2. speakers
  3. 1272048158

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
extravaganza
373 posts
 
I have read this review.In some aspects the writter is right,i know why:)I felt the same when I heard for the first time music playing through my SHL5.I was preperad for that.Why?because speakers were new,just right out the box (wonderfull smell of new speakers mixed with paint and wood aroma).Every speaker needs time to play in,find right place in the room,every speaker tends play some music better than others....and we do have keep in mind that amplifier match is important here even with the Harbeths.How did i find Harbeths? I wrotte in google search "warm sounding speakers" and this brought me to the these speakers,many people pointed out:)I even listen dance music through them.Today I played "Chicane-wake up" song many times,I can't remember how many times,may be more than 20:)Clarity mixed with warm sound:)I am fascinated by vocals ,guitar,piano reproductions and the whole musicality of the the speakers.Voices of angels.I never heard angels singing,but that how i feel listening to it,that is it what makes emotional impact on me and my soul ,on my mood:)
pdreher's avatar
pdreher
1,184 posts
 
Shadorne - You commented...

"FWIW the M40.1 is really rather uninspiring - even Stereophile did not take much of a shine to it."

Not sure if that's a fair statement. Stereophile rated it Class A... and both Art Dudley and Sam Tellig's comments where quite favorable, with only John Atkinson dissenting, complaining of excessive bass and the need to use it in a larger room.

The Absolute Sound praised the M-40.1 extensively and awarded it their Golden Ear Award.

The speaker is a proven winner... maybe not everyone's cup of tea when it comes to aesthetics, and it does not have the audiophile "wow" factor that some are always seeking, but find hard to nail down.
shadorne's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
shadorne
7,467 posts
 
Pdreher,

Agreed. It is primarily the dispersion that JA is uncomofortable with and the "untidiness at 800 Hz". (I think he is perhaps suggesting woofer breakup might be occuring at audible levels arpund 800 Hz - only down 24 db - a more aggresive x-over slope could eliminate that - although this may give added warmth particularly on male vocals)
mlsstl
1,379 posts
 
James63 wrote: "I don't get how you could go through the effort of making/buying great drivers and using a so so box."

If I can hazard a guess as to the direction you're coming from, there are two broad categories when it comes to speaker cabinets.

One is the Harbeth/Spendor/BBC approach which acknowledges the existence of the back wave of the speaker cone and sets out to do something to help dissipate it. Their practice is to make a very carefully crafted "lossy" cabinet that acts as a "crumple zone" would in a car crash to absorb a lot of that energy. The energy that is absorbed by the cabinet reduces the amount radiated into the room at frequencies where the ear is most sensitive.

The opposite approach is to make an ultra rigid cabinet. The one drawback to this approach is the speaker cone still produces a rear wave. This energy does not magically go away by itself. If the speaker designer doesn't do something with it, you can find that energy re-radiated back into the room through the driver's cone. Energy in the lower voice range is not well absorbed just by speaker stuffing so the designer has to think of other things to do with it.

Each approach - and the variants in between as well as dipole and other boxless designs - has its following, just like car enthusiasts or the subgroups that develop in any other hobby.

However, calling the Harbeth a "so-so box" ignores the extensive effort that went into the speaker as well as the philosophy behind it. It would be just as easy to look at any of the tall, narrow speakers that are popular these days and insulting their designers for complicating the baffle step effect for the sake of furniture fashion.
actusreus OP
733 posts
 
This is a fascinating discussion and I thank all who have contributed to this enlightening exchange. Someone commented that many a speaker gets similar attention in the forums, and wondered why Harbeth was singled out thus implying there is no reason for this distinction. Insofar as I agree with the former, I respectfully disagree with the latter. I don't know of any other speaker whose owners talk about angels singing through it and seem to have such close connection with it. Perhaps a Harbeth appeals to the type of people who are more emotional than most and romanticize sound more than most, rather than creates this type of emotion to begin with. Either way, this thread indicates to me that Harbeth indeed is a different breed of speaker and I'm looking forward to auditioning a pair soon.

Awesome thread guys. Thank you!
More to discover