Am I the only one who doesn’t love Harbeth P3esr?


I purchased a pair of P3’s a month ago based on their
uniformly rave reviews online. I have tried them with 
3 different amps, in two different rooms, and with and without a sub, and am just not overly impressed,
using a variety of music. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I expected more OMG moments.
They certainly aren’t bad. Very detailed. But to me they sound bright which I never expected. And I just can’t get them to sound really good.
I have other speakers I gravitate to for listening sessions- KEF LS 50 and Klipsch RP 600ms.

rambo21

Showing 2 responses by mapman

Lots of very strong competition at their price point and they are very small compared to many so one better really take to what Harbeth tends to do uniquely I would expect.  That would be vocals, which is very important thing to do well. 
I was just at a dealer listening to the big Harbeth 40.2 this morning off a very impressive CJ amp combo. Very nice! Actually awesome was the word I used.

I’m sure the P3esrs are very good for their size as well but like most entry level models in most lines these days they were...small and pricey.

I’d have to compare them to say Vanatoo Transparent 1 Encores which are similar size but also active with 4 built in amplifiers, DSP and 1/4 the price for essentially a complete system with similar size speakers. Just add a streaming device like any decent smartphone and you have sound that plays in the big leagues for a small fraction of the cost.

Old school passive speaker design versus latest and greatest bundled and integrated modern technology....who wins?

BTW its confirmed tariffs have had a significant effect on imported European audio product prices.