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What Is So Special About Harbeth?

SLike probably all of you, I just received notice from Audiogon of a 20% discount on Harbeth XD. I clicked on the tab and found that the sale price is about $2700. I have read so many glowing comments here about Harbeth — as if just saying the name is the password for entering aural nirvana. I admit, I haven’t listened to Harbeth speakers. But looking at these, they just look like smallish bookshelf speakers. I’m not questioning how good others say these speakers are, but HOW do they do it out of an ordinary-looking box?

Is it the wood? Is it the bracing? Is it the crossover components? Is it the cone material? What is the reason why these Harbeth’s are such gems compared to other bookshelf speakers? What is it about the construction or technology that makes these speakers a deal at $2700 on sale versus the $800, 900 or $1,000 that others normally cost? What is the secret that makes audiophiles thrill to get such a costly bargain?

bob540
extravaganza
373 posts
 

parts is not the best ,a lot of cheap film caps,core coils,resistors.Price abaut 15-20$ in total for one crossover.Drivers also cheap.Complex crossover helps a bit cover shortages of drivers and thin cabinet.Let say without labor cost ,the cost of 7es3 for a pair 300-400$

bassdude
497 posts
 

I agreed with many of the comments of how the Harbeth sound lacked clarity, detail and dynamics... UNTIL... I found the right electronics to drive them - which are the amps the designer demos them with - the Hegel amps.  

They are a totally different speaker with the right electronics that match their impedance and power requirements with sufficient damping to properly control their drivers.  I would not have kept them, otherwise.

If you haven't heard them with the Hegel amps, or others similar (such as the Mac MA252 SS / tube hybrid) - you haven't really heard the Harbeths.  

chorus
976 posts
 

arak- If you were producing hand-made, high end speakers in limited quantities  in

the UK, how many seconds would you produce in a year? Darn few I'd venture.

Would you ship them to the US to sell or unload them locally?

It is obvious these folks are hurting.

pesky_wabbit's avatar
pesky_wabbit
1,183 posts
 

UNTIL... I found the right electronics to drive them - which are the amps the designer demos them with - the Hegel amps.

I find that so amusing, as only a few years ago Alan Shaw was quoted as saying that his well fettled 1970’s transistor amplifiers were good enough for product development and that he didn’t think any worthwhile improvements would be made by upgrading. Something must have happened to clear away the fog.

Next thing he’ll be buying decent speaker cable..

mspot
115 posts
 

Alan Shaw is obsessed about accurately reproducing the human voice, and he brings up the topic regularly on Harbeth's forum. Shaw's reasoning is that our hearing developed from millions of years of evolution to be hyper sensitive at picking up subtle nuances in the human voice. Therefore speaker performance is especially critical in the human vocal range where our hearing is most discerning. He has talked about using recordings of spoken speech during their engineering development and how it highlights qualities that may not be apparent from music.

This focus explains the strengths and weaknesses of Harbeth speakers. If you can get the human voice right, a lot of things come along with it. It is the reason for the famed Harbeth midrange and why it is particularly good at reproducing unamplified acoustic instruments. However, they haven't given the same attention to reproducing electronic sounds and dynamics such as in rock music.

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