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The Harbeth phenomenon

In my search for a new pair of speakers, I've gone through many threads here and noticed that many owners or fans of Harbeth have almost a love-like connection with Harbeth speakers. It is almost as if the speakers cast a spell upon them. I know many audiophiles love their speakers but Harbeth owners seem especially enamored with theirs. I am extremely puzzled by this phenomenon because on paper Harbeth speakers look average at best and lack many of the attributes that generally make a great speaker.

Their sensitivity of generally around the 86dB mark makes them rather inefficient and therefore, at least in theory, not a good match for many lower powered tube amps, or any amps below 100wpc. Their frequency range is simply inferior to most high-end speakers since they don't go below 40 Hz. This alone should, again at least in theory, disqualify Harbeth speakers from consideration as top high end speakers. And yet I've never heard anyone complain about their bass, while people complain about lack of bass in the Gibbon Nines from DeVore, which is a fantastic speaker. Their cabinets look like a cheap DIY enclosure (disclaimer: I've never seen a Harbeth up close, only pictures). The 7ES-3 is rated B-Restricted, while the smaller and cheaper Usher Be-718 A-Restricted in Stereophile but garners nowhere near the same amount of admiration, praise and following among audiophiles.

So what's going on here? Is this a big conspiracy plot by the company that paid off a few hundred of people to infiltrate audiophile internet forums and a few reviewers? I am of course joking here, but the question is serious. How can speakers so average on paper be so good in real life? I know the opposite is often true, but you rarely see this phenomenon.

Please speak up.
actusreus

Showing 1 response by karmatogdral

karmatogdral
66 posts
 
I currently own Spendor, have heard Harbeth and Dynaudio(too expensive for me), i like them all, but then i like the string sound best on Spendor, piano sounds so realistic with Harbeth, Dynaudio has its signature sound that's difficult to describe, somehow they got the receipes to a very unique musicality, very musically involved.
i guess one thing these 3 brands share is, they might not give you the best measurement(probably with the exception of Dynaudio) from hi-fi aspect, but they reproduce and reflect your system so well, in a long run, you end up with exploring more music, and it's a realisation with changing and participating in the upgrade game with this hi-fi hobby, that if we set our goal on those measurement, focusing on bass, midrange etc, we usually end up in a circle chasing the same thing only with price and brand differences, as i like these speakers they remind me of how nice that cup of coffee was when the music was playing in the background, or a nice conversation with my fellow musician about the performers on the recording. Life becomes simpler that way.
andy
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