What Is So Special About Harbeth?

I don’t know about the XD versions. If going with the older SHL5, pick the SHL5 Plus instead of the older SHL5. The Plus is an overall better sounding speaker - cleaner, more precise and better clarity in the bass and midrange. The SHL5 non-Plus sounds smeared and has a bloated uneven bass.

xd versions are very very incrementally altered over just prior gen harbeths

That’s useful. From my observation, the popular XD models that get the most attention are the C7ES3 and M30. The other models don’t get much interest, and the P3ESR XD is a mixed bag. It appears that several P3ESR owners who switched to the P3ESR XD are having difficulty adapting to the bright treble in the new model.

The XD series has underdone certainly one round of price increases, perhaps two, and currently in the USA I just don’t think they’re price-competitive, whatever their many virtues.

I’m a huge fan of Harbeth as well, but I feel they are not very competitive at their current prices. I really like the P3esr, but something like a Fritz Carrera BE is much better for the same price.

I share the same sentiments. Folks in Britain also felt the same. At the current prices for the XD, the Harbeth are not considered to be good value anymore. Pick the predecessor(s) for best value or sound for your dollars. Avoid the older models and start from SHL5+ or SHL5+ 40th Anniversary, M30.2 Anniversary, 40.1 or 40.2 Anniversary etc.

The Harbeth may sound great but there are other options which sound great too, and some may offer a bit more.. There are many choices for you to pick from at the equivalent price range. It's good to have some variety in life.

They lost one of their local cabinet makers and had trouble finding a replacement that meets their standards.

May I ask when did this happen? I noticed few complaints on the cabinet of the Harbeth on another forum. Fade marks and uneven blotches on the cherry wood veneer of the SHL5+ and 40.1 or 40.2.

weakest things of harbeths are these.Far away from natural

drum set, cymbal shimmer, bowed bass

All good observations made by existing Harbeth owners and ex-owners. I agree that the Harbeth are very good in reproducing tone and timbre of instruments and human voice. In my limited experience, not many speakers do well in this area. I find voices on Harbeth to be one of the best if not the best. Some (or many) costlier high end speakers fail to match the Harbeth in reproducing voices to sound close to the real thing.

I somewhat agree with this remark made by Extravaganza, only if it’s relating to the intensity or power of the striking of drums, the dynamics of the bass or shimmer and decay or cymbals. The dynamics are slightly lacking but if we are talking about the tone and timbre of instruments such as piano, acoustic guitars, violin, trumpet etc. it’s as close to the real thing as you can get. Human voice, it’s very very good, perhaps not the best but based on my limited experience I haven’t found one that reproduces voice to sound better and more believable than the Harbeth. The M30.2 does voices the best in the Harbeth line but I was made to understand that the new C7ES3 XD now gives the 30.2 XD some competition.

I too found that electronic music came out too polite, probably because I expect harsh / dirty sounds with this music -- that you don’t get with the big Harbeths... (that said, Tupak’s voice was very clear!)

The SHL5+ sounds more open / less polite than M30 versions with electronic and rock or dynamic music.