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In Reply to: RE: Audio Note AN-J or AN-E vs Harbeth SHL5 posted by jasonpatrickbrowne on August 16, 2014 at 22:27:07
Audio note is one of the worst speakers I have heard in my life. Harbeth all the way!
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I have to agree with that assessment, everytime I heard them they were quite awful, very unbalanced and colored. Now I have not heard them in very controlled conditions so I'll reserve judgement considering many people seem to like them, but I certainly wasn't impressed. It was the aural equivalent of looking at something through a magnifier, and moving it at the same time.
Edits: 08/18/14
hi
where did you hear a pair?
I have talked to two guys who went from ahrbeth shl5 to audio note and both told me they prefer audio note to harbeth
what is your experience?
Like any loudspeaker - any given set-up with any given amp in any given room can make otherwise good speakers sound poor. And some speakers get more credit than that may otherwise deserve when all the stars align. I've heard them sound world class to excellent to merely good and not so good to pretty poor.Audio Note is one of the few if only makers that at audio shows play music regardless of recording quality - they don't bring 12 CDs or LPs that are the best of the best recording quality - they will play 1920 mono LPs and if you happen to walk in in such a demo versus the guy down the hall playing Krall Live in Paris on repeat all day you might have an opinion on soundstage etc but your opinion would be about as useful as an empty toilet paper roll.
Bottom line you have to listen to the speakers, any speakers, reasonably well set up playing the kinds of music you play.
People can blather on about accuracy or distortion all they wish or whether it sounds warm or neutral but you have to buy something that pleases you (and that extends to the looks etc as well).
The AN E, J and K have been selling for over 30 years in largely continuous form since Snell came out with the original Snell Type E, Type J and Type K. The box designs go back to acousticians and speaker design expert L.L. Beranek who designed them in 1940.
Harbeth is a fine speaker maker that has been around for decades and shares a rich musicality and high involvement factor.
I find the AN's offer significantly better value for the dollar for various reasons but that's another issue.
Edits: 08/18/14
I owned the HL5 30th anniversary speaker. It was pleasant enough, but rather dull, even fronted by Naim. Buttoned down as Bob Neil would say. I had the Spendoer sp 1/2e's just before the Harbeth and found them much more involving, even though they are quite similar designs in many respects. I liked the Meadowlark Shearwater (hotrod version) perhaps better than either the Spendor or the Harbeth, although that Spendor was very nice. Taste obviously differ, which is great.
I've never heard AN speakers, though I always wanted to. If Bob Neil is right the AN's are an evolved form of the BBC sound, with more clarity and 'jump'...
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