Harbeth HLP3ESR

I have heard these but have not listened to the older HLP3ES2. I have listened to many bookshelves. PMC, Dynaudio C1, 1.3MkII, Proacs, B&Ws, Sonus Fabers, Marten Dukes, Totem Model 1. While each have their own sound signature and special in their own ways, I find the P3ESR to somehow possess a very musical, organic and easy-going sound without losing any details. They seem to communicate the essence of music more effectively compared to the rest, to my ears. I can definitely listen to these for endless of hours unlike some speakers mentioned above due to their extremely low listening fatigue. A friend of mine who owns the 40.1 was so smitten with the P3ESR that he got himself a pair while few other pairs of monitors keep stacking in his storeroom.

As for P3ES2 vs P3ESR, the thread below might be of interest to you.

http://www.harbeth.co.uk/usergroup/showthread.php?t=620

Nolitan
I have not heard the P3ES2 but did jump all over a pair of P3ESR'S that were listed this past Thursday here on A'gon! (thanks Karl) I've been in front of them since.
Ryder has got it right-no listening fatigue here.
The Harbeth link above will have you reading for hours.
A better idea would be a serious audition.
They replaced Spendor S3e's which are no slouches.
The P3ESR was a nice up-grade but it took months to find a pair used and local. It was worth the wait.
Also, why would you want to drive them hard?

thanks for the inputs. Looks like a winner from what i read in the forums.

Would you know if the all-new Radial2-coned Harbeth P3ESR speakers would be a good match for a 12 feet x 14 feet listening room?

The speakers would be roughly 7-8 feet apart, 1.5 feet from the wall behind them and 9 feet from the listening position.

They would be paired with a Linn Majik 126 sub and powered by a Linn Akurate 2200 (2 x 200W) power amp.

The Harbeth P3ESR speakers would be replacing a pair of Linn Katan speakers in an all-Linn stereo music system.

They would probably sound great, but I would go with a bigger Harbeth in that room.

I just auditioned a pair of P3ESRs through an LFD integrated in a room that was about 13 x 15. They were very pleasant to listen to, very musical. But their decided warmth and flabby bass was revealed in a comparison with Devore Super 8s through the same amp. I preferred the Devores in that setup hands down, although the latter admittedly were more than twice the price. I'd be curious to hear the compact 7s. At any rate, the Linn components are probably a bit less warm than the LFD and the Harbeths might be a good match for them. I can't imagine it would sound bad, but if you were interested in rocking and rolling you'd probably want to look elsewhere.

Although I have not listened to the Linn, I suspect one won't get higher degree of dynamics and slam other than an LFD/Harbeth pairing. The flabby bass reported by Coverto may be due to the limitations of the small P3ESR as this speaker won't be able to give any deep taut bass compared to other bookshelves or speakers designed for strong bass reproduction. In fact, the bass-shy Totem Model 1 has better bass response compared to the P3ESR. The strength of the P3ESR lies in the midrange and musicality. If rock n' roll music sounds bad on the Harbeth driven by LFD, one might need to look at a different speaker. I have tried quite a few amps and the LFD remains the most dynamic amp that is able to give a raw sound with jump factor on the seemingly warm and smooth Harbeth.

I finally these speakers few days ago out of the box and was just stunned how much improvment it had over the older HLPes2s.
The air, the clarity, the bass articulation, the refinement and lovely seductive midrange!
Its a keeper.
To those planning to upgrade their P3s, by all means go for it.

They are good. I have compared Harbeth's to speakers FIVE times the price - the Harbeth midrange was better.

So I'm Curious, as a long-time Spendor S100 owner, do the Harbeth's qualify as "Super Spendors"!?

I have had these speakers for 6 months. Running them with an Accuphase e-530 which is 30 watts of Class A. I think this combo has become my perfect small room setup. Have tried lots of speakers in this small room of mine (11 x 12) and this setup is just crazy good - detail, no fatigue, does great things with computer fed audio - my perfect home office system. On all day long on weekends and the years of experimentation are over.