Can the Harbeth 40.1's boggie ?????

......the Sonus Faber Cremona M's to me, are more tonally correct. The Harbeth's mid range is very good but I found the upper range ( tweeter ) not involving at all and at times, to me, lacked any sort of detail. It was like the speaker has been dampened for a lack of any better word. Again, not to start any arguments, it is a terrific speaker, however, I tend to enjoy a more open, dynamic sound. I realized when I purchased the Harbeth's what I was getting into from a sonic standpoint, but because of my room, they just were not a good fit. The Sonus Faber Cremona M's are not dark in any way and even after only 30 hours are really starting to open up.

I had the Cremona before the M and did find it a tad dark and requiring some considerable current to control the bass drivers otherwise bass came out one note and lumpy. The M is a considerable improvement.

I sold the Cremona and it was a toss between the Cremona M or the 40.1. I bought the 40.1 and for a while I wasnt quite sure whether it could boogie. In a state of denial? another boo boo.... in boogie? Hats off to you Garebear for being incisive in your decision.

After these long months and much experimentation with different equipment, my conclusion is it doesnt boogie but will allow you a jig with the right equipment.

I am inclined to agree that the tweeter may be abit tame to allow it the "speed" to boogie but thats my view.

I really shouldnt be suprised with my conclusion as some of the boys on the Harbeth site including Alan Shaw the designer are now having a go at defining fast and slow speakers and PRaT. Of course the conclusion is, its all a figment of an over analytical approach to music or a neurosis as suggested in the past.

Of course, everything about Harbeth must sound good on the Harbeth forum. There is no room for negative thoughts or criticism as they practice active moderation.

As much as I love the Harbeth sound, let's admit it. They do not have the most extended highs and some of the detail in the high frequencies are smoothed out. This largely contributed to the low listening fatigue of Harbeth speakers but took away some of the edge and excitement. It largely depends on the genre of music one is listening to.

The lossy thin-walled cabinet of the Harbeth is designed to resonate along with the music whilst most speaker manufacturers try to make their speakers as inert as possible to minimize unwanted cabinet resonance. Cabinet vibrations are some sort of a coloration but Harbeth promote this philosophy which is the archetype of the BBC heritage.

As for fast vs slow. It is interesting some may express the inappropriate use of these terms in describing sound or speakers on the Harbeth forum since in their mind they do not mean anything. Again, when someone states that the speaker(or music) is fast or slow, it will relate to the ability of the speaker or system to highlight or reproduce the transient attack and dynamic swings in music. I believe most criticism on Harbeth is they fall short in rock or dynamic music, sounding slow when compared to dynamic speakers due to their inherent design characteristics. The bass will not be as quick, tight or agile with the cabinet vibrations. For music with lots of thumping bass lines, the Harbeth may exhibit some bass boom as the bass plods along with the music, due to resonance build-up within the cabinet. Coupled with the smoothed out treble, this may have given the impression that the Harbeths sound slow or can't boogie to some people.

The 40.1s are IMO the most polite speaker in the Harbeth line, followed by the SHL5. The C7ES3s are the most dynamic(in other words, quickest and has the best speed) owing much to the smaller box apart from the 2nd generation Radial driver, hence the highest boogie factor.

I don't own Harbeth's but I've heard them. I'm a huge live music fan, my brother in law plays in a band has has filled in for big names on the quitar such as Pat Travers. I find Harbeth's to do an amazing job of reproducing music. I think a lot of people on this web site get caught up on the sound of their first car stereo and use that sound as a basis. I also find that practically no one on this forum actually goes out and listens to live music, so they're only basing their opinions on previously pre recorded musical reproduction though very bassy boxes. You can say all you want about specs etc, but they have nothing to do with music reproduction. It's a huge waste of time and money. You'll notice that you will never see a musician post on this forum. That's because they listen to music. They don't interrogate it.