I had a chance to listen to the Harbeth Monitor 40s with the Jeff Rowland 201 digital amps a year or so ago for about 2 hours at Audio Connection in Verona NJ. The source was a Cary cdp. I can't say what they would have sounded like with tubes, or solid state. For that matter, I don't believe that anyone considers the 201s the state of the art in digital amps. Nonetheless, it was the most realistic sound I have ever heard. Like most average audiophiles, I have been to shows, and showrooms and heard plenty of megabuck systems. The most impressive part of it for me was the complete coherence between the 3 drivers. Second was the natural timbre. Lastly, I have never heard a center fill like these speakers exhibit. Harbeth speaks of a "curtain of sound", and it truly exists. I never knew what I was missing- until I heard it. To my ears, the M40s made other speakers sound disjointed.
Presenting some Harbeth SHL5 in room measurements
I have just gotten a used Harbeth HL5 this week, current model. I'm pretty thrilled after years of goofing around on Agon trying this and that. This is the best speaker I've had in the house.
I've been using a Velodyne DD12 sub. Many will recognize it as one of their models that will present a graph on TV in real time. The graph goes to zero and up to 200Hz so it it just for bass integration. One good thing about this measurement system is that you can turn down the sub and take a look at the response of your main speakers.
I am using a combo player modified by VSE going to a Cary Theater 11 processor/preamp feeding Channel Islands D100 mono blocks. Set up in my 12 X 20 room with opening off a couple sides is not far from what Harbeth recommends. About 22" from the rear wall 6 1/2 feet or so apart, 2-3 feet from the side wall. My listening chair is 9-10 feet back. They are elevated on temp stands 17" high.
What I have observed is that the response of just the front speakers is reasonably even down to a bit above 40 Hz then it rises gently 2-3 Hz peaking at 40 and falling rapidly from there. The single 12" sub brought up under to continue the response down to 25 Hz is not putting out a heck of a lot of info. I can't say enough about Velodyne's system. You can scoot the speakers in and out and watch the response change. Same when you are integrating the sub and stereo front speakers.
I'm not absolutely sure but it appears that one of the new entry level Rels might just work in this situation. I ordered the largest in the T series retailing for $999. I would like to be able to run the HL5s full range with sub for two channel and actually crossed over for movies. The Rel is set up to do this. I will post my findings on the Rel after the test drive.
Larry R
Seattle
I've been using a Velodyne DD12 sub. Many will recognize it as one of their models that will present a graph on TV in real time. The graph goes to zero and up to 200Hz so it it just for bass integration. One good thing about this measurement system is that you can turn down the sub and take a look at the response of your main speakers.
I am using a combo player modified by VSE going to a Cary Theater 11 processor/preamp feeding Channel Islands D100 mono blocks. Set up in my 12 X 20 room with opening off a couple sides is not far from what Harbeth recommends. About 22" from the rear wall 6 1/2 feet or so apart, 2-3 feet from the side wall. My listening chair is 9-10 feet back. They are elevated on temp stands 17" high.
What I have observed is that the response of just the front speakers is reasonably even down to a bit above 40 Hz then it rises gently 2-3 Hz peaking at 40 and falling rapidly from there. The single 12" sub brought up under to continue the response down to 25 Hz is not putting out a heck of a lot of info. I can't say enough about Velodyne's system. You can scoot the speakers in and out and watch the response change. Same when you are integrating the sub and stereo front speakers.
I'm not absolutely sure but it appears that one of the new entry level Rels might just work in this situation. I ordered the largest in the T series retailing for $999. I would like to be able to run the HL5s full range with sub for two channel and actually crossed over for movies. The Rel is set up to do this. I will post my findings on the Rel after the test drive.
Larry R
Seattle
4 responses Add your response
