Harbeth is in the House!

markmarc

Steve, I noticed that same thing when I moved up to the Verity Audio Finns and it has stayed true with the Harbeth's. The reward of quality speakers is consistency/balance across the sonic spectrum. Without the "juicing" of speakers at certain frequencies and the fact that the quality of the product is greater more detail is getting to our ears, so we don't need to raise the volume to experience the music with total satisfaction.

Outlander:
Been listening this morning with my Vista tube int. amp. The Compact 7's have no problem being powered and sounding terrific. Granted I'm not getting the "grunt" of sheer horsepower that my Sim i7 provides, but the sound is beguiling.

classic carl

Very nice score on the Harbeth's I have a pair of KEF and Monitor Audio (British) speakers, but have always wanted to hear some Harbeths.

outlander

Well you guys talked me into it, I’m in the process of purchasing a pair of the 7es-3’s. I should have them by the weekend so I guess I'll be busy playing with speaker placement. I’m currently using a pair of Polk 10B’s and find they benefit with a slight toe-in. Are the 7es-3’s designed to have no toe-in? I see Marc has no toe-in, have you folks tried these speakers both ways?
O

steveinaz

I use about about a 1/2" of toe-in, it will depend on how much treble response you want/need. Mine are about 8ft apart, so I needed a little toe-in. Mine are about 19" off the backwall to the back of the speaker.

Your gonna love them. Get your acoustic stuff at the ready.

Alan Shaw of Harbeth on speaker placement:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_ryYq2G0pM

outlander

Steve,
I’ll be picking up the Harbeth’s on Friday. Do you have any idea how they compare to the 10B’s that I’m currently using. I like the full sound and wide sound stage of the 10B’s. I hope I’m not making a mistake, I guess I’m just getting a little nervous about making the change.
O

steveinaz

I seriously doubt you'll be disappointed.

outlander

Well Mark and Steve I picked up the Harbeth 7es3’s this past Friday night. The 45W cj has no problem powering them. In regard to sound I’m still getting use to them, they have a very different sound than the Polk 10B’s. Right off the bat I noticed the 7s have much more detail but not in a bright/fatiguing way. The 10Bs are kind of muddied/distorted compared to the 7s but not in a bad way either. I’m going to wait awhile before I pass judgment on which one sounds better. I’ll give it a few weeks and then post my thoughts on these guys on this thread. I figure it will take at least that long for the dust to settle.
O

drgalexo

The reviews on the Harbeth's are excellent but I have never had the chance to hear them, I will have to put them on the list. Really nice link to the DIY speakers drk919!

EndersShadow

Moar pics!!!!

steveinaz

Outlander---what's the status?

outlander

Hello Steve,
The more I listen to the Harbeth’s the more I like them. I was just about convinced I made a good move when a friend called saying he picked up a pair of the 7es3’s for a week loan from Fidelis with Skylan stands. This friend is currently running a pair of Polk 10B’s in his two channel setup (same speaker I was running before the Harbeth’s). So my wife and I headed down to his place to listen to music and do a head to head comparison between the Polk’s and Harbeth’s. The difference I heard at his place was the same as what I experienced with my system. To me there is much more detail with the Harbeth’s. If someone is use to a less dynamic speaker like the 10B’s this detail can be confused as brighter but the reality is the speakers are not bright at all it’s just that I’ve never heard such detail from any speaker I’ve owned. It was clear to me that my friend and his wife were happier with the Polk’s and I believe they’ll return the Harbeth’s and keep their reliable Polk’s. To be honest I can’t blame them because the 10B’s do sound really nice and match well with their equipment and room. In my case both my wife and I prefer the Harbeth sound. I think the truth about listening to a new speaker is you have to give it time. I think when someone puts a new speaker in their system it’s easy to confuse a different sound with not sounding right. I think you have to give any change in the system at least a week of listening before passing judgment. With all that saig I’m happy with the Harbeth’s and look forward to living with them in my system. One thing that surprised me was how substantial the Skylan stands are. Currently I’m using a pair of seriously cheap wood stands and after seeing the Skylan’s I’m now looking for a pair.

Regards,
O

steveinaz

Good deal, that midrange with female vocals is something, huh? I have the Skylan stands---glad I went ahead and bit the bullet for them.

gigbyt

For me Harbeth 40.1..... Someday
Maybe sell my truck,LOL.