Joseph Audio Perspective2 vs Harbeth SHL5+

@avanti1960 If I remember correctly, do you (or did you) own JA Pulsars that replaced your SHL5+? I see exactly where you're coming from. I tried a lot of speakers, some more expensive, but there's something about the Harbeth sound that makes me go back to it every time. But I have heard a lot of great stuff about JA Perspective2's and going to take a risk. Worse case scenario, I can sell them and buy another used pair of SHL5+.

@ryder For me, it was hands down the Luxman 590AXII. It was more refined and the treble was just sublime. Hegel had more bass control, but I felt the bass on Luxman, while not as visceral, was more nuanced. It also added just the right hint of warmth/sweetness without over doing it. Hegel was also quite good and I can see it being a better match if one is more into hard rock, metal, or EDM. I still miss my Luxman and wish I could have kept it. 
 

For some reason, I just didn’t get along with Naim. I guess the whole PRAT thing ain’t my cup of tea. I had high hopes for the Supernait 3 but ultimately was a bit disappointed. Hope this helps :)

Sorry folks I’ve been traveling for work. Hopefully, I’ll share my impressions in a day or two. 

... get the Townshend podiums, they get rid of all the room problems so you won't have to waste time putting up all that crap around your room.

Sorry I disagree. While I don't doubt that Townshend podiums are great for controlling vibrations, but to say that they somehow make other room treatments redundant is silly and illogical. You still have to treat the room, especially the first reflection points and corners. Anyone who is using only podium type tweaks and not paying attention to properly treating the rest of the room is not getting the most out of their systems.

@prof  and @arthur1260 -- thank you for taking the time to provide such detailed and helpful replies. I truly appreciate it. The truth is that I'm quite happy with my SHL5+ and have come to appreciate the qualities that Harbeth brings to the table -- and I say this after owning and auditioning several speakers. That's why it has been such a difficult decision. But like @prof said, there are always tradeoffs. And sometimes the only way to find out is to try something in your own house. I will try to listen to the speakers in the seller's house as best as I can, but I understand that it's not quite the same as experiencing in your own setup. Unfortunately, buying from a private party means I can't just return the speakers if I don't like the sound. It's unfair to the seller.

I also want to address the concern regarding which wall (short or long) is going to be more suitable. Keep in mind that even the short wall is 15 feet wide, and I can easily place them about 2.5 feet from the side walls and 4 feet from the front wall. Given the layout of the room, and the fact that it doubles as a media room as well, I don't really have a choice but to utilize the short wall for this purpose. However, I have had other speakers in this room and I feel the short wall just works well. IMO, distance from the front wall is much more important than the side walls, especially for rear-ported speakers. Plus I've treated the first reflection points quite well. But I guess there's only one way to find out. BTW, my SHL5+ sound fantastic in the same position.

Reading the responses above, my fear is that I might lose the amazing vocal reproduction and that special texture that made me fall in love with Harbeth in the first place. I just hope I don't end up regretting my decision. But it's encouraging to read all the other qualities that JA Perspectives bring to the table. I also don't like thin sounding (especially in the midrange region). That's the reason I never liked Focal or B&W type of speakers. Not saying that they are thin sounding but they do sound that way when compared to Harbeth or other BBC-inspired speakers. If that turns out to be the case, then I definitely know I wouldn't be able to live with them long term.

I'm going to go listen to them on Friday. I'll keep you guys posted. Again, thank you for your very helpful feedback.

Well I’m going to pick them up in about an hour or so. Will compare them to the SHL5+ in the next few days. Depending on how it goes, you might see either the SHL5+ or Perspective2’s for sale. Keeping my fingers crossed. Appreciate everyone who pitched in. I’ll keep you guys posted. 

@tswisla While I agree that SHL5+ can benefit from high-powered amps, you'd be surprised how well they work with my Qualiton amp. Just for reference, I have tried the speakers with Luxman 590AXII (owned), Hegel H390 (extended home audition), Kinki EX-M1(owned), Naim Supernait 3 (home audition), VTL IT-85 (owned), ARC GSi75 (owned), and Sim Audio Moon 340i (home audition). So hopefully you can see that I've been around :)

I understand that watts are watts, yet for some reason the 50 tube class A watts seem to go a lot further than the typical A/B watts. Yes, you do give up the tight and impactful bass a little, but what you gain in soundstaging, midrange, air, palpability, and the holographic/3D sound is worth every penny. Anyways, the SHL5+ sounded (to my ears of course) the best with the a50i once I replaced KT-120s with 150s, which presumably is giving 60 watts now. I'm sure the speakers excel in many areas with big iron SS amps, but for my tastes the a50i was perfect with SHL5+.

Now having said that, it is struggling a little bit with the JA Perspective2's. I've been listening to the Josephs since Friday and will share my impressions soon.

