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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
valinar
473 posts
 
No problem at all dave_b. As a past owner of Compact 7es3 and m30.1, and presently own SHL 5+ 40th anniversary and P3esr 40th anniversary I tend to agree with your characterization of them at higher volumes (although contrary to Alan Shaw’s advice I use an integrated amp rated at 70 W/8ohm).
My wife and are season ticket holders to the Illinois Symphony Orchestra and I sometimes slip into musing about recreating the dynamics and scale of the music  at home while listening live at the hall. I know better. However I find daily delight listening at home in the living room to the SHL 5s driven by my LFD NCSE MK2+, rarely past 80db.
Cheers

dave_b's avatar
dave_b
3,159 posts
 
Hearing the real thing is always humbling.  I used to be a drummer, so I have that “live” sound engrained in my DNA!  Dynamics, clarity and an uncompressed sense of ease are first and foremost with me...tone and texture also must ring true.  We all want to hear what will satisfy our expectations.  Audiophiles tend to have “Great Expectations “, wherein lies our torment and our bliss.  Reconciling our desires with reality is the razors edge upon which we dance.  Keep dancing 🕺 
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quanghuy147
79 posts
 
@actusreus
I owned a pair of Harbeth 30.1 for 2 years, I fed them with 150watt/channel solid state amplifer.

I have to admit that the mid-range is very very pleasant , absolutely non-fatiguing. However, 30.1s tends to put a "Harbeth signature" on every records. I mean 30.1s makes all songs have the same pleasant signature. If I listened for a long time, it’s very easy to get bored.

A big issue with 30.1s is bass section. In my setup, I found they failed to reproduce the texture and strength of plucking in double bass when listen to jazz.

Other problems I don’t want to go into details are small sound stage, slow speed and amp-unfriendly.

A good thing about Harbeth 30.1 (and other Harbeths, I guess) is when you buy a used Harbeth pair, then you decide to sell them in 1-2 years, they can keep the value (in dollars) extremely well. I guess because Harbeth name is so famou in US. Everyone is willing to buy it without audition on used market.

In my case, I was lucky to make $150 profit after selling them (since I bought the pair from Germany, where Harbeth speakers are much cheaper than in US).

Devore Nines is the pair I bought after selling 30.1. Nines don’t sound as pleasant as Harbeth but still non-fatiguing and very enjoyable. In short, they solve all the problem I have with 30.1s. They have their sound signature but not as strong as Harbeth.

To me, Devore Nines do a great job in balancing details and musicality.

In conclusion, if you are going to buy Harbeth, please audition (the same for Devore and other brands).

Best,
Huy.




audition__audio
1,504 posts
 
Huy,
Thank you for posting this. I have never owned Harbeths so have never heard them in my rooms, but I found the models which I have heard all shared this same "pleasantness". So based on my experience these speakers are not natural nor are they accurate but rather they are pleasing and very forgiving to the program material. 
prof
3,474 posts
 
My experience with the Harbeths in terms of soundstaging/imaging is that they seem to achieve a large soundstage in a large room, but could not in my smaller 13' x 15' room.   (I had the SuperHL5Plus).
I've had tons of different speakers in my room and love a speaker that can do great soundstaging/imaging, and I've never had any problem achieving expansive soundstages.  But the Harbeths consistently had a somewhat foreshortened depth and width.   They "disappeared" nicely and imaged far better than their looks would imply, so I think they do great imaging generally speaking.
However, when I hear the same Harbeths in the very large, open showroom floors of a local hi-fi store, they can sound much more expansive.  In fact, last time I heard the SuperHL5plus it was in a very large show room, with subwoofers, and the speakers spaced quite far apart.  The soundstage was absolutely massive, with very nice depth.

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