just2ch Posted November 25, 2009 Share Posted November 25, 2009 Just curious to know if anyone here owns or heard this Harbeth speaker and your impressions on its sound, also if you have compared it with any other speakers. I recently listened to a battered pair of Spendor BC1 and really liked the sound. It was so natural and “musicalâ€. The sound had good separation and detail without sounding attacking or in the face. The bass was a bit lumpy but easily forgiven as the speaker simply drew me into music. Listening to this speaker made me forget about analysing the sound and just concentrate on the music playing. A quick Google search on the BC1 revealed the Harbeth SHL5 is a descendent of the BC1 and is similar in the design and concept. If this Harbeth has similar or better sound than the BC1, I can start saving now. Thanks for any inputs. J2CH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuyen Posted November 25, 2009 Share Posted November 25, 2009 HI J2CH, I heard a pair in Indonesia, powered by SAC KT88 amps. Nice speaker. In the room they were setup in, I felt they did present a slight hump in the low/midrange though so made the sound a bit too rich/full for my liking. The owner has it setup in a very small room which was less then optimal which could of caused this. Overall, still a very nice sounding speaker. I was close to purchasing a pair of these speakers from Jason from Parmenter Sound in NZ until I ended taking the ML-1 route. Some people say the smaller 2 way harbeth 7es-3 or monitor 30 have a more natural/pure sound then the shl-5. Tricka might be able to chime in as he did own a pair of the 7es recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin-hobart Posted November 25, 2009 Share Posted November 25, 2009 Just curious to know if anyone here owns or heard this Harbeth speaker and your impressions on its sound, also if you have compared it with any other speakers.I recently listened to a battered pair of Spendor BC1 and really liked the sound. It was so natural and “musicalâ€. The sound had good separation and detail without sounding attacking or in the face. The bass was a bit lumpy but easily forgiven as the speaker simply drew me into music. Listening to this speaker made me forget about analysing the sound and just concentrate on the music playing. A quick Google search on the BC1 revealed the Harbeth SHL5 is a descendent of the BC1 and is similar in the design and concept. If this Harbeth has similar or better sound than the BC1, I can start saving now. Thanks for any inputs. J2CH Very highly regarded. Friend of mine has the smaller Harbeth 7s & loves them. But he prefers his Beta 10s for detail Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just2ch Posted November 25, 2009 Author Share Posted November 25, 2009 Thanks Tuyen. I did have a brief listen to Tricka's Compact 7es-3 but did not notice much about the sound as I was mainly focusing on how his amp sounded with my speaker. I remember that Tricka also had a preference for the SHL5 at that time. I had a chance of listening to the Compact 7es-2 and the standard HL5 at Merlin Audio in Canberra a while ago and wasn't much impressed about their sound. The sound was similar to what you described, slightly thick midrange and was not quite transparent. The sound of Spendor BC1 that I listened to was quite different, it was cleaner and more relaxed than the Proac bookshelf and floorstander we compared to at the time. I think it was probably due to the super tweeter of the BC1. The Harbeth SHL5 also has a super tweeter and is similar in design and cabinet size to the BC1, hence my interest on its sound. Robin, thanks for you input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin-hobart Posted November 25, 2009 Share Posted November 25, 2009 Just curious to know if anyone here owns or heard this Harbeth speaker and your impressions on its sound, also if you have compared it with any other speakers.I recently listened to a battered pair of Spendor BC1 and really liked the sound. It was so natural and “musicalâ€. The sound had good separation and detail without sounding attacking or in the face. The bass was a bit lumpy but easily forgiven as the speaker simply drew me into music. Listening to this speaker made me forget about analysing the sound and just concentrate on the music playing. A quick Google search on the BC1 revealed the Harbeth SHL5 is a descendent of the BC1 and is similar in the design and concept. If this Harbeth has similar or better sound than the BC1, I can start saving now. Thanks for any inputs. J2CH Did you see these recently? 2nd time up as far as I know and no bids. Looks reasonable value. Although I personally would be inclined to check out at the Legend Kantus, albeit for a few more dollars. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330375939265&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_1248wt_1084 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just2ch Posted November 26, 2009 Author Share Posted November 26, 2009 Did you see these recently? 