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Calling all Harbeth users

Basil said:
The only downside to Harbeth ownership that I can see is lots of late, and I mean very late nights. Once again, I was up until way past 4am playing "just one more"

:)
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I know that feeling :). It was exactly the same thing here when I had C7's on loan.
 
Great stuff as usual guys, I spoke to Harbeth today and they said I should really try the compact 7's. If anyone within a 50 mile radius of the west midlands has some and wouldnt mind me coming to hear them then much appreciated.

Cheers
 
After a few days listening to the P3ESRs I can report that I am very, very pleased.

My main impression is that the are _really_ open and dynamic. For such small speakers they are remarkably unboxy and expansive. I'm currently listening to a lovely pressing of Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section; it sounds incredibly coherent and all the spatial clues and placement are spot-on.

Not-really-an-audiophile confession: importantly they are also pretty forgiving on lower quality source material.

I think the difference between listenable and unlistenable on e.g. lower bitrate mp3 is probably treble. The ATCs were merciless on this front which is unsurprising given their studio antecedents. I listened to one of my favourite recent DayTrotter sessions, Justin Townes Earle (Steve Earle's kid) doing his thing. It would have been earstabbing through the ATCs but while betraying most of the usual attributes of low quality mp3 (making system sound like big transistor radio) it was quite listenable.

After a phase of buying and selling things last year and ending up with a thoroughly mis-matched system I feel that simplifying back to Nait 5i + Harbeth has resulted in a system that plays music again. I shall manfully resist the urge to upgrade vinyl front end now...

P.S full marks to Radlett Audio/hifi_dave. A pleasure to deal with. I must make the trip across North Essex to come and see the rest of the Harbeth brood at some point.
 
Thanks for the write-up jimb0. I don't get to hear a lot of hi-fi equipment apart from my own but I heard some Harbeths at the hi-fi show in September 2009. The sound was impressive. I don't know what model they were but they stood out as being very different to most hi-fi speakers. What struck me was that the speakers seemed extremely revealing particularly in the midrange; they sounded good even at relatively low levels; it didn't seem to matter that I was sitting closer than I would normally sit to my speakers at home, and off-centre. What a refreshing change to have some speakers that sound good in "real" listening conditions (for me that means low volume (children asleep upstairs) in a smallish (3.5x3.5m) room).

I currently use Royd Abbots on the end of a Roksan / Naim system but Harbeths would be high on my short list when it's time to upgrade. The Royds are excellent but probably a bit too big for the room. I think I would like the P3ESRs from what I've read about them but there are no dealers local to me unfortunately...

Damian
 
dsg said:
Thanks for the write-up jimb0. I don't get to hear a lot of hi-fi equipment apart from my own but I heard some Harbeths at the hi-fi show in September 2009. The sound was impressive. I don't know what model they were but they stood out as being very different to most hi-fi speakers. What struck me was that the speakers seemed extremely revealing particularly in the midrange; they sounded good even at relatively low levels; it didn't seem to matter that I was sitting closer than I would normally sit to my speakers at home, and off-centre. What a refreshing change to have some speakers that sound good in "real" listening conditions (for me that means low volume (children asleep upstairs) in a smallish (3.5x3.5m) room).

I currently use Royd Abbots on the end of a Roksan / Naim system but Harbeths would be high on my short list when it's time to upgrade. The Royds are excellent but probably a bit too big for the room. I think I would like the P3ESRs from what I've read about them but there are no dealers local to me unfortunately...

Damian
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having own-ed one, i would advise that you do a demo before committing to it. however great the P3ESR is, it is still a miniature speakers. you aren't likely to get the full-bodied of the music during playback, especially the bass . it is only nice for computer desktop or near field listening. for a little more money, go for the C7ES3 or SHL5; they are great for low volume listening. it will get better at higher volume.
 
HLS 5 user here
Moved from Sonus Faber Minuettos to Spendor SP1 then to Harbeths, when I unpacked them I wondered if I was going to hear a thousand pound difference or be dissapointed, I was more than happy.

My one regret is that I did not buy these speakers sooner as I could have saved money I spent upgrading my amps and preamp, these speakers are not amplifier dependent and work well with any well built /designed amp valve or solid state. Urers have been looking for a synergy between harbeths and a certain brand of amps but there isnt one, they are designed to work well with a range of amplification

I have found that other speakers that sound fantastic on first listen eg dynaudio get tireing in a longer session.

Harbeths can be had second hand in the usa at very reasonable prices.
just dont expect to be bowled over by the looks.
this has got my ears salivating, if you know what I mean, so im off for a session
 
Joe,
enjoyed your post- yes the HL5 does indeed look like an SP1! How would you characterise the difference between them?
 
With eyes shut and getting a mate to plug them in the Harbeths sounded like a much larger more expensive speaker, possibly because the volume was not high ( set the they volume at the same level with a meter ) more detail clarity and more emotion ( trinity sessions from Coyboy Junkies and Eva Cassidy Live at blues alley) Also do bass better than the sp1 deeper and more resonant and tighter, no subs needed here:)
 
Joe, thanks for this. Its important not to let preconceptions (in my case -HL5 is an SP1 lookalike...) rule one's buying decisions. I got quite cynical about speakers- ie. how can another MDF box with two conventional drivers realy be the great leap forward its made out to be? Harbeth really seem to be able to squeeze fresh magic out of a traditional recipe. I suppose its called good engineering and workmanship and that's always worth paying for. ;)
 
They aren't MDF for a start, Harbeth use ply, and use it as a sound box rather than attempt to damp it to nothing.
 
They all use 'ply' cabinets and have screwed in back and front baffle. The idea being that all cabinet materials resonate, even when they are damped but the undamped ply resonates at low frequencies well away from the very important mid-band. The extra colouration from the cabinet at low frequencies isn't as audible as it would be in the mid-band.

All the range now employ Harbeth made bass/mid drivers employing their own Radial-2 cone material.
 
What Harbeths could these be?
I am sitting 10 ft away from Harbeth monitors and they are made of MDF and have glued in, not screwed baffles.

answers on a postcard...
 
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