2. speakers
  3. 190779-6055

Borresen X3 vs Harbeth 40.2 -- my impressions

After reading so many glowing reviews of the Borresen X3 speaker, I decided to go and audition them at a local dealer who was gracious enough to let me stay there for over 4 hours. I went there with the intention of buying the X3 if they appealed to me. I thought I’d share my impressions here for those who are interested, especially in comparison to my Harbeth 40.2 speakers that I adore.

 

The dealer at first hooked them up to the Axxess Forte 1 integrated amp. To be brutally honest, I was about ready to bolt in the first 10 minutes. I just don’t understand why Axxess is getting so much praise. It was the most flat, dry, and boring sound I’ve heard. Luckily, the dealer had some very high end Burmester amp, preamp, and music server (close to $100K retail for the three pieces), which he agreed to use instead. Huuuuuge difference! The Burmester really made those Borresens come alive and sing. IMO, AGD is really doing a disservice to the X line by pairing them with the Axxess in audio shows. They are capable of scaling with much better gear. Shame!

 

If a massive, immersive, and holographic soundstage is your primary criteria and your budget is $11k max, you should stop reading at this point. Run and get these speakers before AGD decides to raise the price. I have yet to hear a speaker in this price range with this kind of soundstage. But if you value other aspects of music reproduction, keep on reading ...

 

Soundstage Width, Depth, and Height:

No contest. Borresen is noticeably better. The soundstage is as tall as it is deep. I heard sounds coming from besides me and behind me. Depth, while not outstanding, is there for sure. Just not as impressive as the height and width relatively speaking. I still can’t get that immersive feeling out of my head.

 

Ability to disappear:

This is one area where Harbeth always struggles. Owing to the thin walls of its cabinets, one is always aware of the big box the sound emanates from. The X3s totally disappeared. Again, very impressive for a speaker in this price range.

 

Vocals:

Sorry, but the X3 is simply not in the same league as the 40.2 when it comes to vocals. There’s this little extra, lifelike quality to vocals in most Harbeth speakers that is hard to beat. I listened to some very familiar songs on the X3, and it became clear why I fell in love with the Harbeth sound many years ago. Female voices are more ethereal and nuanced, male voices have more chestiness. You hear the emotions and every little inflection in the singers’ voice. It simply gives more of the ‘singer in the room’ feeling.

 

Instrument Separation:

This is a tough one. Both are excellent in this regard. But I will give a very slight edge to 40.2s here. Or maybe not. I don’t know. Let’s call it evens.

 

Transparency and Realism:

This is where Harbeth pulled ahead of the X3s in a major way. I’m not saying that the X3s are deficient by any means, but the 40.2s just give you a lot more of it. You really have to live with them for a while to truly understand and appreciate what this speaker brings to the table. It’s truly addictive. The only other speakers I’ve heard that are better in this regard are the Quads or other electrostatics.

 

Midrange and Lushness:

My impression of Borresen speakers prior to this was that they were very fast, neutral, and quiet. But, much to my surprise, the X3s (or perhaps the X line itself) has been voiced to be more on the warm side of things. Sound was warm and had body. Unfortunately, this is being achieved by adding a bit of a mid bass bump. While it gives the speaker an overall warm predisposition, I felt it came at the expense of hiding details in the mid bass region. Harbeth is also known for a lush midrange but it doesn’t get here by sacrificing detail or exaggerating the sound. Another side effect of this characteristic was that acoustic instruments felt bigger than life. Guitars felt like they were 10 foot long. Piano strokes lacked the bite and immediacy that I get with 40.2s – and by the way this is not a particularly strong point of Harbeth either.

 

Tone and Timbre:

Harbeth to the front of the line, please. The timbre and tonal accuracy of the 40.2s is on another level. X3s are also very good in this regard but are somewhat outclassed by Harbeth.

 

Overall Refinement:

I apologize in advance if this is going ruffle some feathers, but the 40.2s are overall much more refined sounding than the Borresen X series. Again, this is only in comparison. On its own, I would never label the X3s as unrefined. The Harbeth just has this extra layer of refinement that you come to appreciate the more time you spend with it.

 

Bass:

As they say, there’s no replacement for displacement. The 4.5” drivers on X3 produce a prodigious amount of bass which is hard to believe considering the size of the drivers. Yet, the 12” woofer on 40.2s gives you more of that deep and tuneful bass. It just sounds more satisfying and fuller.

 

Look and Feel:

This is very subjective, of course, so please feel free to take it with a grain of salt. But I was not impressed by how the X3s looked in person, they lacked elegance. It kind of reminded me of Tekton – okay, maybe that’s too harsh, I take it back. But I was a little disappointed as they looked really nice in pictures. Wish they would lose the carbon fiber touch and the checkered driver patterns. The Harbeths, on the other hand, don’t look as impressive and nice in pictures. I mean what do you expect from an oversized shoebox on stands. But, the quality and craftsmanship of hand-built cabinets has a more timeless and elegant feel to it that has to be seen and felt to be appreciated. I just feel this style, boring as it is, just ages more gracefully.

 

Long story short, I have decided to stay with my 40.2s. They have many quirks, as pointed out by several members on this forum. But what they do, they do it exceedingly well. I found the Harbeth 40.x to be overall more transparent, lifelike, refined, and balanced. They don’t do dynamics as good as other speakers or disappear as much as other speakers in this price range, but they more than make up for it in other ways. I’ve heard people claim that the X3 are twice (or even thrice!) as good as their asking price. If soundstage is your primary criteria for judging speakers, then I wholeheartedly agree. But if you value transparency, vocals, timbre, tonal accuracy, and overall refinement ... the Harbeth 40.x series justifies its higher price, despite the shortcomings.

