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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 2 responses by prof

prof
3,491 posts
 
Just because this thread has been bumped...

An audio store has opened up nearby me and they sell Harbeth.  So I'm often strolling by and stop in, sometimes to buy some vinyl.  They usually have a pair of Harbeths playing.

I have to say...damn the Harbeth sound is seductive!

And this is coming from someone who actually sold his pair of Harbeth Super HL5 plus speakers not long ago!  (I kept my Thiel speakers instead).

Harbeths have such a comfy sound, with beautiful tone, so rich and full and big and mid-rangey.   I always marvel at voices through the Harbeths.  Somehow they are portrayed in a more naturally soft and round, realistic way, vs most speakers which make vocalists sound more hard and electronic.

And the Harbeths seem more amplifier agnostic than other speakers in my experience (as Alan Shaw would claim).  I favor tube amps for my speakers, and the SHLplus speakers sounded great on my Conrad Johnson tube amps.  But at the shop they are hooked up to SS amps and they still make me stop in my tracks, beckon me to sit down and stay to listen. 

Ultimately I know through comparison that I find my Thiels overall more satisfying for my tastes.  But if I didn't have a wife wagging her finger about my speaker addiction, I'd likely grab a pair of Harbeths for a second system.
prof
3,491 posts
 
My experience with the Harbeths in terms of soundstaging/imaging is that they seem to achieve a large soundstage in a large room, but could not in my smaller 13' x 15' room.   (I had the SuperHL5Plus).
I've had tons of different speakers in my room and love a speaker that can do great soundstaging/imaging, and I've never had any problem achieving expansive soundstages.  But the Harbeths consistently had a somewhat foreshortened depth and width.   They "disappeared" nicely and imaged far better than their looks would imply, so I think they do great imaging generally speaking.
However, when I hear the same Harbeths in the very large, open showroom floors of a local hi-fi store, they can sound much more expansive.  In fact, last time I heard the SuperHL5plus it was in a very large show room, with subwoofers, and the speakers spaced quite far apart.  The soundstage was absolutely massive, with very nice depth.

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