What Is So Special About Harbeth?

Watch this. Harbeth feels the design and engineering of the cone is the most important piece. Plus everything is handmade with intense quality control, you end up with something special that absolutely nails natural timbre with beautiful details.

But is it worth that price tag? I think it depends how you intend use them and your room. I have ProAc Tab 10s, which I think play in the same arena with Harbeth. They definitely slay any speaker of comparable size. It's near-field nirvana. But for a living room space they just don't fill out the bottom end as much as I like. It's just physics of small diameter woofers.

I had Harbeth Super HL-5's for about 7 or 8 years; they are wonderful speakers with a great mid-range and treble; if you want bass, a sub-woofer would be recommended. I think they're best for jazz, classical, and more acoustic music. I'm a rocker, and while I enjoyed my time with them, I'm enjoying my KLH Model 5's a  lot more, and my Fritz Carerra BE's before those, as well. 

  Quite a lot of self promotion, and dare I say self aggrandizement in that video ( this one Watch this. ).  At the 14:10 mark I heard that injection molded cones are "a unique thing".  

  Careful, umm, marketing is a significant part of any consumer electronics firm's success.  Now that's not unique.

What is it about the construction or technology that makes these speakers a deal at $2700 on sale versus the $800, 900 or $1,000 that others normally cost? 

That's a straw man, as I don't recall anyone raving about the great value of Harbeths, though they certainly can represent good value on the secondary market.

As to the allure, well, that's well known. A gorgeous midrange, and very accurate tones and timbre, especially with human voices and acoustic instruments.

The smaller models are bass deficient, but for those who don't listen to head-banging material, it is a flaw that can be overlooked, or repaired with a subwoofer.

I have heard a few Harbeths (and Grahams ... same BBC lineage). They are sweet on the right music, as stated here, The competition is tough in that price range, which for me is expensive for a stand mounted speaker with limited bottom end. I have read that they still have to pay a royalty to the BBC for the design, though I don't know that is true. If yes, it adds to the price without direct benefit.