Harbeth Experts

What speaker cables work well with harbeth?

i don't mean to highjack, i can use some help from fellow harbeth owners

I tried the Nordost Blue heaven, Canare 4s11, ridge st audio Poeima and the nordost seem the most synergistic so far. Amps were Mc2275 and Arcam receiver.

I actually find the tonal balance and smoothness of the Harbeth very satisfying. It is not the last word in detail and the treble could be more open. The Nordost balanced them nicely. If there are success with other cables, I certainly like to try.

My other speakers are Avalon Diamonds & Quad 2805 and I still enjoy the Harbeth m30 tremendously. I like the M30 more than previously owned Cremona auditor, thiel 2.4, 1.6, Proac ref8s signature, spendor s3/5se. Harbeth is not instantly impressive but it proves it's worth after some mileage.

The only speaker that I remembered enjoying as much was the B&w 805S, That was when I first got my first pair of "hifi" speakers. I have no idea if I 'd like them now.

Drubin, i find the Harbeths sound good with a variety of amps. They seem to prefer more detail oriented speaker cables, though.

The Diamonds are better speakers in most aspects. The only drawback is that the ceramic midrange can sound glassy with the wrong amp or cables.

I share the same observation with Nolitan. Vocal reproduction on ESL is insanely good. It shows off the strengthed of statics and does not tax its limitations. I find the quads have great tone and timbre. Microdynamics is also excellent but it lacks macrodynamic contrast. It does a good job with Piano concertos but it does not blow you away.

The sins of Harbeth is mostly of omissions, mainly lack of deep bass and reproduction of nuances. One can argue that by grossing over some useless details, the musical message is enhanced.

Come on, what speaker cables do you all use???

Both the Quads and Harbeths are pretty neutral in terms of tonal balance with the Harbeths on the warmer side.

Quads are more transparent and detailed. Imaging has more depth and more holographic. Bass is about the same on both speakers. It is a higher maintenance speakers in terms of partnering equip and room setup.

Harbeth M30 has a much smoother, linear treble. The treble on the quads can sound edgy & rough. ( The frequency response curve is not smooth at high freq. at all).

Harbeth has better macrodynamics and sounds more substantial. Quads can go loud but the real limitation is in dynamic freedom.

I auditioned ML, maggie and Analysis ( close to apogee). They are different sets of compromises in comparison to the quads. However, they don't rival the quads in purity/transparency for me to tolerate their short comings.

Thanks Drubin for helping me on previous threads, tubes, etc.