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Harbeth Nelson: a DSP subwoofer that doubles as speaker stand for P3ESR and other mini-monitors

I wish AS luck with his Nelson Columns which are getting good reviews and deserve good sales, Perhaps he could get hold of some Cambridge R50s which are the same thing but without the extra electronics and with B139s, supertweeters, and proper transmission line cabinets. Just as a comparison.

My C7ES3s sit on Heybrook flat pack HBS1 spiked stands to good effect. I am now calling them Napoleans ;)
 
Interesting that it says in that show report Harbeth is also working on similar things for the M30. I use a REL with my M30 speakers and it really brought them alive (despite being in a small room, and me not being a bass head, I was disappointed in bass until I got the sub).
 
The price seems steep for what it is, stacking mains on top of subs is nothing new. I have setup like that with sorbothane to decouple and it works great. This probably has more waf though but given the choice i'd rather have some big woofers to look at.
 
I hear Pass Labs are coming out with a subwoofer named "Alan".

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Would be curious as to how large a room they are suitable for. Always thought that some P3s would be great with a well integrated sub, expense and faff put me off, so ended up with SHL5+ instead.
 
Like the concept, as two subs should be better than one. Couple of points / questions from me:
1. I think it would look better square, who buys round stands?!
2. Does it allow for low / high pass between sub and speaker? If not its a bit of a miss for me, ideally you would want the monitors to focus on mid and high frequencies. What they are good at. Which would also allow for low power amps
3. Unsure how effective two 5inch subs would be, probably just a small to medium size room?
 
This one looks uglier that the Rogers version where the shape of the sub is perfectly integrated with the speaker as a one rectangular piece. This one is rectangular at the top, smaller round column at the bottom. I'm also not sure how the "stands" will affect the sound quality of the PE3SR as the speakers work better with lightweight open-frame stands in my experience, all models from small to large M40s.
 
chris kelly just wrote this re Bristol show Nelsons


Several people have asked me for my thoughts on the new Nelsons. Here is what I wrote on the Harbeth User Group after the Bristol Show last month.
"I had the pleasure of presenting the Nelson/P3ESR combination in Room230, one of the four rooms taken by Harbeth this year. I have been involved with Harbeth every year since 2016 at the Bristol event, and more often than not I have been in the P3 room. This year, as happens every year, it was standing room only for all 3 days - our last visitor rocked up at 4.50 on Sunday. The big attraction in my room this year was of course the Nelsons. In preparation for the show, Alan and the team had sent me a pair of Nelsons to use with my P3s at home, so that I would be able to talk about them with a modicum of confidence once the show-goers arrived.
My most used Harbeths are the Compact7ESXDs, which work a treat in my room, but every so often I give my 2016 vintage P3s a run-out. Whenever I do, that sweetness of tone and wonderful mid-range of this diminutive powerhouse never fail to impress. With the Nelsons due to arrive, I got the P3s set up and thoroughly enjoyed music, radio and television sound through them.
From unboxing the Nelsons to having them in situ, plugged in and ready to play, it took me about 20 minutes for the pair. Contrast that with the effort I put into tuning my rather ancient subwoofer into whatever loudspeakers are playing. I write reviews for two UK publications, so my speakers are often having to give way to guests. To get the REL perfectly blended is usually a morning's work, hence my delight in the ease of getting the Nelsons up and running so quickly.
I teed up an album on the LP12 I had previously played through the bare P3s, Dave Alvin's 2011 release called Eleven Eleven. This probably falls into the rather lazy catchall of Americana, but incorporates in its cornucopia of fine music rock, blues, country and even some Mexican influences. Mr Alvin delivers his lyrics in a smokey baritone, backed up with excellent playing on his battered Stratocaster, supported by some very accomplished musicians. Through the bare P3s it sounded lovely, but a little polite. Played again with the Nelson sitting under the P3s and the whole experience was changed. The voice took on authority and realism, and it felt as if my listening posotion somewhere in the middle of the audience had been upgraded to the VIP seats in front of the stage.
Like a well-integrated conventional subwoofer, the Nelsons not only filled in where the P3s started to roll off the bass at around the 80Hz mark but also seemed to achieve an aural lift across all the frequencies. Thanks, I suppose, to the very nifty DSP algorithms deployed in the Nelson the interface between them and the P3s is absolutely seamless. It is better than listening to any of the floorstanding offerings from other brands that have graced my home listening room in recent years. None of the wonderful qualities of the P3s that I like so much are lost - in fact they are enhanced by the Nelsons. As album followed album, both physical and streamed, I quickly came to appreciate this new P3 + Nelson team more and more.
Arriving with the Nelsons came a rather battered pair of Rogers LS3/5As, part of AS's extensive collection of loudspeakers. A few days after the installation of the Nelsons I swapped the P3s out and installed the venerable pair of Rogers. As before, I played them first without the Nelsons being switched on and was very pleasantly surprised at how well they performed within their design constraints. The mid-range is glorious, as befits a BBC monitor, but the higher frequencies were very pleasant too. Once the Nelsons were switched on and I played the same music through them, those shortcomings which die-hard LS3/5A aficionados are happy to overlook in low-frequency performance were banished, and the sound became bigger and more three-dimensional, without getting shouty or harsh in any way. I had my PrimaLuna EVO400 integrated valve amplifier turned up quite loud, and the old Rogers were rocking like long-hairs in the moshpit.
Fast forward to the show set up day. A rather tired hotel bedroom with the bed removed is a challenging environment in which to achieve half-decent sound, but before we left for dinner on the Thursday night we had got great results in all three rooms. The NLE3s sounded epic - a sound that was more cinematic than anything I have heard from any Harbeths before, with that reassuring glow from the four Quad valve amps, giving a faint warm light between the very sleek speaker enclosures. The M30.2s next door also sounded excellent and in my room, the Hegel H390 and the Nelson/P3 team were getting along splendidly.
The next three days saw hundreds of visitors sitting in Room 230. Several came back two or three times and one hardy soul came on both of his days at the show. We hadn't discussed it beforehand but I was twice asked if I could play the P3s on their own, with the Nelsons switched off. On both occasions the room was unanimous - the Nelsons really work!
I am delighted to have been asked to join Team Harbeth for the 2025 show. I can't wait! In the meantime, if you have P3s, LS3/5As or indeed any sealed box loudspeaker of similar dimensions, only audition the Nelsons if you have the cash available, because I am willing to wager that you will want a pair!"
I'm happy to answer any questions as they occur to you.
 
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