Harbeth hl5 vs Dali Euphonia SM4

05-03-12: Rgs92
Interesting post to me because I used to own SHL5s and sold them because I found them to lack enough definition, and I also have the Sonus Faber Cremona Auditors and find these to have significantly more definition and insight into the music and enjoy them more than the SHL5s. The Auditors are clearer with no feeling that musical details are hidden, an impression I had with the SHL5s.

Interesting observation as my experience and that of a close buddy of mine are on the contrary. I feel the Sonus Faber Cremona line and the lower models are colored and have less detail and resolution than the Harbeth SHL5. A friend who owns the M40.1 also felt the same way and for that reason the Cremonas were sold to make way for the 40.1. He used ARC Ref3/VT100 and tried various amps with the Cremonas when he had them but failed to make the speakers work in his system.

Similarly I owned the Grand Piano Concerto for 3 years and found them to severely lack definition and detail with rolled off highs. The overall sound is thick and shut-in. The Harbeth SHL5 are smooth speakers but sound more open in the midrange and airier in the highs with higher levels of resolution and detail.

Not too sure if the Cremona Auditor is different from the Cremona floorstanders though.

"Similarly I owned the Grand Piano Concerto for 3 years and found them to severely lack definition and detail with rolled off highs. The overall sound is thick and shut-in."

And you kept them for three years? Seriously?

Shakey

Thanks for the great responses, but, what do you think about the Dali Euphonia SM4 in comparison to the Harbeth's? I unfortunately can not hear or compare either speaker.

Shakey - Yes I kept the speakers for 3 years. I was trying to make them work in my system with amp swaps. As a side note, I have other speakers to turn to(B&W CDM1SE and Proacs) when the Sonus Fabers are not singing. They look splendid in piano finish though, the main reason I (really) wanted to keep them but unfortunately it is the sound that matters.

I own Dali Helicon 400s and they have no problem placing instruments on a soundstage. They are not the most detailed speakers around but I prefer them to more detailed speakers I've owned like Audio Physics. They're more musical.

SACDS and DVD-As seem to draw tighter more separated images than cds. I don't know if high res downloads do the same though.