Harbeth Owners - I Need Some Help

Grills on. I'm using custom made Target 19" stands--with the spikes it raised the speaker 20" from the floor. I had the top plate cut so it would fit just inside the dimensions of the speaker. They look great and work very well. Sound Anchor can do something similar, though the Targets give a more finished appearance. Speakers mated to the stands with little squares of sorbothane. One thing about the Harbeth's I've found to be true is that they are not really picky about stands, electronics, etc. You can get better sound than 90% of what is out there with very little effort. Don't obsess, just put some clean solid state power behind them (min 100wpc) and let them sing.

Dan--most assuredly not an indictment of the speaker. I think it speaks to the essential musicality of the design. I'm not sure that I would classify any speaker as great (or even acceptable) that only "worked" with the right combination of select cables, amps, etc. For the most part these speakers simply do not "work" -- period. Their owners then spend countless dollars and hours they could be enjoying music trying to find just the right combination of esoteric components to obtain a sound that they convince themselves (for a time) works. I cannot tell you how many speakers I have heard over the past year and a half that simply don't sound "right" and never will regardless of what you put in front of them. I can still remember the moment I first heard the Harbeth's--over five years ago. I knew I was going to buy them after the first minute of the first song I heard. Additional listening was only conducted to satisfy the analytical side of my head. I say better to start with a speakers that gets the essentials right and then build a system around them that complements and enhances their performance. Why do you think so many other "world class" models from long established and esoteric brand names show up regularly on the Audiogon and scaring up a pair of Harbeth's is pretty tough to do? I think their are so few speakers that sound right through the critical midband and therefore people tire of whatever coloration exists that distances them from the music. I don't mean to sound like a Harbeth zealot--I will insert the customary caveat that these impressions are entirely subjective and will admit also that there are a few other good designs out there. However, after a determined effort and countless demos I can say with a high degree of certainty that there are precious few speakers that sound anywhere near as real as the Harbeth's and you will need to spend at least 5K (or more) to own them. They are the best value in audio today for music lovers who do not want to ride the equipment merry go round.

On the subject of stands--I think you can make a good case for open style stands that do not interfere with the intended vibration of the lossy cabinet. Whether you can hear the difference between those and a pair of stands with a fixed top plate I'm not sure. The top and bottom panels of the speakers are the smallest of the lot and therefore probably flex much less than the others and therefore may contribute little to the sound. The Sound Anchors seem to give you the best of all worlds--open top plate but a heavy and rigid anchoring of the speaker. I just happen to think they look like bupkiss.

Dan, I think much of what you say is true--and I will take it as a warning. When folks refer to any component as a good "reviewers tool" it raises in my mind the "great divide" that seems to exist within the community--between those that are into music and those that are into gear. The folks into music see the gear as a means to an ends. For folks into gear the equipment is an ends in itself. What you point up is the degree to which both reside within all of us. Though I consider myself one of the former, I will freely admit that at times a certain obsession with the gear itself begins to crowd out the music lover in me. I try to protect against this because, for the most part, I perceive those who are into the gear as perpetually unsatisfied, in debt and in conflict with their wives (if they have one). As I move forward in my pursuit of speakers to replace the Harbeth's I'm gonna try real hard to find something that retains their musicality but adds deeper bass and better looks. I may never get there but one lives in hope.