I realized that I had not updated my virtual system pics in a while. I accidentally deleted the virtual system and had to create a new one. I will write more about the sonic impressions for JA Perspective2's in a day or two. But as you can see they are a thing of beauty. They look so elegant -- even my wife made a comment that these are the best looking speakers she's seen in the room thus far :) Tonight I'm going to put the Harbeth SHL5+ back in to compare with the JA's. Hope to report my impressions in a day or two.

@prof Thanks for sharing the pic. These speakers are just gorgeous. Honestly, I feel pics don't do justice to them, they're even better in person. I do have a question while looking at the pic: It seems that one of the speakers is placed right against the sofa. Is this their regular position or did you pull them out further to take the pic? If so, does it not compromise the sound in some way? 

@soix I've added some pics of the JA's from multiple angles. You can check out my virtual system.

@ghdprentice Thank you for your kind words. I have to say I'm somewhat envious of your ARC gear. At some point next year, I also plan to start upgrading to ARC separates -- but very, very gradually so it goes unnoticed by the spouse :)

@soix I was a little underwhelmed at first because the dynamics and scale were missing. I kept blaming my amp, only to realize that one of the connections was loose. My speaker cables have bananas one both sides and the Perspectives only take spades. I was using the supplied (Cardas) spade connectors but didn’t realize that one of the banana connector was loose. Once I fixed it, the amp is driving the speakers like a champ. Despite the low sensitivity, the impedance makes the speakers suitable for a lot of amps -- including my Qualiton a50i. Right now, I’m totally satisfied with the performance, albeit, I have to use my REL’s to get the bottom end to be impactful.

The matching stand/platforms that you see in the pics were custom-built for the Perspectives by the previous owner. He has put many layers in the stands for better vibration control. He was kind enough to let me have the stands at no extra cost. I love how they match the aesthetics of the speakers.

@prof I will share my impressions in detail over the weekend, but let’s just say that the Perspectives have met exceeded all my expectations, and then some more. There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that they are superior to the SHL5+ in every aspect -- including vocals, which was a surprise to me to say the least :) I think it’s fair to say that the Perspective’s real competition is the Harbeth 40.x and not so much the SHL5+.

I have them placed 4 feet from the front wall, 2.5 feet from side walls, and about 9 feet from the listening position. After tweaking with positioning for a bit, there are absolutely no issues with bass.

You were spot on with your analysis! These are by far the best speakers that I have owned. I will write some more in the next few days.

I know it has been a while but my review of the JA Perspective2 speakers was delayed due to several reasons. First, I was traveling quite a bit in the last two 2-3 weeks and didn’t want to share my opinions without having at least 50 hours under my belt. Second, I wanted to put the Harbeth SHL5+ back in the system to compare the speakers properly and as objectively as possible. In the past, I’ve been guilty of sharing my opinion during the so-called 'honeymoon' phase, so this time I wanted to make sure to take my time and be as objective as possible.

Someone mentioned earlier that it was a little unfair to compare the Perspective2s with SHL5+ given the price difference, and suggested that the real comparison should be with Harbeth 40.x. If you consider the retail prices, the Perspective2 sits right between the SHL5+ and 40.x, so I feel it’s not entirely unfair to compare it to SHL5+. Lately, Harbeth is on a mission to price their speakers out of reach of normal folks – I had been whining about how P3esr’s (which in my opinion are one of the best small bookshelf speakers) are no longer competitive given the recent increase in price. Anyways, I digress ... but the truth is that these are the two speakers that I’m able to compare in my home, so whether you like it or not, this is what you’re getting 

The very first thing that made me sit up and take notice when playing the Perspectives was the utter lack of grain. The SHL5+ are very accomplished in this aspect, but I feel the Perspectives just take it several notches above and beyond. These speakers are very detailed without being detailed. The best compliment I can give is that music just flows with a coherence and ease that I have never heard before. One thing I love about the SHL5+ is that they have a very involving presentation. They just pull you in and make it easier to emotionally connect with the music. The Perspectives also pull you in. But they don’t stop there. They yank you by the collar and make you dive into the music head first. The soundstage is not just wide and deep, it kind of engulfs you.

Speaking of soundstage, it is definitely wider and deeper than SHL5+. No contest here. However, imaging is an interesting comparison. It changed from song to song – on some songs imaging was more precise on SHL5+, and vice versa on some other songs. The SHL5+ has this ‘spotlit’ quality to imaging where each instrument is given its own 15 seconds under the limelight. In fact, this is what drew me to Harbeth in the first place. However, the downside is that sometimes the instruments can sound a little aloof and disconnected from the rest of the music. It’s like ‘hey, look at the right corner of the room, here I am doing my own thing!” In case of JA Perspective2’s, all the instruments still get their own special treatment but they are tightly woven into the overall fabric and present a higher degree of cohesion. I like both styles, but I find that I’m beginning to prefer the JA’s presentation a bit more.

