Jimcrane--thanks for the kind words.
Now that I have lived with the SHL5s for a while, they
definitely have a distinctively relaxing personality, one that makes
me feel very drawn to the Harbeth sound. You can almost hear them trying not to be offensive at any frequency or on any recording. So far, nothing has made me cringe or wince.
There is a kind of softness that is addictive, but it is still not what I would call muffled.
The only other speaker which has made me feel affectionate towards it's unique sound were my Apogee Stages, but this was an entirely different sound, very open and present, with some lumpy bass boom on a few unnaturally equalized bass-heavy recordings. But, like the Harbeth, there was no
ruthlessly revealing character, meaning no grain, screech, edginess or metallic aspects. The Harbeths have a deeper,
fuller, warmer bass than the Stages. I would call both of them bargains.
Now that I have lived with the SHL5s for a while, they
definitely have a distinctively relaxing personality, one that makes
me feel very drawn to the Harbeth sound. You can almost hear them trying not to be offensive at any frequency or on any recording. So far, nothing has made me cringe or wince.
There is a kind of softness that is addictive, but it is still not what I would call muffled.
The only other speaker which has made me feel affectionate towards it's unique sound were my Apogee Stages, but this was an entirely different sound, very open and present, with some lumpy bass boom on a few unnaturally equalized bass-heavy recordings. But, like the Harbeth, there was no
ruthlessly revealing character, meaning no grain, screech, edginess or metallic aspects. The Harbeths have a deeper,
fuller, warmer bass than the Stages. I would call both of them bargains.