, has to have some compromises somewhere?
 
I swapped from Tannoy Monitor Gold 15s to SHL5s, and then within a month or two back to another pair MG15s. My personal view is therefore obvious, and my recommendation would be to open the shortlist wider and include some other BBC boxes. I found the SHL5 irritated me real fast, though I understand the crossover has been changed a lot since my experience. If I was ever heading in that direction again I’d be looking at more traditional BBC designs, i.e. plywood cabs, soft dome tweeters etc, likely Graham, Stirling, Spendor or real vintage BBC.
 
Thanks Tony, I heard the M30.2 XD (obviously soft dome) and was very impressed. I found them much more open and lively than the M30 and M30.1, which I found a little shut in.
I wonder how they compare to the Grahams etc.
 
If what you like best about Tannoy DCs is the musical involvement and vigour, you could add Neat to the good options. It's also been a long time since I hear Spenders that didn't impress.
 
I went from small-medium Harbeths (C7ES3) to large Tannoys (Berkeley), so it's hard to pick out relevant differences from those that have to do with scale and placement. But I feel like the Tannoy's are punchier and image better; the C7s were sweeter and more polished. Both could make claims to lifelike and natural, depending on what's meant by the terms: I felt like the Harbeths were better at reproducing timbre and were possibly more detailed, but the Tannoys have bite and, I dunno, timing, coherence. Bass feels very real but then that's probably a size thing. Downside of the Tannoys: they can sound a little hard and charmless, in comparison. For me the Harbeths just lacked scale, but again that's less relevant for you if you're focusing on the SHL5.

In terms of use, as others have said it's a huge boon being able to put the Tannoys against a wall (more or less in corners in my case - the Harbeths were unlistenable anywhere near corners). I haven't messed around much with amps but with the Tannoys there wasn't much between a cheap passive/Quad 306 and the more expensive (solid state) Exposure 3010S2D - both good. But they really came into their own with a Sugden A21SE.

As others have said I think you'd need to hear both, they're quite different, and the Tannoys are very different from what I was expecting. Tonally I miss the Harbeths a little, but I wouldn't go back to them. I had both pairs in the room at the same time, intending to compare over an extended period. But it was almost immediately obvious which was going to stay.

Hopefully @Elephantears will be along at some stage, he's heard a lot of Harbeths and Tannoys.
 
I’ve owned both. Tannoys great but something about the Harbeths spoke to me more than the Ardens ever did…
 
Loads of good points. I have both in use, SHL5s and vintage Eatons. Tony is right, Harbeths are one of many speakers derived from the BBC tradition although they're the only ones I have much experience of. When I first heard them (a long time back) I was blown away by their combination of detail (as good as anything I'd heard up until then) with a natural warmth and I liked all the 'blurb' about radial. I'm sure classical music is what they're happiest playing and designed around (well speech as well I guess). Then I heard my Tannoys and their ability to reproduce tonal colour - especially important with unamplified instruments - is also fantastic, as said above they have punch and that holographic and exciting 'live' sound that in part comes from that driver integration. Imaging is fantastic. So I can see how people say once heard they wouldn't go back to 2 or 3 way speakers. I watched a video once of Alan Shaw asked about tannoys and he hesitated before saying what are they made of - paper -and how do they sound - papery. But from that hesitation I took away that he respects Tannoys more than other makes as well he should (and yes I get that his style puts people right off him and the brand). Anyway I'm not sure I've answered the question, they're both great provided the set up is right (and ps I agree that Tannoys can adapt to more spaces than the 5's for the reasons given above). And amp choice makes a difference too - Tannoys plus Radford/leak = very lovely! Whilst I'm driving my harbeths with 200w solid state (though that much power is of course not necessary, most of the time I'm barely using a watt).
 
