My Harbeth C7ES-3 story...


I’ve been using Zu Omen DW’s for the past 2yrs and really enjoy them.

every time I go to RMAF I find myself enjoying the Harbeth and Spendor speakers, so I started researching them, stumbled upon the “bbc midrange magic” touted and everything thing I read pointed to something I thought I’d like.

my first step was to grab a pair of used Spendor S3/5’s. My thinking was if I enjoyed them I would then look for a bigger style. I was first looking at the Spendor A4 and A6R’s and as I kept reading I ran across the Harbeths. In particular the C7ES3 (Compact 7’s).

At this point I had researched like crazy and had my eye on a pair of used Spendor A6R’s. It was really hard to find used C7’s so I was leaning towards the Spendors.

I had a work trip coming up to Toronto and one day the week before as I’ve been scouring the audio marts a pair of C7’s popped up, and low and behold they were in Toronto!! 1 mile from the hotel I was staying. So I pinged the guy and we started talking. Told him I’ll be in town etc. so I setup a time to go over to his house. They were mint condition with original boxes, consecutive serials etc so I grabbed them! Best part the dollar is strong against Canadian so ended up getting them for 50% off new.

Another great part is the boxes are not too big and was able to check them in on the plane, so shipped them back with me for $60.

Got them home and now I have them setup on some Skylans.

my biggest fear was the low end was not going to be full enough but boy was I wrong. First impressions from just 1hr of listening... the Zu’s will be hitting the market. Everyone says the Zu’s are very forward which I was fine with and they have their place, but after hearing the magic sound of the Harbeths it suits my style better.

I’ll follow up with more impressions later.
128x128kray
@gcknapp 

will do! Both are supposed to arrive by Saturday so if all goes well Sunday should be a great listening day
Based on a friend that has owned SHL5 Plus's, 30.2 and 40.1 my money is on the LFD.
The LFD Zero Mk4 is one of the few amps that will transform the Harbeth. You may experiment with speaker placement in the room to get more from the speakers.

The Compact 7ES3 is my 2nd favorite speaker in the Harbeth line. I prefer it to the M30.1.

Enjoy~
From all I’ve read the LFD definitely gets most of the votes but deep down I’m rooting for the Belles due to its welcome extra features like phono, bypass, remote

don't think I can go wrong at this point.