The Best of the English Sound


I am pretty pleased with my ATC SCM 7's but the new Harbeths have intrigued me, as have Spendors from time to time in the Audiogon classifieds.

Unfortunately, there is nowhere I know near where I live to listen to any of these speakers.

So is there any consensus on differences between these UK brands, which all supposedly have much better than average midrange?

I am trying to find a 1) small enough for desktop use,and 2) last speaker I will ever own for this application, to 3) buy 2 - 4 sets of them for various locations in home and office.

Thanks for your thoughts and opinions.
cwlondon

Showing 3 responses by jax2

Just to throw you on a whole different possible tangent; I was listening to small monitors (nothing extraordinary, but very good ones) in my desktop/computer/workstation system. I found it a bit distracting for some reason and I suspect it had something to do with a narrower sweet spot. I switched over to Ohm Micro Walsh shorts, which are omnidirectional speakers. I really love the vast soundstage that seems to remain unchanged no matter where I position myself at the monitor. I don't know how they'd work in your setup - I took a peak at your system (nice integration into a living space, and major WAF runaround going on there...well done!). You're listening in a very open space in nearfield when you sit at your monitor (listening to the workstation speakers), whereas I'm in a much more confined, tighter, closed space...a small basement office. Naturally, YMMV, but it's a thought anyway. I've only once heard ATC at the house of an audio engineer in his personal system. I've heard Harbeth perhaps more frequently, both at a friend's listening room and at shows. For whatever that's worth, Harbeth occurs to me as one of the most relaxed, laid back presentations I've heard, whereas the ATC's I heard were far more forward, almost to the point of aggressively so. ATC's seemed more neutral, while Harbeth's seemed to add just a touch of coloration towards warmth and were utterly non-fatiguing. They were not my taste - I prefer a more forward sound - but I certainly appreciated what they did well. I would say they are very different presentations. The ATC's were larger than what you are considering though...I believe they were the 20's. Harbeths have been various sizes (always occurring to me to have a similar presentation), but my friends were 7's (about the same size as the ATC 20's I think, but not desktop material). I'm sure folks with more exposure than me can lend more authoritative observations. The one thing that always sticks with me with the Harbeths is how laid back they sound (as in a recessed soundstage).
Jax
Looking at Spendor/Harbeth for a desktop set-up could run into some serious money.

The Harbeth's he's looking at are, I assume, the new HLP3 mini-monitor. There's currently a pair right here for $ 1350.

Perhaps I'm not understanding, but I'm not in the market for a desktop setup...I was just giving CWLondon some impressions. I'm not particularly a fan of the English sound myself, nor do I dislike it...just prefer a more forward presentation than Harbeths. I'm very happy with the Ohm Micro Walsh shorts that I'm currently using for desktop/nearfield. You may be confusing me with the OP, who suggested his interest in those speakers.
Re ATCs sounding forward or aggressive...as much as I like them (and also their rosewood cabinets) I would have never guessed British ATCs might sound hot, and thus, always assumed it was my cheapo Behringer amplifiers, not any forward or aggressive sound on part of the speakers.

The ATC's I heard were the very expensive 20's with their own internal amplification. I don't think they're much like the model you have, but can't say for sure.

As I have said in other threads, I have never really loved the midrange and/or musical sound of any system or speaker to only add that I wish they had more "inner detail" or "resolution" both of which I now - after 30 years of this - believe to be synonymous with listener's fatigue.

I think I know what you mean, but have some contrasting experience. I'm listening to a pair Grado GS1000 headphones as I write this, on a good HP amp. Tremendous inner detail and resolution, right up to my ears...yet they are not in the least fatiguing. I have heard systems that do excel in bringing out inner detail, yet are indeed fatiguing...not sure what the key is though. Interesting subject.

Particularly in this nearfield, desktop configuration, I am listening to them all day, every day, at home and at the office with music, computer sounds, streaming video, and cable TV as the input.

A. I want your job!
B. You deserve a great system.

Glad you liked the room - it is indeed a lot of fun and even my wife and her friends think it is beautiful and interesting.

I want your wife too! :-) Really, nice integration of living/working/passion. My hat's off (doesn't fit over the headphones anyway!