 

Having said that, I was still very impressed by Borresen X3 and won’t mind having it as a second pair once they hit the used market. But I feel the hype doesn’t quite align with what I actually heard during the audition. In this price range, I find Audio Vector to be a better value.

 

Please note that these are my opinions based on a ‘mere’ 4-hour demo, and only in comparison to my favorite speakers. It’s totally fine if someone draws a completely opposite conclusion, or tells me that I’m biased. My taste, my preferences, IMO, IHMO, etc. etc. etc.

 

 

128x128arafiq
audition__audio
1,435 posts
 

With respect, I think much of what you are hearing with the Harbeth speakers are the distortions caused by the cabinet and other things as well. When auditioning most the Harbeth line, I found them very very colored, but decidedly pleasant. Plus a quick parts count and inventory will quickly confirm the fact that these are among the most over-priced speakers of which I am aware.

And yes Harbeth owners seem to have taken a page, in terms of aggression, from the Klipsch crowd.

 

simonmoon's avatar
simonmoon
505 posts
 

I am far from a "measurement only" guy, but a lot about the Harbeth's can be discerned by these 2 measurements.

And in my opinion, not in a good way.

 

This spectral decay is simply bad, and will be audible as colorations. 

 

helomech
1,634 posts
 

In some ways, the choice between the Harbeths and the Borresens could be attributed to the consumers budget. The majority of the Borresen line is priced far in excess of the Harbeths. What I hear when we go up in price with the Borresens is a more accurate to source presentation, a more resolving presentation and a generally more refined sound. With the Harbeths, once you get to the 40.3’s, you do get more bottom end extension, slightly better integration between the drivers, but a very similar family sound to the rest of the line.
Personally, once I am dipping into the upper end Borresen line, I now have to consider a number of similarly priced competitors, most of whom do not have their cabinets sourced by another supplier.

 

I haven’t experienced the upper level Borresens, but it’s hard for me to comprehend them being worth the asking prices for all but the most flush buyers, considering the performance capability of the X series. The X series tweeter for example, already competes with the flagship units I’ve heard in other brands, with even greater refinement than the RAAL and Be tweeters I’ve experienced at home. The entire bandwidth of the X3s outclasses that of my Tyler Acoustics Taylo Refs, which are fitted with $1680 worth of Seas Excel drivers (amazing value monitors if you can find them on the used market BTW). Which until owning the X3s, were the most resolving and refined speakers I’ve owned among nearly 40 pairs.

I’m not one to buy into audio-press hyperbole after all these years. Usually I conclude the hype is unwarranted once I’ve experienced the product for myself. The X3s have turned out to be one of only a handful of exceptions within the last 15 years.

In fact, the day I bought the X3s, I was at the dealer for the sole intent of demoing Perlisten speakers. I didn’t even know he was a Borresen dealer prior to arriving there, and had little knowledge of the brand or its reputation. Despite expecting otherwise, the similarly priced Perlistens sounded an opaque mess compared to the X3s. And though the Perlistens are THX Dominus certified, they sounded far more strained at high playback levels. These two speakers were nearly the same in price but were not close in performance. Pick any audiophile adjective, the X3s were simply better to my ears, and reminiscent of the last time I auditioned the Rockport Atria IIs. To my ears the X3s are like like a beer-budget Rockport, the latter of which are one of best I’ve heard regardless of price.

Regarding the Borresen cabinets, I believe only the X series are sourced from outside Denmark. The X cabinets still look and feel more commensurate with $20K/pair speakers than they do competitors’ $11K speakers. They are not quite as audibly inert as some $20K speakers but are far less noisy than Perlisten’s R series. If I had to nitpick, the only gripe I have with the cabinet quality is a mild amount of orange-peel effect in the paint. It’s not as bad as you’ll find on most modern cars, but it is noticeable when up close, and with the right angle and lighting. It’s not as flawless a piano finish as you get from Yamaha’s NS line. Other than that, I feel the cabinet quality is incredible considering the price and performance of the speakers.

 

 

 

 

arafiq's avatar
arafiq OP
1,652 posts
 

Harbeth fans have a long history of bashing any detractors, or anyone who confers even the remotest criticism. You can find that behavior on nearly any lengthy Harbeth thread. IME, Harbeth fans tend to be as dogmatic and vitriolic as those of Audio Note, perhaps more so if we exclude AN’s principal unpaid advertiser.

That's true for any brand. Why pick on Harbeth only. Besides, please read this thread and tell me who is doing most of the bashing here :)

As for colorations, if we are using that yardstick then many of our beloved speaker brands will fail the test. Obviously, Alan Shaw is going for a specific sound signature that appeals to a subset of audiophiles. It's not designed to appeal to everyone. He's not going after the flattest frequency response. Anyone buying Harbeth speakers is very well aware of it. Why is this a problem for so many people? 

Let's grow up and stop questioning people's listening/analytical abilities, calling them outdated/old, and all sorts of juvenile behavior that has been on display on this thread and others. You don't like Harbeth, who cares. I like it enough to own it and enjoy it. You like another brand better, all the power to you. Enjoy the music and your preferred choice of audio equipment. 

 

jazzguy43
39 posts
 

goor write up, thanks for taking the time to educate us all.

More to discover