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Harbeth Super HL5 plus Break-in

The following is an excerpt from the Harbeth User Guide:

"After exercising your new Harbeths for just a few hours they will be fully ready for a lifetime of enjoyment".

After going to the Harbeth site it pretty much said the same thing as the user guide but added that the supertweeter would take a little longer to break-in.
My new Harbeth's sounded the same after I put on around the first 100 hours so I believed the above until around the 120-150 hour mark I noticed (or so I think) the midrange sounding more realistic to the point of more enjoyment! I don't know if I'm actually hearing an improvement or I'm just getting used to the Harbeth sound since the 5's are my first experience with Harbeth in my listening room.

I would like to hear others that have owned or still own the Super 5's and whether or not you have experienced the same thing as me or something else.
routeman21
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,391 posts
 
Not sure 24" out from the wall is going to cut it. You using the correct stands? Try spiking them to a concrete paver.
ryder
1,682 posts
 
Yes, like any other loudspeakers they need time to break-in. Give the speakers 200 to 300 hours before they start loosening up as music will flow more freely from the speakers, sounding more unforced.

The amplifier plays a huge role with the Harbeth as you can alter the presentation to your preferences with different amps.
routeman21 OP
110 posts
 
avanti1960,
I am listening with the grilles off.

noromance,
I am using Skylan stands, 18" high. They are spiked to carpet and foam attached to concrete floor. My mistake- They are 28" from wall to back of speaker, 40" from wall to front of speaker.
prof
3,435 posts
 

Note that Harbeth speakers are designed to have the grills on. Most speakers designed to have the grills on are more accurate and smoother with the grills.


Audiophiles are conditioned to search for ever more "transparency and detail" so "why would I want grill covers between my ears and the drivers?"


They take off the grills, now the frequency response changes a bit, usually a bit of a peak in the higher frequencies and then it's "wow, listen to that new air and detail!"


But I find this is almost always at the expense of smoothness, neutrality and coherency.  It's a more "look at me" from the upper frequencies/tweeter" sound.   But...if you like it better you like it better.
rrcpa
37 posts
 
@chorus

I didn't metion any other brands because I'm not familiar with them.
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