I didn't notice much if any difference in the sound of my Super HL5 Plus since they came out of their boxes. Getting my custom stands made a difference as well as experimenting with tilt and placement / toe in.
Harbeth Super HL5 plus Break-in
The following is an excerpt from the Harbeth User Guide:
"After exercising your new Harbeths for just a few hours they will be fully ready for a lifetime of enjoyment".
After going to the Harbeth site it pretty much said the same thing as the user guide but added that the supertweeter would take a little longer to break-in.
My new Harbeth's sounded the same after I put on around the first 100 hours so I believed the above until around the 120-150 hour mark I noticed (or so I think) the midrange sounding more realistic to the point of more enjoyment! I don't know if I'm actually hearing an improvement or I'm just getting used to the Harbeth sound since the 5's are my first experience with Harbeth in my listening room.
I would like to hear others that have owned or still own the Super 5's and whether or not you have experienced the same thing as me or something else.
"After exercising your new Harbeths for just a few hours they will be fully ready for a lifetime of enjoyment".
After going to the Harbeth site it pretty much said the same thing as the user guide but added that the supertweeter would take a little longer to break-in.
My new Harbeth's sounded the same after I put on around the first 100 hours so I believed the above until around the 120-150 hour mark I noticed (or so I think) the midrange sounding more realistic to the point of more enjoyment! I don't know if I'm actually hearing an improvement or I'm just getting used to the Harbeth sound since the 5's are my first experience with Harbeth in my listening room.
I would like to hear others that have owned or still own the Super 5's and whether or not you have experienced the same thing as me or something else.
Showing 5 responses by big_greg
For the most part, I've left the grills on my Super HL5 Plus, mostly because they are in a somewhat high traffic area in my living room. I keep the grills off my P3ESR, they are in pretty safe spots. I love the way both sets of speakers look with the grills off. I don't notice a significant difference in sound either way. And I use tube amps with the HL5s. |
I didn't notice the stands being used. Open stands are often recommended for Harbeths (although not in their user guide) because the cabinet contributes to the sound, or at least that seems to be the overwhelming consensus based on what I've read and heard from other owners. When I first got mine, I was given some loaner stands while my custom stands were being built that were about the same height as yours, which put the tweeter a bit above my ears in my listening position. My stands are about 12" tall and put the tweeter right at about ear level. Having them at that height definitely improved my listening experience. These are the stands I use. https://www.gigharboraudio.com/gha-custom-speaker-stands |
big_greg,I'd invite you to come listen while I switch my amps from the 4 ohm to 8 ohm taps or between triode and ultralinear. |