B&W vs Harbeth or any others?
- Thread starter Allaboutmusic
- Start date
Rockmeister
pfm Member
Well you'll love Harbeths then...all I've owned worked beautifully within 25cm of the rear wall.
Most of those I've heard delivered bas-notes not worthy the pricetag, beautifull mids untold.
Allaboutmusic
pfm Member
I will defo home demo and make sure they sound good in my listening room.
The reviews I have read of the b&w 705 s2 are very encouraging and appear to be good value. So will be disappointed if they don't live up to expectations.
Have always been interested in harbeth, demoed a pair of P3ESR a few years ago and really liked them, just didn't quite have enough bass so hoping the c7es-3 address this.
However open to options, budget around 2k.
The reviews I have read of the b&w 705 s2 are very encouraging and appear to be good value. So will be disappointed if they don't live up to expectations.
Have always been interested in harbeth, demoed a pair of P3ESR a few years ago and really liked them, just didn't quite have enough bass so hoping the c7es-3 address this.
However open to options, budget around 2k.
I had 7ES3 like 8-9 years ago and not sure if the current model is that much different and I don't mean the XD. I think I haven't heard the Anniversary either but I guess you are not going for that anyway. There might be some changes in around 10 years but they still call it 7ES3 so not sure. But anyway, I bought them to listen to mainly rock, prog, metal and some metal back then and they can certainly do that very well if your front end is good enough for them. No fatique with those and I was really listening to a lot of bad recordings. They are fun speakers. But anyway you should try them at your home in your system before buying if you can IMO. I was using Exposure front end then and I still use them, even though top of the line gear now.You think a Harbeth Compact 7 ES3 is not forgiving on bad recordings? If this speaker isn't I can hardly imagine another speaker that is.
I've had M40.1, SHL5 and I now have M30.1. I would also recommend M30.1 if you can find it second hand and/or if it fits the budget. I think much better than 7ES3 still a bit better SHL5/SHL5+ or different at least. 40th Anniversary SHL5 can be nice but expensive and it's still different from 30.1. I just like the voicing of M-series (30.1/30.2 & 40.2) more than rest of the Harbeth range. M30.1 is a lot of fun, very involving speaker. Better top end compared to 7 and more defined low end compared to 7/5/5+ IMO. Compared to 7 30.1 has more resolution but I can still listen to everything. I mean every genre too. Nowadays I listen to a lot of jazz and some electronic too in addition to usual rock/metal. I've also heard 30.2 with RP8 and Elicit and it sounded awesome so Rega and Harbeth should work very well. Of course P3 is not RP8 but it will be fun in any case. Sadly cannot compare to that B&W. It can be nice so you should try to have a listen. I would assume very different from Harbeths. At least the new 800-range was not my cup of tea.
Allaboutmusic
pfm Member
I will do yes. I will be auditioning on your setup as it happens as the shop doesn't sell rega and my Elex-r is similarly powered to xs3. Will home demo if I like it before purchasing.
Seanm
pfm Member
That's about where my C7s are, and they sound great to me. Side walls are another matter.
When I was auditioning speakers last year I started with B&W 606s. They sounded great in the B&W demo at the Bristol Show and I was enthusiastic. When I demo’d them at my local dealer with my own Nytech amp they sounded awful: top heavy, not much mid and little to no bass. The dealer switched to B&W 705 S2 and they were slightly better with more bottom end but still overblown at the top and not suitable overall. I demo’d a pair of ProAc D20R and they were so much better than the others for my needs I ended up buying them after several more demos. This included a demo with the ProAcs driven by a Nait 3 which sounded pretty similar to my Nytech. Given the price of the D20R, demo’ing a DT8 (£2k) initially might be better for your budget. I should say that my demo was for a second system and my requirement involves only low volume listening for which the D20R excels.
I may well get criticised by someone saying why am I talking about a floor mounted speaker when the query is about small stand mounts. The reality is that the amount of space taken up by a stand mount speaker on a proper stand is almost exactly the same as a comparable floor mount. It’s only a visual and weight difference. Add in the cost of the stand and the floor mount can be better value.
I may well get criticised by someone saying why am I talking about a floor mounted speaker when the query is about small stand mounts. The reality is that the amount of space taken up by a stand mount speaker on a proper stand is almost exactly the same as a comparable floor mount. It’s only a visual and weight difference. Add in the cost of the stand and the floor mount can be better value.
Allaboutmusic
pfm Member
Thanks for this.
I have actually been reading a bit about the ProAc speakers over the past couple of days following comments in this thread.
Generally I prefer stand mounts so the D2R interest me but are a bit above budget unless I can find a deal or ex demo etc. However the floorstanders DT8 do look interesting and I would be interested to see how they compare to spendor A4 which I have also been considering.
Romulus
pfm Member
I have not auditioned B & W or Harbeths, judging by peoples comments both speakers seem to excel in specific different genres of music. My music collections includes many genres of music so maybe I should ignore both makes when looking for an upgrade? Or am I simplifying things...?
Definitely, I can only speak for the SHL5+ and this handles every genre I throw at it, but does excel with acoustic
ProAc is also a brand to try.
Mac
ww.realmusicnet.wordpress.com
Moppit
pfm Member
I went through a big speaker test run a year or so ago. I could not believe the difference in presentation of everything I heard, more so than any other component.
Was trying to replace some lovely KEF ref model 2's (which I still have in another system).
I was put off B&W after auditioning some CM8's a few years ago but at the time I think it was because my amp was crap back then.
More recently suditioned Proac, Kudos, PMC and Neat floorstanders. All good but the PMC 5 23 and Kudos X3 impressed most if a tad bright. Had some small Tannoy legacy on dem too, great for rock.
Ended up with Harbeth SHL5+ Annie's..these are wonderfully transparent without the glare of the PMC/Kudos. Once I'd heard the Harbs everything else sounded muffled!!
Speakers are such a personal/room dependant thing ..you need to listen at home before you know what works best for you.
Was trying to replace some lovely KEF ref model 2's (which I still have in another system).
I was put off B&W after auditioning some CM8's a few years ago but at the time I think it was because my amp was crap back then.
More recently suditioned Proac, Kudos, PMC and Neat floorstanders. All good but the PMC 5 23 and Kudos X3 impressed most if a tad bright. Had some small Tannoy legacy on dem too, great for rock.
Ended up with Harbeth SHL5+ Annie's..these are wonderfully transparent without the glare of the PMC/Kudos. Once I'd heard the Harbs everything else sounded muffled!!
Speakers are such a personal/room dependant thing ..you need to listen at home before you know what works best for you.
I recently bought the Marten Duke 2(retail price is double the Harbeth SHL5+) but kept the Harbeth Super HL5+ as I knew they couldn't be surpassed for the strengths that they offer. No doubt the Marten sounds very good but the Harbeth is superior in few areas particularly the bass. Not exactly a fair comparison since the SHL5+ is about triple the size of the Dukes but the differences do show.
The Harbeth is a keeper.
Allaboutmusic
pfm Member
Indeed