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The Harbeth phenomenon

In my search for a new pair of speakers, I've gone through many threads here and noticed that many owners or fans of Harbeth have almost a love-like connection with Harbeth speakers. It is almost as if the speakers cast a spell upon them. I know many audiophiles love their speakers but Harbeth owners seem especially enamored with theirs. I am extremely puzzled by this phenomenon because on paper Harbeth speakers look average at best and lack many of the attributes that generally make a great speaker.

Their sensitivity of generally around the 86dB mark makes them rather inefficient and therefore, at least in theory, not a good match for many lower powered tube amps, or any amps below 100wpc. Their frequency range is simply inferior to most high-end speakers since they don't go below 40 Hz. This alone should, again at least in theory, disqualify Harbeth speakers from consideration as top high end speakers. And yet I've never heard anyone complain about their bass, while people complain about lack of bass in the Gibbon Nines from DeVore, which is a fantastic speaker. Their cabinets look like a cheap DIY enclosure (disclaimer: I've never seen a Harbeth up close, only pictures). The 7ES-3 is rated B-Restricted, while the smaller and cheaper Usher Be-718 A-Restricted in Stereophile but garners nowhere near the same amount of admiration, praise and following among audiophiles.

So what's going on here? Is this a big conspiracy plot by the company that paid off a few hundred of people to infiltrate audiophile internet forums and a few reviewers? I am of course joking here, but the question is serious. How can speakers so average on paper be so good in real life? I know the opposite is often true, but you rarely see this phenomenon.

Please speak up.
actusreus
petek
34 posts
 
Hey jtg82,

So glad to hear from you and, that you are still enjoying the M30s! 

It was great meeting you (10+ years ago) and hanging out one evening listening to some good music over an audition. Interestingly, I went back to Harbeths (the super HL5) in 2012 after moving away from the east coast; that move kinda forced me to sell my Verity Parsifals as I did not have the flight cases (aghh!)

On balance, the Harbeths do so much right when comes to tone, timbre and musicality. This past year I stepped in the world of SET amplification with Devore 0/96s. 

Anyway, I could easily with live with any of the above speaker options. They share many common traits.

happy listening!

audition__audio
1,504 posts
 
petek,

I have extensive experience with the 0/96s and SETs. Recently we built an Atma-sphere M-60 kit and replaced the SET amps we had with the Atma-sphere and the improvements were astounding. I am convinced that all higher impedance speakers would benefit from this OTL upgrade. 
larryi
4,056 posts
 
Good OTL's are astonishing in the way they deliver a lively, immediate and vibrant sound.  But, as Jsautter mentioned, most require a speaker with a high and/or flat impedance curve because the output impedance of these amps are high (the only way to reduce the output impedance of an amp without a transformer is to parallel in more output tubes). 

The other issue is that there are so few available that one has limited options in terms of voicing.  I like the Atmasphere amps, but, they are on the somewhat lean side, so they may not voice properly (for my taste) with speakers that are on the leaner side.  For example, the Devore O/93 or O/96 are on the warmer side and they do tend to be a bit sluggish sounding so the M-60 might be an ideal combination.  Would that be the case with the Devore Gibbons (a leaner sounding speaker)? Who knows, one just has to try the combination.
freediver
1,222 posts
 
I am a recent Harbeth convert(M30.1) & anyone who checks my past threads & replies will see I am no easy mark.I am frugal,believe highly in the laws of diminishing returns as well as Trickle Down Tech and value a highly organic,natural tone.I have owned highly regarded speakers from Sonus Faber,Dynaudio,Vandersteen,Fritz,Dali,Nola and many others as well as demo’ing units costing up to $100,000.00+...
While I do listen to some elevator music(very late & very early hours)I am also an old rocker.Musical taste runs pretty much to every genre except maybe rap/hip hop & most country & I have NEVER in my life had this high a level of sound reproduction in my home!!!Anyone who listens to Harbeth and doesn’t hear an electrostatic clarity and to die for tone either needs his ears cleaned or the playback system checked!
fjn04
1,561 posts
 
"Anyone who listens to Harbeth and doesn’t hear an electrostatic clarity and to die for tone either needs his ears cleaned or the playback system checked!"  

Nice...freediver- May I ask what amp you use. My winding road has featured Thiel, Mirage, Wilson, Avalon, Verity, Kharma Eggleston, Vandersteen 5A, DeVore Nine, DeVore 96, Altec Valencia (Werner crossover).....Favorites of the above: Verity, 96, Altec.... Would like to hear Vandy CT. I have owned, and enjoyed Harbeth P3's. 
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