Are Harbeths really "all that?"

Some commented they were way too polite. It depends on the amps that were hooked to them. The Harbeths are good for most material except hard rock or metal. Yes, they may not have the absolute transparency, dynamics or subterranean deep bass for some, but one can listen to these speakers all day long as listening fatigue is very low. Their strengths are extremely low level of coloration with a natural sound, especially with voices and excellent coherency from top to bottom. They made other speakers I've listened to sound processed. As usual, horses for courses as they say.

By the way Rebbi, care to share what speakers have you got?

"listening fatigue is very low"

I always liked Maggies largely for exactly this reason.

I owned them for years and they were fantastic for extended listening sessions with no fatigue.

When they were tuned in, they always sounded better the more you listened and once you started, you didn't want to stop.

hi,

I have the Compact 7ES and find them completely satisfying. They have excellent imaging and are faithful to the sound source. The HL-PES-2 will be somewhat bass shy but the remainder of the "Harbeth sound" will be there and it's glorious.

Larry

Missioncoonery, what I meant by my comment was that you are taking a naive view on audio by insisting Harbeths are inferior due to 'old technology'. People who know music know that natural materials can make wonderful transducers. If you're interested in MUSIC, that is - as in reproducing unamplified acoustic music.

The common modern wisdom on speaker design is mostly nonsense.

Ryder,

I have a pair of Ohm Walsh 100 S3's. About 5 months old and still not totally broken in, but very, very good, indeed. :-)