@yogiboy I have them toed in probably about 15-20 degrees each now. It seems to be where though sound best in my room and with their spacing.
Are Harbeth Super HL5 XD right for me?
I am feeling like despite being very happy with my current speakers, I am missing something because they are by far the least expensive part of my system. I recently replaced my Large Advents with a pair of the new KLH Model 5s and I love them, despite being about 5% of my systems cost.
I am thinking about the Harbeth Super HL5 XD as a final upgrade. It’s a big chunk of change though and my biggest concern is that they can only be 12” away from the rear wall. They’ll be essentially open on both sides and I’ll be sitting about 8’ from them. This is fixed in stone. I’ll be driving them with a pair of Luxman MB-3045 tube amps and an ARC SP-14 playing 98% (or more) vinyl. Mostly jazz, classic rock and classical. I live in an apartment and never play very loud, and have reached the point where I really don’t have much desire to anyway.
So… Is it worth taking the chance given my situation or am I just setting myself up for disappointment and better off sticking with what I am really very happy with?
TIA
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@jdougs First of all congratulations on acquiring a world-class speaker! In my home office, the SHL5+ are also placed roughly 13 inches out from the front wall and they sound pretty damn good. But, of course, these speakers will perform even better if pulled out further, with the most noticeable improvement being soundstage depth. When I had them in my main listening room (they're in my home office now), I had them pulled out by almost 5 feet. The soundstage depth and imaging was glorious. I was skeptical when I moved them to the home office but I was pleasantly surprised. They still have the trademark Harbeth sound that I love. And as a bonus, they sound very good even at low volume listening. If you have the space, try to spread them further along the horizontal plane and increase the toe-in angle by another 5-10 degrees. At least in my room, I'm able to improve the depth and image precision a bit more by doing this. |
@arafiq At best I can only spread them another 18”. I might try that next weekend, but even if there’s no significant change, they are wonderful as is. It seems like each day there is a slight improvement as they get more playing time. Zero regrets on my purchase! And as you pointed out, they sound great at low volume which is great for my late night listening. |
- 44 posts total