JA’s are also more transparent – I can hear much deeper into the music. In terms of detail retrieval, both speakers are equally good. You hear the same level of detail in both. However, the Perspectives add a level of realism that is one step ahead of SHL5+. For example, in some live recordings I always used to hear people speaking in the audience or a band member whispering something in the background. With the Perspectives, the difference is that I feel that I’m sitting in the audience and someone is saying something from behind me. Kinda spooked me the first time I experienced it. This increases the ‘you are there’ perception a lot more than any other speaker I’ve heard. They seem to convey the ambience of the recording space a lot better. So, while the SHL5+ brings the musicians in your room, the Perspectives take you to the venue better than any speaker I’ve owned.

Now, one area where I thought the SHL5+ would win by a strong margin was vocals. But I was surprised that the Perspectives were just as good, if not better, than the Harbeths. With SHL5+, the vocals are a bit fuller, male voices have more ‘upper chest’, and they sound a bit more forward – as in, the singer is standing a few feet in front of the rest of the musicians. The Perspectives on the other hand have a more ‘unamplified’ feel to the vocals, as if the artist is sitting in your room and singing without a microphone, but not any closer to you than the rest of the musicians. Honestly, despite the differences, I’m having a hard time figuring out which style of presentation I prefer when it comes to vocals. Let’s call it a tie. Okay, okay, if you were to put a gun to my temple I would pick SHL5+, but only by a very slim margin.

What about bass? Umm... no contest here. The Perspectives produce an amazing amount of tight, tuneful, and nuanced bass. I found myself listening without my subs (pair of REL 510s) almost 70% of the time. And honestly, I don’t miss the subs on most songs. Yes, there are a few songs where the added punch is welcome, but in most cases, not only do I not miss the subwoofers, I kinda prefer it this way. Kick drums, especially, have a level of impact and realism that just takes your breath away. Keep in mind that I’m only driving the speakers with 50 watts of class A amplification (Audio Hungary Qualiton a50i), so I have no doubt that a more powerful amp will most likely take it several levels above what I’m experiencing now. But I will say that the Qualiton is a beauty! I just love the sound this amp makes. I might look into getting something more powerful next year, but I’m more than satisfied with what I’m hearing for the time being.

So, what about tonality, timber, etc.? I’ve gone back and forth between both speakers and I have to say that it’s a tie. I do prefer the sound of guitars and piano on the Perspectives. They just sound so right – almost like the real thing. For horns, a slight nod goes to SHL5+. They seem to have more presence and extend a bit further than the Perspectives.

Overall, the Perspectives sound bigger, much bigger in fact, than the Harbeths. They have a heft and gravitas that is simply a step above the SHL5+. When the music calls for it, they can be equally delicate and subtle. But, boy do they swell and get big on you in a hurry when the music demands. This is especially noticeable for classical music. It is quite a hair-raising experience, and you can’t help but exclaim ‘wow!’ when the music builds up and it goes from zero to sixty in no time. It’s hard to believe how a not-so-big speaker can make this kind of impact. So in the end, the JA Perspective2 Graphene have exceeded my expectations, and I’m very happy with the decision. They very well might be endgame speakers for me (note: when I say endgame, I really mean a ‘long time’ :)). Hope you guys found the review useful.

@prof Thanks! I have to say that your observations were spot on. I didn't mention how well the speakers disappear. But this is one area where I can say that the SHL5+ stands shoulder to shoulder with the Perspectives.

When I was writing the comparison, I was very well aware that I was comparing SHL5+ to a speaker that retails for twice the price. At its asking price, the Harbeth SHL5+ is a phenomenal performer. It does so many things right, and definitely brings the special IT factor that makes it stand out amongst a crowd of similarly priced speakers. Hopefully, my comparison didn't come out as a knock against SHL5+. It is still a speaker that I love and have no hesitation in recommending to anyone in the 10K~ price bracket.

@ryder Agree with you about the bass response (or lack thereof) on SHL5+. Personally, I think the use of a subwoofer (or two) is a must to get maximum performance out of SHL5+. Nonetheless, it is a great speaker by any measure.

I have only heard its big brother, 40.x, a couple of times -- once at a dealer, and another time at an audiophile’s home. I feel that it addresses any shortcomings in SHL5+ and builds on its strengths. Although for some reason, it didn’t have the family resemblance with SHL5+. It sounded like a speaker from a different company. I would love to be able to own the 40.x at some point in this journey, but for now it is a little too rich for my blood, even at used prices. I wonder if anyone has compared it against JA Perspective2 or Pearl for that matter.

@prof I was quite satisfied with the soundstage depth of SHL5+, but it all depends on your reference point. It is quite possible that you were getting better depth from other speakers and the SHL5+ fell short in comparison.

Also, note that I’m still fussing around with finding the best position for the Perspectives. Initially, I had them towed in at almost the same angle as my Harbeths. On Saturday, I reduce the angle by quite a bit, so now the toe-in is minimal (maybe 15 degrees), and I noticed that the soundstage got even wider. The funny thing is that the center image is more ’filled out’ and the vocals are dead center. I usually got this effect with other speakers when the toe in angle was greater. These JAs seem to be different in this aspect. I will continue to experiment with positioning next weekend.