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How do these brands compare? I am looking to purchase a new pair of loudspeakers and I would appreciate informed opinions. Thank You!
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As the posters below have noted, you'll have to compare. But I just spent months building a new system, and the Spendor 1/2's are about the most musical and fun speakers I can imagine. I built a system around them and I love them. So listen to Harbeth and Spendor (classic series), and also give Audio Note a listen. The Audio Note's are gorgeous sounding, but are quite picky about placement.
--Jack
There are a series of reviews in the Enjoy the Music archives offering one man's opinion on several Harbeths in relation to comparable Spendors. Both lines (if you stick to Spendor's 'classic' line) are excellent but you will definitely prefer one to the other.
I've owned the SP1/2 and currently use the C7ES2. Both are excellent speakers. THe Harbeth are very honest and the least colored of the two, however, IMO, the Spendors are a bit more forgiving of front-end nasties. But you can't go wrong with either
Similar mid-range neutrality, but, though there aren't any directly comparable models except for the shoebox-sized 3/5s and P3s, Harbeths tend to be a litte more extended in the bass and on top. Spendor fans would say that the Harbeths are "dry." Harbeth fans would point to the proprietary RADIAL material from which the 8 inch mid-woofers are made (doesn't apply to the P3) and the resultant inaudible levels of distortion leading to a a clarity and lack of coloration found in no other box speaker. Harbeth fans would also point out that Derek Hughes, the son of Spendor's founder, now works for Harbeth, and if they know, that Harbeth's managing director, Alan Shaw, was bequeathed all of the legendary BBC research material and studies of loudspeaker performance.The Harbeth P3 and M20 (tiny) and Compact 7 (not really compact at all) use metal dome tweeters. The Harbeth M30 and M40 and the Spendors use soft domes.
You might prefer any of them. Have a listen, if you can.
It depends on which model of speakers. Both brands are considered excellent British speakers with soft dome tweeters though many feel that Audio Note speakers are the more accurate of British speakers. You can't go wrong with either the Spendor S3/5se
http://www.spendoraudio.com/EXP800.HTM
or Harbeth Compact 7ES2
http://www.harbeth.co.uk/PDF/C7ES2brox.pdf
Some feel the Spendors in general are harder to drive being less sensitive than the Harbeths - but the ONLY way to really tell is to listen to them both since it's all in the ear/auditory cortex of the beholder.
"Some feel the Spendors in general are harder to drive being less sensitive than the Harbeths"I believe you have this out of phase--Harbeth Monitor 40s, for example, are only 83 db sensitive. Spendor makes nothing with that low sensitivity, and bith my SP1/2Es and SP100s are very easy loads, and most currect spendors are known to be easy loads even for tube amps.
I was referring to the Harbeth Compact 7 versus the Spendor S3/5SE's.
The Harbeths are rated at 87db@1watt@1 meter. The Spendors are rated at 84db@1watt@1meter (see links I provided for verification). I was also told this by a distributor for Harbeth and Spendor. You be the judge.
stereophile recently measured the 3/5se's at 81.5 db sensitive, but only dipping down to 6 ohms from the nominal 8.The classic series 3/1, 2/3, 1/2, are all around 88db sensitive and very efficient (impedances not varrying much from 8 ohms), and the SP-100's are 90db sensitive and also efficient. For around $200-$300 more, the 3/1 is a better speaker than the 3/5se in my opionion. And all the classic series spendors are happy with between 10 and 30 watts. My 1/2's are driven with 50wpc push-pull and its overkill in a room that is 19' by 14' by 9'. I've had exellent results with the 10 wpc Audio Note P1 SE, the 15 wpc synthesis tube push-pull integrated and the 50 wpc Jolida 302b. The 1/2's seem to be happiest with about 20 wpc single ended, such as the 18 wpc P2 SE. And I listen to all kinds of music from classical to Iron Maiden.
--Jack
Hello,I don't agree, I have the S3/5se, the S3/5 and the SP1/2, also I had the SP3/1. The best sounding Spendor speaker I heard (I heard all classic series) are the S3/5se, better sounding than my beloved SP1/2, but with the inconveniece of the lack of sensibility, and deep bass (Solved by Rel).
My S3/5se works superb with a 30W per channel integrated tube amplifier (Pentode regulated, PP, EL34), in a 7m L x 4m W x 3m H room, with enough pressure for listen "The Ramones" (For example).
If you do not stay more than 2m from the speakers, the best Spendors IMMO are the S3/5se
My example: 30W amp are 15dB more than 1W, 81,5 dB SPL at 1m(Stereophile) + 15dB = 96,5 dB SPL at 1m (One box with 30W), plus another box 99,5 dB SPL at 1m (Pair), 93,5 dB SPL at 2m (-6 dB of fall by double of the distance). The S3/5 are rated for 125W (I don't believe), this is 6 dB more than 30W.
Cheers
The Spendor S3/5 is a shoebox sized speaker, and yes, less efficent, but it also will not play as loud as the much larger Harbeth Compact 7. The C7 is something like 6 times as large by volume, and is a pretty easy load, but so are the larger Spendors.More efficient doesn't necessarily mean an easier load, but I think the Spendor S3/5 is easier to drive than the comparably sized and less efficient Harbeth HLP3.
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