Habeth SHL5 tweeter and supertweeter models


Hi everyone,

As my question has been censored on the Harbeth User Group (HUG), I'll ask it to you. What are the tweeter and supertweeter models used in the Harbeth SHL5 speaker? I know that they are from SEAS, but I'd like to have the exact models.

Thank you,

Sébastien
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Why? Do you want to know whether the two drivers they stick in the Monitor 30 cabinet add up to $5800? I am a huge fan of Harbeth speakers, but their price increases are incredible. The M30 went from like $4K to $5.8 in just a couple of years. Yes, I know prices often rise and I know that goods that are not made in China cost more, as workers are paid more. But still.
Hi Ryder,

Thanks for your input. I know that Harbeth sometimes refer to SEAS on the HUG. Some (or all?) of their tweeter and supertweeter are from that company. I'm wondering if they are special orders placed by Harbeth with their own specifications. We still have to investigate.

Have a good day,

Sébastien
I'm not sure if the super-tweeter is sourced from SEAS as they don't have a 20mm titanium dome listed in their webpage. All their Excel series are in 25mm whilst the Prestige series are in aluminium. The titanium is only available in 25mm sizes.

SEAS PRESTIGE Tweeter
http://www.seas.no/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=43&Itemid=48

SEAS EXCEL Tweeter
http://www.seas.no/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=38&Itemid=44

In the SHL5 brochure(from Harbeth's webpage), the drive units are described as follows:-

"HF: Custom 25mm ferrocooled aluminium dome ; Supertweeter: 20mm titanium dome neodymium magnet, waveguide face"

"SEAS 25mm HF unit and 20mm titanium super tweeter"

http://www.harbeth.co.uk/uk/uploadfolder/shl5bro1a.pdf

Note that they did not mention SEAS 25mm HF unit and "SEAS" 20mm titanium super tweeter. Having said that, they do have inaccuracies in their description from time to time so best to take all that's written in their general papers with a grain of salt.
Hi Don,

That was the information I had, probably from the same review from 6 Moons. Then I search on SEAS's site, but I haven't found the exact products yet.

Sébastien
This is all I've ever been able to find about the tweeter / super tweeter from 6 Moons.

"a custom SEAS 25mm aluminum dome tweeter and a SEAS 20mm titanium dome supertweeter"
Hi Ryder,

I understand you and the reason why you "...did not post on HUG as frequently as I used to since they started this active moderation...". I feel a little bit the same. I'm always wondering what will go on with my post. Sometimes they didn't appear, sometimes they are modified, sometimes they are intact.

In the end, I think that's bad for Harbeth's publicity.

Still wondering the models of the tweeter and supertweeter, not for replacement but to better understand the design.

Sébastien
I can't imagine the designer not being able to help out with your question if you really need to know the model of the SEAS tweeter, presumably to facilitate a replacement. It's a shame really as Harbeth can always send you a private message or something. I'm afraid the designer may be the only person who is in the best position to advise on this subject. Or probably someone who has opened up the speaker and looked at the drivers.

For what it's worth, I did not post on HUG as frequently as I used to since they started this active moderation whereby each and every post will need to go through the moderator before they appear on the forum. Sometimes posts made by forummers are edited by the moderator before they show up on the page. Personally I'm little perturbed by this overly-protective policy they are practicing.

Sorry I can't be of any help.
Sometimes, they are fast on the censorship on the HUG. Once, I ask how many SHL5 speakers were build in Harbeth's history and I was treated like I asked a highly top secret army information...

Anyway, about the tweeter and supertweeter, is there anyone who can confirm which model of SEAS it is?

Sébastien
Similarly not too sure why they didn't publish your post. Usually they will only censor posts that are not in line with their interest. One possibility I can think of is the variation in the frequency range between the super-tweeter and tweeter. A super-tweeter is supposed to respond higher in the frequency spectrum, usually above 25kHz which is the upper frequency limit of human hearing. However, the specs of the SHL5 shows a frequency response of 40Hz-24kHz. That implies both tweeter and super-tweeter do not extend above 24kHz in the frequency spectrum.

A thread on tweeters may raise questions on the use of the super-tweeter in the SHL5. There was a discussion on this topic on HUG once and if I'm not mistaken, Harbeth had clarified that the super-tweeter is in the SHL5 to satisfy market demands. If someone were to interpret it in another way, well you know what that means. They may be trying to avoid this sort of discussion, hence the censorship.
I thought one of the tweeter drivers was from Audax having read that somewhere.