You nailed the sound of the Harbeth C7ES-XD. I’ve posted about them several times times. Ever since I bought them in 2024 my music listening has been at another level for me. I’ve own B&W, KEF, ATC, Quad and Thiel. The Harbeths just sound like live music with a midrange that is just superior to any I’ve heard. And yes the low end is wonderfully impactful with no need for a sub.
I haven't been this excited in a while!
I have been growing my system for 8 years going through 8 preamps, 6 amps, 5 phonostages, 8 DACs, 8 streamers, 6 turntables and 7 sets of speakers. Lots of long drives pulling a U-Haul haha. I live in Memphis and have been to Dallas, Bethesda, DC, Jersey, Charlotte and Asheville.
My Wilson Sophia 1 have been the speaker that keeps making the most musical sound in my system through all the electronic upgrades. Other Wilson(Yvette/Sasha DAW/Alexia 1) had an overly bright/harsh sound that I could not enjoy. EgglestonWorks Viginti and Focal 1038Be did the same. I often have an experience with gear that doesn't fit the mould of what is expected. Wilson and dealers all were in disbelief that my inverted metal dome tweeters in the Sophias play smoother than the soft-dome, but it wasn't just me...had a couple local audiophile friends over and I will never forget, one used the expression that they make you want to run out of the room.
A few weeks ago a friend let me listen to his Harbeth Compact 7ES-2s and I was blown away. All the assessments and reviews were spot on. They were so musical and natural sounding. This medium sized speaker was also super impressive in how the bass filled my large space.
I started looking for some older model 40s and am going in about a week to pick up my M40.1s. I was never a huge fan of their aesthetics with the old school box design. I do love wood however it may be used in a home and with that sound they are looking more and more beautiful to me.
Sonus Faber have a similar reputation and with their sleeker and more modern design, I had thought they would be my next contender but at the price point and the reviews of these 40.1s, as I said...I am just giddy over getting them home and seeing how they can perform.
I listen to all genres of music and will report back in a couple weeks on how things work out. I was curious of others that are new to the Harbeth sound.
Cheers,
Dana
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@pindac What are your new speakers? It would be nice to know what superseded your ESLs.
@dhite71 With the Wilsons being so bright in your system, what made you keep purchasing the Wilson line? Just curious if you might benefit from listening to a variety of speakers at one of the 2 (or more?) nice HiFi shops over in Nashville.
Cheers |
I have listened to all the Wilson speakers at a few different dealers and no Wilson speakers ever sounded bright First I tried the Alexia 1 and it was a HUGE failure. It defied all expectations as the bass from my Sophias was deeper and cleaner and they were extremely bright. They sounded so bad that I could not even listen to them while I waited for a buyer, they were rolled away into the corner for months. At the time, I had the ARC REF 75SE for an amp and while I know most will say will there's your problem, I don't think so. I took it with me to pick them up from the guy. He had McIntosh gear, a 2700 preamp and the 450 x 2 amp. We listed to the Alexia with his set up and then swapped to my REF 75. The overall output/volume was identical. We kept the preamp volume in the same position and both agreed the REF 75 sounded better. It was more musical. They did not sound bright in his room.
Wilson and dealers all pointed me to the DAW so I started the hunt and finally committed. They were pretty awesome for the most part, but still on about 15-20% of material were bright. This was not just in the triangle, I could be all the way around the corner in the kitchen and still sounded bright. The bass and overall dynamics was great though.
Next I was trying to use my own logic and thought if the Sophia are so great, the Yvette are kind of a Sophia 4 so maybe that overall size and driver complement will do the trick. They basically gave identical results as the DAW but maybe at about 80% of how impressive they were in comparison.
One dealer told me if I want to continue with Wilson, maybe I should go back to the same era as my Sophia 1 and consider a W/P 7 or 8. I may try that one day. |
OP we have the same experience, I was enjoying my Andra eggleston when I visited my friend house to listen to his Omega Alnico , I was blows as well How palpable and musically involving they are. I end up buying Omega rs8 just to see why they are so musical and palpable, and applied what I learned from the rs8 omega to Andra, I was cautious my ears were experiencing sound change, not ready to sell my Andra.And now I both kept Andra and my omega since they are both good speakers. All I did is match them. |
Hi Dana, I'm new to Harbeth also. I installed SHL5+XD.2's one week ago. Like you, I found the Harbeth sound to be exactly as described in all of the write-ups. I retired my Thiel 2.3's. To my ear, the Thiel's lacked the natural tone and musical flow I find with the Harbeths. I listen to solo cello a lot, and can envisage the arm and finger movement of the cellist thru the Harbeths. |
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