New addition to an older thread for posterity's sake... I have been playing with some Super HL-5's after looking for something to replace my Tyler Linbrooks (two piece system) which are just too big for my room. After 5 years with the Tyler's I still had no feeling of a need to replace them, other than the size issue. I have been running the Tyler monitors only now for some time. Anyway, both speakers are excellent, and each does some things a bit better than the other.
-The Tyler's millenium tweeter is superior in my opinion, the Harbeth having just a little bit of 'tizz', but it is not to a level I would care much about enough to not recommend the Harbeth (plus see my system below; many run tubes with the Harbeth which may be a better match).
-The "magical" midrange of the Harbeth that everyone talks about is for real, though again, the Tyler's are not far behind in this regard.
-What I like best about the Harbeth is it fills in the midbass better - perhaps even a bit 'bloated' from some peoples' perspective (and no, this is not an issue of room positioning), whereas to get that from the Tyler you have to plug in the bass modules which then must be placed WAY out into the room to avoid bass boom, and then you lose something else in the mix. So the Harbeths are easier to place IMO (compared to the entire Linbrook system. Otherwise the Linbrook monitor is very easy to place, and works in many places well).
-The biggest problem with the Harbeths, which for me IS a very large shortfall due to the music I listen to, is that they cannot handle the heaviest musical passages without breaking up. I'm talking about organ music with low notes (i.e., Felix Hell RR disk) and some heavier orchestral works. The manufacturer even states that the midrange driver will melt if you overload them! And I am not talking about very high SPL's either, perhaps high 80's, and this is only on a few well recorded CDs.
-Lastly, the Tyler's have a bit more 'energy' to them. I think this is what people call a "speaker that can rock," which no one has ever claimed about the Harbeth anyway. The Harbeths are more laid back in presentation whereas the Tylers project out into the room a bit better - better attack if you will, like a Yamaha piano compared to a cheaper Kimball or something. I'm not talking about the treble here.
All in all, I think both are fantastic speakers; I could live with either of them. It comes down to what kind of music you listen to moreso. The Tylers can handle everything you throw at them. The Harbeth's however, with most music, and at lower SPLs, might be said to have a more coherent and 'pleasing' sound overall, whatever that is. I would love to do a head to head comparison with the Linbrooks and the Monitor 30's or 7ES (with the same tweeter as the Tyler I believe) and having the Harbeth's signal crossed over below 40 Hz or so to a sub - in that case I think the Harbeth might win out. As always it comes down to system matching and music tastes. Either way, it has been a fun and enlightening 'experiment.'
Source is Meridian G08 and amp JRDG Concerto integrated.
