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Report on Harbeths vs. Vandersteens

I've used Vandersteens with various electronics for 6-7 years, first 2ce sigs, then 3a sigs. They have many positive attributes. Among other things, they reveal all kinds of detail in the source material on the top end. On certain source material, that's fine. Over time, however, for my ears, I was hearing, in an unflattering light, too much negative information about source material that I really wanted to listen to. In that respect, I described that Vandersteens, in another thread, as being somewhat "unforgiving". That didn't sit well with some folks, but I stand by it, and point to Mike Fremer's review of the Quattros in Stereophile for a similar impression.

I tried dealing with the issue with cable and electronic changes (and eventually did like fairly well the Cary SLP 2002 with the ARC VT100 MkIII, pulled together with Cardas Cross cable throughout, with a Linn CD12 front end), but I finally decided to try a speaker change anyway. After much research, I took advantage of an opportunity to make a rather convoluted trade that netted me some Harbeth M30s on Sound Anchor stands instead of the Vandersteens. Based upon all the reading I'd done (and opinions from a few trusted folks), I figured I needed to spend some time with the BBC monitor sound, be it Harbeths or Spendors or possibly something else.

I'm very glad to have made the change. For my ears, this is a very interesting and satisfying direction, and I recommend it as an avenue to explore for anyone who can relate to my kind of concerns.

The Harbeths have plenty of energy in the highs, but their focus is on the mid-range and upper bass. They have less detail in the high frequency range, but lots of detail in the mids. They do a particularly lovely job with strings, massed or otherwise (which was a weak spot as between my ears and the Vandersteens). On some material, they sound rolled off compared to the Vandersteens, but on other material, they don't...and, yes, if it's the "right" recording, they can even be too bright. But I hear the latter far less frequently than I did on the Vandersteens.

I'm by no means the first one to recommend the "BBC sound" direction for a solidly pleasurable, warm and satisfying musical experience with a variety of source material, but I'm happy to join in that chorus at this point in my listening life...and look forward to sampling some Spendors and different Harbeths over the next few years.
eweedhome

Showing 2 responses by eweedhome

eweedhome OP
227 posts
 
Dodgealum, thanks...I do intend to audition the Super HL5's against the M30s...and various of the Spendors. But for now, I'm going to relax for a while and listen to some music.

Many of us complain about the "brightness" of the recordings, and talk about this or that system being more "accurate"...as if we are quite sure we can tell with real certainty what is, indeed, "accurate." But, for heaven's sakes, it's ALL illusion. We're just listening to RECORDINGS, not the real thing. Artificiality starts at the microphone. The point, I think, is to play back the recording and have it do its magic. Good aural magic can even happen with a pair of noise-cancelling headphones and an Ipod in an airplane over the Atlantic.

The Harbeths produce some really good magic in the mid-range, pretty consistently. The Vandersteens produce some very good magic in the highs, with the right source material. Neither is the be all and end all. The tough thing is to find the formula that works for each "audiophile" listener, and find the right people to help point the way to a satisfying aural experience that takes into account what one's ears are looking for (which, as an aside, can be quite different at different times in a listener's listening life). That's one of the reasons the Audiogon Forum has been such a wonderful discovery for this listener, and one of the reasons I think it's worth sharing experiences.
eweedhome OP
227 posts
 
Drubin, that's a great thread, and one I studied before committing to the Harbeths. In fact (and this is part of my point about the use of the Forum), I committed to the Harbeths, and gave up the Vandersteens, without having auditioned the Harbeths. May sound dumb, but there were such consistent positive reports on Audiogon and in the reviews that I figured my risk was small, and after 7 years of intermittant "disharmony" with the Vandersteen sound, a change was inevitable, anyway.

Now, here's a question for Harbeth and Spendor people. My impression on the Harbeth M30s and M40s (the latter being too big for my room, by the way) is that part of their magic is in their silk dome tweeters. The Harbeth Compact 7's and Super HL5's do not have the same tweeters. First, who can tell me about the respective high-ends of the M30/M40 series vs, in particular, the Super HL5's? My memory is that there is one report floating around here on Audiogon that the HL5's are bright in comparison to the M30s. Any comments? Second, what about the HL5's versus the new Spendor line (such as the S8e's). Anybody done any comparing?

In the meantime, I'm going to consider other speaker lines mentioned, as and if I can find an audition opportunity. (Buying speakers unheard is something I intend to do only once!)
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