Lots great advice here, and one knucklehead. There’s one in every crowd! I am leaning towards pulling the trigger on a used set tomorrow, there is no dealer within a reasonable distance. I’ll hang on to the KLH speakers either way and if I don’t feel they are what I’m looking for I can always fall back on them until I find what I’m looking for. I really want an endgame speaker and feel the Harbeths may be that. Thanks for all the great advice, I knew this was the right place to come with my question.
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
Showing 6 responses by jdougs
So I’ve had the Harbeths for a week now and have 15-20 hours on them. No regrets! They are about a foot from the back wall, so could I get a larger sound stage if they were farther out? Probably (certainly?). But they have nothing to apologize for. They are definitely keepers! They are on Skylan stands, powered by Lux MB3045 tube amps and an ARC SP-14 pre. I also want to give a shout-out to the KLH Model 5s they replaced. The Harbeth may be better, but the Models 5s hold their own and have nothing apologize for, especially at less than 1/3 the price. Both are great speakers, IMHO! All in all, I am very happy I decided to pull the trigger on them. Thanks to everyone who weighed in with useful suggestions whether I followed it or not. |
@yogiboy I have them toed in probably about 15-20 degrees each now. It seems to be where though sound best in my room and with their spacing. |
@arafiq At best I can only spread them another 18”. I might try that next weekend, but even if there’s no significant change, they are wonderful as is. It seems like each day there is a slight improvement as they get more playing time. Zero regrets on my purchase! And as you pointed out, they sound great at low volume which is great for my late night listening. |