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On the weekend, I auditioned a pair of the new Harbeth Super HL5plus speakers at a local dealer.
I've read several positive reviews about these speakers and was curious to hear them for myself.
The night before, I had listened to several different types of music on my ProAc Response D30R speakers and the next morning went off to the local dealer.
The setup included the same gear (solid-state) I have at home (the main reason I chose this dealer) and after about 1.5 hours of listening to the Harbeth speakers, using the music I brought over from my listening session at home the previous night (CDs and Vinyl), I was not impressed.
Let me explain, after reading all those great reviews, I expected a lot from these speakers but song after song, I did not hear anything that would make me trade in my ProAc speakers for the Harbeth speakers. Actually, my ProAc speakers have much deeper bass and a little more detail in the highs and mids.
What's been your experience with Harbeth speakers?
Follow Ups:
(I have a pair of SHL5's and Compact 7ES2's) at least in my experience in my home, is that they can sound "distant" in a room that's on the large side. When I put them in a smaller room, they became much more engaging and sound wonderful. Possibly a result of their BBC monitor pedigree.(?)
Mark in NC
"The thought that life could be better is woven indelibly into our hearts and our brains" -Paul Simon
I have had Harbeth P7es3 speakers in my system for a couple of months (I know, not a very long time), and I really can't imagine parting with them. I have owned speakers from B&W, Dynaudio, Reference 3a, Combak, Merlin, Tyler Acoustics, Magnepan, Sonus Faber and Proac. And I have heard several others in retail sound rooms, and friend's systems. The Harbeths are very satisfying with my Audio Research Vsi75.
Edits: 11/06/15
I've not heard the most recent incarnation of the Harbeths, but have heard several of their other speakers over the years. I find them a more natural sounding speaker than the ProAcs I've heard. The ProAcs, while very good, strike me as having a bit more zip. Put another way, I find the ProAcs are like Kodachrome film -- they add a bit extra to what was on the recording.A lot of people prefer the "extra". Others, like me, think otherwise. I think of Harbeth as more natural sounding of the two; others with the opposite preference might use the term "too laid back".
Of course, the differing rooms play a big role in what you hear, but I suspect hearing the speakers side-by-side would not change your opinion much.
Some years ago I started counting up the number of speaker models listed on the AA Review page. I gave up somewhere around 1,000. There is a reason for that -- different people listen for and are impressed by different things.
Edits: 11/05/15
My take, not worth the money to me. I herd them in a friends system driven by a RM200 amp, and was not impressed. My friend tries lots of different speakers and these were just plain sounding. I thought my spender SP1/2e were much better at the time.
My Revels would just outshine them in every way. At least in my system with my type of music. Classic Rock, Blues, vocals and throw in some Charlie Byrd live.
You won't find many here who have heard the new Harbeth 5 plus. Nor have I. But I have heard a number of Proacs and a number of Harbeths. If your Proacs sound right to you, and you like the "detail," Harbeths will sound dull to you. Don't worry about it, just enjoy what you have.Bass response is affected by the room and proximity to walls, of course, so it's hard to compare speakers from one place to another.
Edits: 11/04/15
Ask the local dealer to set up the Harbeths in your listening room where the Proacs are. Since the sources are the same this should be easy. I would suggest more than 1.5 hours of listening. I have found Harbeths easy to listen for many hours at a time.
Good listening
Bill
It's not like ProAc isn't a well respected loudspeaker maker. Speakers all bring a certain sound to the table. We can make excuses why something sounds poor but what I try to do is to listen to several speakers in the line several times in several locations with several different front end systems.
I can't tell you how often a speaker has sounded horrible in one show or dealer and then sounded rather astonishingly good in another or even in the same room with a different system attached.
Take David's response below - Audio Note speakers are typically connected to AN's amplifiers and sources - well those can be jaw dropping expensive SET amplifiers - they will make a lot of speakers sound a lot better. While Harbeth might be connected to some ear bleeding high negative feedback solid state amplifier. Stick the $100k AN front end on the Harbeth and it might be terrific as well.
Indeed, several years back I bought the AX Two standmount from Audio Note - $1k. It was hooked up to $100k+ worth of AN amps sources and a dedicated room. Wander to another dealer with $20,000+ AvanteGarde loudspeakers connected up to middling equipment and listening to Eva Cassidy and the sound from the $1k speakers was night and day VASTLY superior.
It moved me - goosebumps - the $20k speakers made me want to shut Eva off 1/3 of the way through the song. Pretty horrific.
Try the Harbeths a few more times to be sure - but they may simply not be for you. It's not a crime.
Speakers are such an individual matter. I could listen to those Harbeths all day long for the rest of my life, while the Proacs sound unnatural and fatiguing to me.
I did not hear these speakers, but the Harbeth Monitor 30.1 are the best speakers I heard at the stereophile show in manhattan. From my experience, if you do not like the sound of speakers in the showroom, your impression will not significantly change at home. My advice is to stay away from these speakers if your initial impression was they lacked something. They are too expensive to get wrong.
Your ears are used to the sound of Proacs in your room, not Harbeths in somebody else's room. Sorry to say this, but I doubt that anyone can say which pair are the "better" speakers (for you) until you've listened to a pair of those Harbeth's in your own room, and for at least a couple of weeks time.Not only do you need to make sure that the Harbeths are a good sonic match for your room, but you also need to find out if long-term listening will reveal any redeeming sonic qualities - qualities that may have gone unnoticed in your short-term listening sessions down at the dealer showroom.
Edits: 11/04/15 11/04/15 11/04/15
genungo, your caveats would make speaker selection a near impossible and certainly impractical task.
db
Life is not always simple. This is one reason why some manufacturers offer things like "30 day in-home trial" periods. We can try to fool ourselves that things are otherwise, but speaker selection is part of the "crapshoot".Audio gear classifieds such as Audiogon exist for a reason...
Edits: 11/05/15
Otherwise, any comparisons are questionable.
Well, there are surely more than two, but I'll mention these.
Audio Note and Harbeth.
Both use a flexible/resonant box.
I LIKE the sound of the Audio Note speakers I've heard. Don't agree with the design or placement criteria, but I've enjoyed the sound.
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