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The Harbeth phenomenon

In my search for a new pair of speakers, I've gone through many threads here and noticed that many owners or fans of Harbeth have almost a love-like connection with Harbeth speakers. It is almost as if the speakers cast a spell upon them. I know many audiophiles love their speakers but Harbeth owners seem especially enamored with theirs. I am extremely puzzled by this phenomenon because on paper Harbeth speakers look average at best and lack many of the attributes that generally make a great speaker.

Their sensitivity of generally around the 86dB mark makes them rather inefficient and therefore, at least in theory, not a good match for many lower powered tube amps, or any amps below 100wpc. Their frequency range is simply inferior to most high-end speakers since they don't go below 40 Hz. This alone should, again at least in theory, disqualify Harbeth speakers from consideration as top high end speakers. And yet I've never heard anyone complain about their bass, while people complain about lack of bass in the Gibbon Nines from DeVore, which is a fantastic speaker. Their cabinets look like a cheap DIY enclosure (disclaimer: I've never seen a Harbeth up close, only pictures). The 7ES-3 is rated B-Restricted, while the smaller and cheaper Usher Be-718 A-Restricted in Stereophile but garners nowhere near the same amount of admiration, praise and following among audiophiles.

So what's going on here? Is this a big conspiracy plot by the company that paid off a few hundred of people to infiltrate audiophile internet forums and a few reviewers? I am of course joking here, but the question is serious. How can speakers so average on paper be so good in real life? I know the opposite is often true, but you rarely see this phenomenon.

Please speak up.
actusreus

Showing 1 response by daveyf

daveyf's avatar
daveyf
3,004 posts
 
I have heard all of the Harbeth models. They have a family sound that is extremely attractive. Warmth is a word that comes to mind with these speakers...which, although something of a dirty word these days in high end, is where I believe a lot of gear fails. Without a certain warmth, I think there is something missing when we try and compare the sound of live instruments to what we hear in our listening rooms. Some will say we need neutral, which is fine, except most gear these days really is not neutral, instead it tends to be hyped and etched, IME. Harbeths are not for folks looking for the ultra resolving speaker that portrays every little detail and can err on the side of brightness. Instead, imho, they are quite realistic to what a lot of us hear when we attend a live event...just in a much smaller scale. 
If I didn’t already own a speaker that I think can do the Palpability trick so well, these would be on my short list...making sure the room is taken into consideration in regards to the model.
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