Why do Harbeth speakers have such a cult following

11-13-12: Philjolet
maybe the loose cabinet joints that assists in recreating the sound of live musical instrument adds to the 'mystique'

There is a lot of misinformation about the rationale behind the Harbeth cabinet design.
The BBC researched damped thin wall cabinet design was originally evolved to push cabinet colourations down below the critical midrange where they are most damaging to the tonal properties of the reproduced music.
ie, the goal was/is to make music and speech sound tonally like itself, not to create some specific sound.
Those who like this type of tonal accuracy will be attracted to Harbeth speakers and others like them.

IMO, the longer you listen to speakers with this basic tonal accuracy, the more appealing it becomes (and the less acceptable other, less tonally accurate, speakers become). YMMV.

11-13-12: Bhobba
It's the thin wall technology. It colors the speakers but in a way that appeals to many people.

.....like recording engineers and broadcasting studios - where accuracy and low coloration are requirements, music lovers who like the sound of real instruments and voices etc.

11-20-12: Rgs92
Anyone heard the 30.1 ?
How is the resolution and detail (say, compared to the SHL5s,
or just in general)? Thanks.

I can't compare to the SHL5's but I previously used the C7ES3 for over 2 and a half years and the C7ES2 for 4-5 years before that.
Detail resolution with the 30.1's is fantastic I think. Compared to the very good C7 I'm definitely noticing more fine musical detail. And this is true resolution, not the type that comes from frequency pushes in the loudspeaker's response. The 30.1's, like all Harbeths, are beautifully coherent.

Compared to the C7's the sound is richer in the tonal sense and more densely realistic, yet precise and very open. The top end is gorgeously airy and refined - ambiance reproduction is brilliant. These speakers really do sound amazing in their portrayal of real acoustic instruments.

Donjr, I wish you could hear what the 30.1's sound like in my room. Dynamic and alive with superbly realistic tonal and imaging properties. I simply can't understand why people are saying they don't soundstage and sound homogenized - these things image and soundstage like crazy, wall to wall with dimensional, focused, full bodied images. Brass instruments and piano sound amazing. Detail is superb.
All this with a low cost ARC 50 watt tube amp. Go figure.

01-17-13: Audiozen
Harbeth designs their speakers using a method that was very common in the 1950's and 60's which was pioneered by AR, KLH and Advent. They adjust the wood cabinet to have a direct effect on the drivers to create a sonic character that some would consider colored or laid back.

Harbeth speakers trace their lineage back to the monitor designs developed by the BBC research department - for which Harbeth's founder, Dudley Harwood, worked as an engineer.
Many of the documents associated with those early BBC speaker designs are freely available on the web. You won't find any references to "adjusting the wood cabinet to have a direct effect on the drivers to create a sonic character that some would consider colored or laid back". That is complete BS you've made up.

The BBC research department assignment (for loudspeakers) was to design accurate, low coloration monitors for broadcast use. What you will find in those documents is how the speakers where evaluated with live music and voice to judge accuracy. This is something that I believe still forms the basis for Alan Shaw's current Harbeth designs.

Now I'm not saying that those early designs, nor even the current Harbeth designs, were/are completely successful (is any loudspeaker?). However it is very wrong to assert that Harbeth speakers are voiced to achieve a particular sonic coloration. They are designed primarily for accuracy and low coloration, so that the studio technician in the control room will hear an accurate representation of the sound being produced in the live studio.

If anyone is interested, there is a thread on the Harbeth forums where designer Alan Shaw explains the origin and reasons behind the BBC thin-wall cabinet design.

http://www.harbeth.co.uk/usergroup/showthread.php?351-BBC-style-thin-wall-cabinets-Why-so-special