Harbeth Owners - What do you think?

Hi Tomryan

I have owned the Harbeth Compact 7SE’s two years now, and I find myself liking them more each time I listen to them. There are other speakers, which will play louder, go lower and cost more than the Harbeths, but for overall uncompromising delivery of the musical event these speakers are hard to beat.

They are equally good with all types of music be it jazz, pop, classical or opera. They do not add to or detract from the sound of the original performance, thanks in great part to the 'Radial' midrange/woofer. This speaker really gives a very transparent view into the music with very low coloration. No speaker is completely neutral, but this comes about as close as any speaker I have encountered.

They are equally good on all types of music from a large Mahler symphony to the intricate fingerings of a flamingo guitar to the intimate voice of Patricia Barber to a large scale choral work. They do it all with no preferences or shortcomings.

Before I purchased these speakers I was a little concerned, about the metallic dome tweeter, however, this concern has proven to have no merit as these tweeters have provided a very revealing and extended high end with no traits of shrillness or harshness what-so-ever, just smooth extended highs.

No, it will not do the bottom extremes, but what it does; it does with complete clarity and control, with no mushy or smeary base. As a result of this clarity, the listener gets the impression that the speaker is really going deeper than it probably is.

I have owned numerous speaker systems, over the years. All of them played all of the notes, one or two of them even played all the notes with inner detail, but the Compact 7ES is the only one to play all the notes with detail and emotion. This emotion translates those notes into beautiful music, and beautiful music is what these speakers are all about. Every CD and LP played is like hearing them for the very first time. While you may be familiar with the music, the inner detail and emotion with which it is presented is like a new experience.

Another strong point about these speakers, to me, is that they reveal more about the acoustics of the concert hall, theatre, jazz club etc. in which the recording was made, than any other speaker I have had the pleasure of listening to. The reverberation of the recording site is magnificently captured, adding a tremendous sense of being to the sound.

I am using an Audio Research SP15 pre-amp along with the AR D-130 (solid state) power amp with the Harbeths but I really believe that they would perform well with either SS or tube amps provided your amp has sufficient power. They will sound more authoritative with a little more power from your amps.

Are there better speakers? I’m sure there are, however it would be impossible for me to ever hear all the good ones so I can only relate to the ones I have heard, and summing up my assessment of these speakers
they are a very beautiful, musical speaker, which does its job and does it well. They are definitely a music lovers’ speaker, a speaker which tells it like it is, with very little in the way of coloration or very little in the way of derogation. Just beautiful music through and through.

While I may buy one of the larger Harbeth's eventually, for my main system, I will never sell the Harbeth 7.2's.

They are with me forever.

Good Luck, and I would be interested in your decision. Let me know one way or the other.

Regards,

A. E. Watkins

I love my 7.2's as well. One of the best things I heard at CES two years ago, for the money, for sure. The midrange is quite realistic. I think they are slightly recessed in the "presence" region, but when you listen for a while, you just get drawn in. I think they like powerful SS amps. The pair well with my Odyssee Stratos dual mono, and I think they sounded great with a Plinius SA102. I haven't tried them without grills.

I own the Super HL5's. I have not heard other Harbeth models, but they all use the Radial drivers and are voiced for flat frequency response, so there is probably a strong family resemblance. As to the sound, they are not bright, forward, hyped, romantic etc- they don't have a strong signature because they really do have a flat frequency response (room permitting). In a demo situation, they could come across as boring or clinical because they don't have major colorations (especialy tipped up treble or hyped midbass) that would make them stand out.

Harbeth's are probably a good bet for those who want a slightly laid back speaker that works well on all kinds of music, and are easy to listen to for long periods of time, and disappear without drawing too much attention to themselves. However, if you want a speaker that pushes all the audiophile buttons- vivid, hyperdetailed, transparent, holographic etc they may not be the best choice. They are more about music than sonic hyper-reality.

As to associated gear, although not high-efficiency they are very easy to drive. I would avoid too laid back of an amplifier (for example I found them too mellow with a Plinius 9200), and the Odyssey mentioned above seems a good bet- also Naim and Bryston seem to common partners. Choosing a source and an amp with a good PRAT factor is probably a smart idea. I myself, have mostly used tubes. 30 triode watts is more than sufficient (either an ASL integrated or Granite Audio monoblocks).

Hi - I have a pair of original HL-P3 monitors that I've listened to in a second system for about 5 years. Very small, compact speaker - even smaller than an LS3/5A! They don't go way deep (only a 4 inch woofer), and they don't go supersonic, but they make music as wll as any small speaker I've heard. Female vocals especially sound natural - not nasal. Instrumentals are in pitch, good rythym & dynamics for their size. Quite amplifier friendly. I've used both tube & solid state amps with them. Not very efficient, like lots of power. To sum up, a very nice small speaker. Not cheap, but if something happened to these I would definitely seek out another pair.

Good listening,
Ed

Thanks for the input, guys. I like a musical presentation as opposed to an "accurate" or "audiophile" one. Accurate often means a lifeless rendering of bits and pcs as picked up by the mikes and, while working well in a studio, it doesn't usually work well at home. We (I mean "I") like to be transported into the musical event and not counting lip formations, chest cavitiy sizes, chair squeaks, and other hyper-detailed "highly resolved" correct frequency reporductions. Again, that's for the engineer in the studio, not me at home. I currently use Merlin TSM-MXs which do a pretty good job of this with the right equipment but would like something for another system and something with a wood finish - you wood lovers know what I mean!

By the way, how is the fit and finish of Harbeth speakers? And I've read they're designed for use with the grilles on - is this so? Do they sound best that way or can they be played "naked" so to speak (which is how I like my wood speakers to be)?

Anyone have a favorite Harbeth dealer?