Tír Na HiFi

Hi Chaps,

I recently came across Harbeth speakers for sale on eBay... and started to search around for more info about them. I know very little about these speakers..however they seem to have a particular design for thin walled cabinets. They also seem to be held in very high regard and have a loyal following of users.

Whilst perusing the site http://www.harbeth.co.uk I came across a section called "User Group", a small forum of Harbeth users and their experiences. In addition, regular inputs from the owner / designer Alan Shaw. Seemed a very very nice touch, some of the threads on there are quite interesting, one thread told about a Canadian Demo shop where a customer was not very satisfied whilst demoing a pair of HL5's, Harbeth were considering shipping those speakers back to the UK for investigation. All turned out well in the end as the customer eventually bought them and was greatly pleased when they turned out to deliver superb sound in his own listening room. Turned out that the acoustics of the listening room where not very favorable.

There was also very interesting comments about the psychology of bargain hunters and unfortunately the woes of being a shop retailer.

Any Harbeth users on the forum .... I know Cloney's where selling the P3ESR's... looks great in Eucalyptus.

They are certainly a very well regarded speaker Adrian and are supposed to be the natural partner to the Leben amp you have. They have a very open natural sound but have thin walls, not very well damped, a different speaker building philosophy to many other speaker manufacturers.
I've heard 2 models before in Cloney's but didnt enjoy the demo as I thought the room had major problems which led to a very bloated sound in the upper bass.
You'd really need to hear them in your own gaff to make a proper judgement.

Given the amp you have and the speakers reputation, you really ought to get a home demo if you're interested in them.

Eh try the CA thread or pm Clive or Cvrle59 both Harbeth men me thinks.
They seem to have a very good reputation but never heard of them myself until Cloney's started stocking them. I have a picture in my head that they are like the old spendors and BBC monitors but that could be a million miles away from the truth.

They are a nice speaker - nice rounded sound that will give lots of enjoyment to anyone. Long pedigree too.....



Fran

I listened to a pair in Cloney's earlier this year. Noel showed me a large pair of Proac's secondhand and a pair of new JM Reynaud floorstanders but the sound quality of the Harbeth's (can't recall the model) was way ahead of the other two. Real big but tuneful sound from a standmounted speaker. Well worth an audition.

Funny how tastes differ. My one exposure to Harbeths in the shop left me completely cold, it all just sounded like a vibrating cabinet to me. I really liked the J M Reynaud, though. I know lots of people love Harbeth, so you wouldn't want to listen to me!

Thanks guys... all interesting points... and even more interesting is that some of you have different experiences of the same speaker!!

I was hoping that there would be a Harbeth User on the forum who would post up... but alas they must be a rarer speaker than most.

Don't forget to check out the user group forum on the Harbeth site... seems to be a very nice forum with posts from the designer / owner A. Shaw.

Must admit I love my Harbeth p3. Thinking of buying a second pair for office - however, would consider instead the Spendor SP2/3R2. They seem to have a very similar closed box design which I like because they need to go close to a rear wall on a shelf. They are a good deal cheaper than the Harbeths. Any views on these Spendors? The other option I was considering is the ELAB BS 403 which has a downward facing bass port, but similar price to the Harbeths. I heard some lesser Elacs in Cloney and wasn't that impressed, but the BS 403 seem positively reviewed (for what that's worth).