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Are Harbeth Super HL5 XD right for me?

I am feeling like despite being very happy with my current speakers, I am missing something because they are by far the least expensive part of my system. I recently replaced my Large Advents with a pair of the new KLH Model 5s and I love them, despite being about 5% of my systems cost.

I am thinking about the Harbeth Super HL5 XD as a final upgrade. It’s a big chunk of change though and my biggest concern is that they can only be 12” away from the rear wall. They’ll be essentially open on both sides and I’ll be sitting about 8’ from them. This is fixed in stone. I’ll be driving them with a pair of Luxman MB-3045 tube amps and an ARC SP-14 playing 98% (or more) vinyl. Mostly jazz, classic rock and classical. I live in an apartment and never play very loud, and have reached the point where I really don’t have much desire to anyway.

So… Is it worth taking the chance given my situation or am I just setting myself up for disappointment and better off sticking with what I am really very happy with?

TIA

128x128jdougs

Showing 4 responses by grislybutter

grislybutter
2,344 posts
 

what you have now is synergy between your components and synergy between your speakers and your ears. Once you change it the synergy may be gone. With new speakers you may need to change another component... maybe not. For one the KHLs have a higher sensitivity.

For the price of the Harbeths you could try a lot of different speakers. It's not clear to me if you are just curious about the Harbeths or anything that would provide you with something more and different than the KHLs. There are better values for the money, British speakers in the US are usually pricey

grislybutter
2,344 posts
 

it is true that the Harbeth model line-up's pricing is linear - as opposed to other speaker series (B&W, KEF, Tannoy, etc.) that are more exponential -  not that it's an apples to apples comparison.  So possibly, from that lens, the more expensive Harbeth models are more bang for the buck

grislybutter
2,344 posts
 

another thing going for them - when selling -  is high retail value

grislybutter
2,344 posts
 

@arafiq exactly, the 1.5-3K price range may be the most competitive. Lots of choices and trickle-down tech to benefit from.

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