Why do Harbeth speakers have such a cult following

To No_regrets,

Sorry for not replying sooner. I've been busy listening to music. :-) Sesiously, of course I can give you some answers. You are asking if the instruments are reproduced like "toy instruments" with the small Harbeth P3ESR speakers. When you look at the speakers, and even hold them in your hands, you might cerntainly think that's exactly what will happen. Of course they can't play as physically as a 15 inch bass guitar amplifer next to you, that just won't happen. But I've never ever been thinking that any instrument sounds like a toy instrument, or thin, or whatever term used. I have tried big floor standers in my room that "rocks" a lot more, but in the end, I prefer a more modest presentation of the music, that doesn't make the walls shake, but that's me. But as I wrote, it's still a very big sounding speaker, and that's not only for its tiny size. When I shut my eyes, I can imagine a lot bigger speakers in front of me!

My room is quite small, 16 sqm. I have previously used Dynaudio Focus 160 and they are too boomy in my room. In a bigger room, they are an amazing speaker, and share many things with the Harbeth's. The most important is that you can listen to music all day long without any kind of listening fatigue. I like that a lot! The Harbeth's can be placed much closer to the walls than any other speaker I have tried. Just a few cm will do actually. But more space than that is of course prefered. They aren't rear ported like many other speakers, incl the Dynadio's that require 50 cm or more.

Yes, I am using a tube amp, it's a 30 watt Jadis, class a. I have also been using a 2x165 watt solid state amp (Bladelius Thor mk2) with these speakers and the sound is actually pretty similar! With other speakers that are harder to drive, the difference would have been a lot bigger. I have read many times that some people use much less than 30 watts for the small Harbeth P3's with good result, and I don't doubt it at all.

These P3ESR's are just on loan actually, but I would have wanted to own them a lot. Instead, I will purchase the new bigger model 30.1. They are much harder to drive in my opinion and my amp will struggle a bit, and on some music they will be a bit too much in my room, but I liked them so much I couldn't resist. They reproduce vocals and guitars even better than the small P3's. But hopefully, I might own a pair of these small lovely speakers aswell, because I know I will miss them when I return them. They are that good!

Egoben,Ditto on your desription on the P3ESR'S. I think you should think twice about going for the larger Harbeth. The simple two way sealed design is what makes them special. Bigger is not always better.

Thank you Egoben! Your post was very informative and very helpful to me. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with me on this. I've read many positive things in regards to the new 30.1....I'm sure you will love it!

Yogiboy,

There is some truth to what you say....." I think you should think twice about going for the larger Harbeth......... Bigger is not always better. "

This reminds me of back when I was purchasing my reference speakers, Dunlavy SCIV Signatures. In the dealer's large showroom, I was able to compare my SCIV's with the larger SCV's. They both had the same sonic signatures, but the larger SCV's were that much better in every respect.

I then actually talked in great length with John Dunlavy, the designer of these speakers and he said that because of the size of MY listening room, the smaller SCIV's would outplay the larger SCV's. Although the SCV's are technically the better speaker, they were just too big for my room to handle properly. So it is of paramount importance to match your speakers to the room that they will be playing in.

I'm sure that Egoben has taken his room into consideration and feels the sonic gains that he will achieve with the larger 30.1's in the majority of his music replay will far outweigh what it may lack in the select few of his recordings.

Your point is very well worth considering though, as many probably forget the important role that your listening room plays in sound reproduction.

To Yogiboy and No_regrets,

I know what you mean and I am very well aware of that a smaller and cheaper speaker model sometimes is better than a bigger one! It depends on the room and the electronics, among other things. In fact, each new speaker model I get, tend to be smaller and smaller each time, both physcially and concerning deep bass. I have listenened to both the small Harbeth P3ESR and the 30.1 in my home with my electronics. I like both speakers and would like to own both. Even though the 30.1 has an 8" woofer, it doesn't go lower than my previous Dynaudio speakers with a smaller woofer than that. Which is a good thing in my room. I don't want too deep bass. First, I don't like it, and my small (16sqm) room tend to create boominess, and secondly, my neighbours won't like it either and I like to play music late at night.

My taste in music is of course also another factor why I like Harbeth so much. I don't know how but for some reason, most older music sounds better than most new music. It might be the modern mastering (loudness war), of course, but that can't be the only reason. I don't know. For example, I played "Silver & Gold" by Neil Young released in the year 2000. Sounds great, a great record (if you like Neil Young like I do)! A little later, I played his record "Comes A Time", released 1978, and you can really hear what a difference it is. It's so much better soundwise, more natural, more real, every instrument and the vocals, are just perfect, like it was played and recorded in my room! Before that, I played Miles Davis' classic "Kind of Blue", and, well, it is really something! I haven't heard these records sound as good and natural before with any other speaker I have listenened to. And for me, that's what it's all about.

(If anyone's interested in listening to the small Harbeth P3ESR speakers (or any other model I guess), just have in mind that they sound much better put on stands, than on a shelf or bench or something. I first listened to them without proper stands, and I wasn't half as satisfied with the sound as with stands.)