Why do Harbeth speakers have such a cult following

Hello Michaelkingdom,

I enjoyed reading your thoughts in regards to your SHL5's. I believe that the sound of any speaker is greatly influenced by the room that they are playing in as the room becomes an extension of the speaker's cabinet.

So every room has varying nodes, reflective surfaces, as well as absorbing surfaces, etc. I think that this may be one reason some feel a particular speaker may sound warm and laid back and others may feel the same speaker may sound cold or lean or more upfront. So many variables in this hobby!

No_regrets, I didn't use the same stands for both speakers. For the 30.1's I used heavy stands, I think they are called Atacama SE24. For the small P3's I use a much lighter stand made of MDF wood, they are called Audio Pro Stand 620. The only reason why I use these are because of the looks, I like these a lot, the Atacama's are very good but ugly in my opinion. I prefer heavy stands though, as we have two cats running around. Sometimes I put something heavy on the bottom plates just to not risk any accidents caused by the 4-legged little beasts. I once thought heavier stands made the bass a little bit more clear but I'm not sure at all about that. Apart from the overall better sound, I also prefer stands because it lets me have the speakers far from each other, it widens the soundstage very much.

Thanks Egoben. I don't know that either of those would be available here in the States. I've many people seem to like Skylan stands with the Harbeth line of speakers quite a bit. They are in Canada and would be no problem for me to get those. I probably will give them a try or maybe custom build some out of wood myself. We'll have to see how ambitious I get!

Thanks Egoben. I don't know that either of those would be available here in the States. I've many people seem to like Skylan stands with the Harbeth line of speakers quite a bit. They are in Canada and would be no problem for me to get those. I probably will give them a try or maybe custom build some out of wood myself. We'll have to see how ambitious I get!

Everything has a cult following, why would Harbeth be any different?

What I don't get is why it bothers other people so much.

Why does Naim have a cult around it? Why does BMW? Why do the Dallas Cowboys? I just don't know why people get so worked up about it.

I recently got a pair of P3-ESRs and I think they are definitely among the most well judged little speakers I've listened to. I'm not about to don robes of Harbeth grill cloth or tattoo Alan Shaw on my arm or anything, but I can easily understand why Harbeth has its adherents. They communicate music well.