schneiderhan said:
Then I heard my Tannoys and their ability to reproduce tonal colour - especially important with unamplified instruments - is also fantastic, as said above they have punch and that holographic and exciting 'live' sound that in part comes from that driver integration. Imaging is fantastic.
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Imaging is better due to the concentric drivers, but accurate tonal colour is not their forte. They are able to colour the sound with some euphonic distortion though, perhaps that is what you are referring to.
 
tuga said:
Imaging is better due to the concentric drivers, but accurate tonal colour is not their forte. They are able to colour the sound with some euphonic distortion though, perhaps that is what you are referring to.
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Obviously I wasn’t comparing like for like as 15” Tannoys of any era are in a whole different price class to SHL5s, but for me the difference was scale, dynamics, realism, heft etc, plus more importantly there was something I did not get on with in the Harbeth’s crossover region. I could hear something I didn’t like between the plastic cone and metal tweeters around 3.5kHz or so, right in the vocal sibilance range where our ears are so critical. I seem very sensitive to crossovers and phase for some reason, but when I pointed to it others they heard it too. The Tannoy’s colouration is far more benign for my priorities and even after a decade or more doesn’t bug me in the slightest. It just doesn’t get in the way for me. I’ve owned two pairs of Harbeths, C7ES and SHL5 and they both had the same flaw for me. Crossover region aside I really liked them both. If I ever need to downsize to one system I’ll likely end up with a mid-sized BBC box, but I’d be looking at maybe the Graham 5/9 as they sound seamless from what I’ve heard, as do real vintage BBC designs like the LS3/5A, LS5/8 etc.
 
tuga said:
Imaging is better due to the concentric drivers, but accurate tonal colour is not their forte. They are able to colour the sound with some euphonic distortion though, perhaps that is what you are referring to.
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I find the Tannoy's tonality very pleasing; rich, full of colour and variety. So much preferable to all the speakers out there that can't reproduce the different timbres of flutes, clarinets, oboes etc either on their own or in unison and so massed instruments end up sounding like a metallic, dull, unnatural wash of sound.
 
Tannoys have those very revealing compression drivers.So you really need very good preamp and power amps or integrated valve amps for them to sound their best.They will reveal that most SS and class D amps sound a bit coarse in the treble.If you hear people say they find the treble a bit harsh or coloured it is because they have heard them with the wrong amp.Harbeth /BBC types are going to be far more forgiving.I like both but achieve the highest satisfaction from Tannoys .The importance of the dual concentric system in timing and phase coherence and its point source nature makes for a musically convincing presentation and in combination with higher efficiency and hence dynamics combine to produce a more musically involving experience.The Harbeths are musically involving too but in a different way.One in which pleasing tone is the major factor. I also own some refurbished Gale 401s which are musically involving because they have boogie and groove like nothing else I have heard.
 
Thanks, great to hear.
For the Tannoy fans, does the Legacy range deliver the same qualities, or are we talking the higher end models? I read that the Legacy range can sound quite different.
 
So many generalisations on this thread. I don't want to recycle things I've said many times and there are too many variables to take into account. The thread title is far too general considering the vast differences within Tannoy's history, never mind the numerous Harbeths. I'm happy to chat about my experience if you want to give me a call.
 
Gervais Cote said:
Rock music : Tannoy
"Lighter" music with a near perfect midrange : Harbeth
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Don’t agree. Tannoys were Decca’s main monitors for all the legendary SXL series titles and primarily as a jazz fan I love them. They can stick Coltrane or Miles in the room with me like no other speaker I’ve heard, but they do so without the hyper-detail and distraction so many modern high-end speakers bring. They have a remarkable balance of ‘big’, ‘real’, ‘easy to listen to’, which for me is is the key.

Tannoys certainly have their problems too. With the vintage ones most Tannoy fans gravitate to pair matching really is a huge challenge, but they are just so good somehow one tends to ignore the flaws. I can’t imagine ever moving from them now, though I would love to find a mint perfectly pair-balanced pair of 15” Reds. That would be my finishing point for sure.
 
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