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Gold Member Username: DmitchellOttawa, Ontario Canada Post Number: 2528 Registered: Feb-07 | A local dealer here sells Harbeth speakers. I've never had the opportunity to give them a listen, but they are outrageously expensive! Anyone ever heard/owned them? They look very retro to me (neither a good thing or bad thing). |
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Silver Member Username: KbearCanada Post Number: 108 Registered: Dec-06 | I hate the look myself, but I'm sure they sound fantastic. I hope to listen to Harbeth speakers myself one day. Harbeth has a great reputation from everything I've read. |
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Gold Member Username: DmitchellOttawa, Ontario Canada Post Number: 2529 Registered: Feb-07 | The look like something you'd see sitting in your grandfather's living room. |
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Silver Member Username: HawkbillyNova Scotia Canada Post Number: 558 Registered: Jul-07 | Harbeth make very good speakers under $2000, and some for a good deal more. When I upgrade speakers they would certainly be a brand I would look at. They seem to value a lot of the same things I hold dear....starting with getting the midrange right. |
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Platinum Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 13565 Registered: May-04 | . Harbeth is from the BBC school of speaker design. They favor midrange correctness above all else and then work out to the ends from there. Today's Harbeths have managed the ends quite well too. The have neither the exagerated "jump" factor of many speakers nor the laid back quailty of others. If you are looking for a last pair of speakers, Harbeth would be worth considering but don't expect to be impressed by the speakers. Just listen to the music. That's really very difficult to do but Harbeths are meant to provide that lesson. . |
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Gold Member Username: T_bomb25Dayton, Ohio United States Post Number: 2042 Registered: Jun-05 | I love Harbeths,the Compact 7's were on my list,although im a midrange nut,I need a little more resoltuon through out the frequency ranges,so in the long hall they would not suit me.But at what the Harbeths do they are the best at it,if your into voices of varous kinds theirs nothing better,timbre's of small scale instruments amazing,just dont expect to be to analytical,or you will be dissapointed,which would fall into my catagory.But if you realy like to listen to music without judgements they are a amazing and a life time speaker,no doubt. |
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Gold Member Username: ArtkAlbany, Oregon USA Post Number: 9519 Registered: Feb-05 | I love both the way they look and sound. Harbeth's are far too often overlooked. They are near to perfect for my listening tastes. |
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Gold Member Username: Stu_pittIrvington, New York USA Post Number: 3280 Registered: May-05 | I heard an upper end Harbeth speaker connected to some Mac seperates. I didn't spend much time with it because I couldn't afford the system. What I heard was a very natural and neutral sound. Not too lean and not overly full. Music flowed the way it should. It didn't wow me with anyone strength and wasn't the last word on anything like soundsatge, detail, etc. What made them very good to me and probably why they have the following they have is that they do just about everything equally well. Nothing immediately jumps out at you because everything is equally good. Or rather, equally excellent. They don't use a huge soundstage to draw your attention away from a lack of tonality. They don't have thunderous bass to draw you away from congested mids. Unlike Kramer, they're selling the steak, not the sizzle. I don't think their designers are interested in winning people over during a few minute demo where a bunch of speakers are switched in and out. They're more interested in having you sit down and listen to music and not a few charecteristics. |
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Platinum Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 13568 Registered: May-04 | . "They have neither the exagerated 'jump' factor of many speakers nor the laid back quailty of others." . |
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Platinum Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 13569 Registered: May-04 | . One of the other few remaining BBC lineage manufacturers would be Spendor. The smallest of the Harbeth and Spendor lines are both modern day descendants of the original LS3/5a BBC monitors - the most commerically successful of the 1970's BBC designs. Stirling completes the British triad who wish to carry on with the sound of a BBC monitor in the smallest of packages. You can find many comparsions between these three lines available on line. IMO Spendor has produced the most commercially viable product, Harbeth the most true to what the 3/5a would be today and Stirling the most like what the original design would be if you only had today's O.E.M. drivers to work with. There's no need to go into whether anyone likes or dislikes Spendor's or Stirling's offerings, the proof is in the listening. I would encourage anyone interested in knowing more of what the "BBC sound" is all about to make an effort to at least read about these three speakers and, if at all possible, give a listen on a quiet afternoon when you can spend some time with the music. Stereophile has done several reviews of the three shoe box sized speakers. ST uses the slightly larger Harbeth's as his "forever" speaker but has written extensively about the Spendors and the Harbeths in comparison to each other and to the original. Unfortunately, ST is premium material for Stereophile and his columns are not available on line. http://www.stereophile.com/searchresults/index.html?stype=X&terms=harbeth&x=6&y=4 Stereophile's AD and JA have also completed(?) a series of comments on the Harbeth M40's compared to one specific Audio Note AN-E design which is itself a reworking of the original Snell E from late '70's early '80's. http://stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/506an/ Retro works. . |
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Platinum Member Username: NuckPost Number: 12257 Registered: Dec-04 | http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/details/127265-spendor_s35_se/ |
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Silver Member Username: HawkbillyNova Scotia Canada Post Number: 559 Registered: Jul-07 | When I round up $3500, a set of 7ES-3's will be in great jeopardy. The only question is, will my little 15W VA tube amp drive them properly. They are allegedly a relatively easy electrical load, but Harbeth publishes a 25W minimum recommended amp....and mines 15W. I'll have to see if I can find a set of published electrical measurements for them and see what things look like. |