Picked up a pair of these at the weekend, mainly out of curiosity (I've been toying with the idea of a second system or even as a possible down-size from the Tannoy Ardens in my main system) and I have to say that they're great little speakers. I think I said elsewhere that I listen at pretty modest levels, and often wondered whether hulking great 15" DC cabinets scowling in the corner of the room made that much sense. After all, though they can unquestionably rock out, most of what I listen to is 'middle-aged bloke with a guitar' and/or 'dead or legendary 60s-70s band', and there's surprisingly little call for stygian levels of bass.
So, it's with some amusement that, at a given volume level (determined by my iPhone, so not robust science) for the most part the tiny Harbeths and the big Tannoys sound pretty close. Sure, there's more solidity to the bass with the Tannoys, and they definitely go deeper, but the Harbeths do a decent facsimile of bass (mostly first harmonic with a bit of room-gain illusion) which is perceptibly as tight (if not as genuinely deep or augmented) as that from the large DC drivers.
From mids up, it's a close thing. I would argue that there is a tiny bit more detail and transparency in the Harbeths to the Tannoys. They have better treble IMHO, but I am a lousy judge of HF due to iffy hearing. Vocals are nice on either system. They're bloody close.
Crank the handle and the Ardens pull away like a V12 supercar compared to a tricked out 1L hot hatch. No contest; totty Harbeths don't really scale in a meaningful way in comparison. Mind you, it's very rare indeed that I push the Ardens to this point. Most of the time we're pootling along and I'd say at lower levels (my 80% comfortable place - 55-75dB) it seems daft to have such large speakers. Sure, they sound great but they don't come on song quite the same as the Harbs do at those levels. Maybe it's a matter of perspective - the Ardens are unquestionably the more complete speaker, that win by most comparisons, but they are much more expensive, much larger and arguably overkill for me.
I'm thoroughly enjoying the simple life of Harbeths on inexpensive stands (that we had in the attic). They're almost entirely satisfying, beyond maybe that occasional foray into loudness, or the occasional track with deep bass. Can I live with them as an only speaker? I have no idea. But I'm having fun experiencing their different take on music, and I won't lie that I wouldn't earn big brownie points by removing the big beasties from the room.... but I'm not sure Harbs+sub(s) would quite equal Big Tannoys...
Tune in later for more musings as I convince myself fore and aft. Meantime, I consider this an Excellent and Lucky Situation to be in... life's not bad