2nd time up as far as I know and no bids. Looks reasonable value. Although I personally would be inclined to check out at the Legend Kantus, albeit for a few more dollars.http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330375939265&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_1248wt_1084 The price looks reasonable considering the speaker's UK retail. Though I would love to hear how a speaker sounds before spending this type of sum on it. I've read somewhere that Legend speakers are fast and detailed, somewhat analytical which I think may not suit my taste. I tend to prefer the warm and relaxed characters which British speakers generally exhibit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuyen Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 Harbeth SHL-5 powered by good EL34/KT88 pp valve amps sounds like what you really should be looking for then just2ch. harbeth or proacs! Musicality to the MAX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marine Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 I have a pair of SHL5s. I bought them second habd in the UK for 1300 pouns. IMO this was a bargain, if I HAD to listen to them for the rest of my life I would be happy. I do plan to upgrade in the next couple of years to something more full range, but this will be somwhere in the range of 30 times the cost. When this upgrade does happen I plan on keeping the Harbeths. While not perfect they are still very nice to listen to. They respond well to great sources and amplification. They are currenlty the cheapest component in my system. Another SNAer Chimay has a pair also. Hopefully he'll chime in with his view. I think you can buy them from Harbeth direct as Parmenter is in NZ, but I am not sure of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just2ch Posted November 26, 2009 Author Share Posted November 26, 2009 (edited) Harbeth SHL-5 powered by good EL34/KT88 pp valve amps sounds like what you really should be looking for then just2ch. harbeth or proacs! Musicality to the MAX :o It is funny that I have owned a couple of valve amps and have listened to a few but still prefer SS amps (especially the mosfet types) for their hassle-free ownership . The most valve-like SS amp that I have listened to was the LFD amp that I bought from Tricka. I have a pair of SHL5s. I bought them second habd in the UK for 1300 pouns. IMO this was a bargain, if I HAD to listen to them for the rest of my life I would be happy. I do plan to upgrade in the next couple of years to something more full range, but this will be somwhere in the range of 30 times the cost. When this upgrade does happen I plan on keeping the Harbeths.While not perfect they are still very nice to listen to. They respond well to great sources and amplification. They are currenlty the cheapest component in my system. Another SNAer Chimay has a pair also. Hopefully he'll chime in with his view. I think you can buy them from Harbeth direct as Parmenter is in NZ, but I am not sure of this. Thanks for you view Marine. It was definately a bargain at the price you paid for your SHL5. I'm sure these are good speakers as their owners seem to swear by them. Have you thought about the M40s for your future speaker upgrade? Edited November 26, 2009 by just2ch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuyen Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 All good mate. I've listened to the LFD mk2. Very nice integrated indeed. Did find the Accustic Arts Power 1 integrated to be yet even more nicer to listen to but that was tripple the price rrp. Now ended up replacing it with a chinese valve amp! LOL! Do you have a big room? From reading up about harbeth speakers on the singapore audio forums, the shl5 really needs large room to operate properly or else midrange will be slightly boomy. Especially in the case of the bigger monitor 40s. Just something to be wary of I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just2ch Posted November 26, 2009 Author Share Posted November 26, 2009 All good mate. I've listened to the LFD mk2. Very nice integrated indeed. Did find the Accustic Arts Power 1 integrated to be yet even more nicer to listen to but that was tripple the price rrp. Now ended up replacing it with a chinese valve amp! LOL!Do you have a big room? From reading up about harbeth speakers on the singapore audio forums, the shl5 really needs large room to operate properly or else midrange will be slightly boomy. Especially in the case of the bigger monitor 40s. Just something to be wary of I guess. The room will be around 4.5 x 6.5m, carpeted and well damped so shouldn't have any issue any but the monster sized floorstanders. Cheers, J2CH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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