Overall I agree with the review from Krug22. I also hate to be negative about these famous speakers! And, I could be incorrect though my reactions mirror those of Krug22. I'll make mine short. THESE LACK DYNAMICS AND, FOR ME, COMPARED TO THE QUAD 22L2'S AND ELECTROSTATICS, THEY LACK CLARITY AND A "THEY ARE HERE" IN MY ROOM QUALITY. For me there seemed to be "a haze" over voices such as in a Willy Nelson 'srecording of "Good Heart(ed) Woman": In the song "Good Heart Woman" where there are two male voices and a thumping bass note that repeats over and over, with the Quad 22L2 and The Totem Hawks the voices are seperated slightly while with The Harbeth the voices seem to be coming from the same place almost as ONE voice. Also, the bass wasn't "all there" with the Harbeths as compared with the Quads and the Totems. The Willy Nelson cut has a "thumping" bass note that repeats over and over and with the Quads and the Totems there is "air" around the note and an "in the room" feeling. With the Harbeths the "in your room" thumping was "homogenized" and less forceful and less "there". So, I couldn't get excited about the Harbeth's. PLUS, THE PRICE OF THE HARBETHS IS ABOUT TWO TO THREE TIMES THE PRICE OF THE USED TOTEM HAWLS AND THE QUAD 22L2'S. At $3700 for The Harbeths they seem to me to be too expensive for what you get.

The above is what I heard and believe. YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY LISTEN FOR YOURSELF TO THE HARBETHS FOR YOURSELF IF YOU CAN FIND A DEALER IN YOUR AREA. At $3700 new and perhaps $2700 used THE HARBETHS ARE EXPENSIVE from my perspective. SO "TRY BEFORE YOU BUY" IS MY SUGGESTION. You may LOVE them as many people do! But not me! The dealer on the West Coast is Gene Rubin Audio in Ventura, California. Go over and talk with him about the Harbeth's. Maybe he knows something about them that I don't. Sorry Gene!

Very musical speaker. Female vocal is among the best I have heard. However, for my taste (mainly classical music), its tweeter is not good enough . String is good but not excellent. Strong piano passage is not well handled. For classical music at least, you may prefer soft sounding front.

I bought these speakers as an alternative to my Audio Physics Virgo, which I really treasure. My first impression was not positive, compared to the Virgo's they sound very thin. But the longer I listened to the Harbeths , the more I felt attracted to them. They do not sound "nice" as another reviewer wrote, but they do sound "beautiful", even so much that I keep listening to them. I am not an audiophile, but a melomaniac, and I really enjoy listening to these speakers, so they are very musical indeed. I do not think that they do not involve me, I had the B&W 804 before and they did not involve me at all. Ideally, I would like to have a combination of the Virgos and the Harbeths, but I am afraid that this does not exist, at least not at my budget level. The bass issue is an "american" issue as far as I am concerned. For me, the furniture in my apartment does not have to tremble while I am enjoying the music. I gave a 4 because the Harbeths are not perfect, but they are wonderful.

Given the number of glowing professional reviews for the Compact 7 ES3, I thought sure I'd find some here as well. Interesting that there are none. I had these speakers for a month after being seduced into buying them by a series of female vocals I played at the dealer showroom. Wonderful stuff. However, the 7's ultimately proved rather mercurial and confounding in my listening room, and I decided to sell them. I have owned over 20 sets of speakers in 35 years of this hobby, so it's not my "first real pair of speakers" by any stretch. I have enjoyed electrostatics, planars, esoteric designs, and good boxes all. The Harbeths were another creature entirely.

They are as clear as rainwater, and the RADIAL driver is a great technical feat. The inner detail is at times staggering, without being etched at all (I mean, I could hear what people in the audience at Sara McLachlan's Afterglow Live concert were saying - people waaay in the back!). And the harmonics for the mids and treble were, in my listening experience, about the very best I've ever heard. Very natural, very believable. Also, I agree with reviewers that these speakers have an uncanny ability to put the music in the venue in which it was created (although the soundstage in absolute terms was not as large as many lesser speakers). All of these comments track the reviews.

Where my experience differed was in two areas. First, bass response. Although the bass was wonderfully defined and free of mid-bass bloat, it a) didn't appear to be sufficient in volume to match the rest of the spectrum - it was all there, but seemed to lag several decibels behind the mids and treble, which means that on a lot of music there wasn't sufficient drive, and 2) was somewhat on the "woody" side, especially with electric bass. As to the first area, I will say that this was not always true; which is why I can't really say that the speaker was voiced wrong or anything - but on more than half of my collection, the bass was of deficient volume, although of good quality. I used them with dual subs, so it was not the depth of bass that was off, but the amount in the (I'm guessing) 60 -200 range.

Second, there was (to me) a homogeneity to the sound, together with a lack of mid-treble snap and general lack of energy that was in direct conflict with the analytically perfect presentation. For example, Stevie Ray Vaughan's well-recorded Tin Pan Alley track should have a slight electic guitar metallic "catch" at the leading edge of his notes on his solos - it's what gives the piece it's drive and fun. It was completely lacking with the Harbeths. Yet in terms of absolute treble extension, the Harbeths were wonderful. They were ,for me, a mystery.

The closest analogy I can think of is taking your amplifier and running it through a line conditioner. Does it sound "better"? Usually, yes. But what is the cost? The cost is usually a loss of involvement. Now the reviews of the es3's usually do talk about the fact that speakers this analytical can often sound dead and uninvolving, but they all say that the Harbeths retain their musicality. Well, I disagree. I agree that they retain their musicality in the sense that they are not dry or etched (they have wonderful tone), but I do not agree that they avoid the pitfalls of ultimate boredom. In the end, as beautiful as the notes were, I was looking at my watch. On two separate nights of classical listening, I fell asleep. Literally.

I could find no "jump factor" with these speakers. We all have favorite cuts we like to play for the spooky "wow, that's in the room with me" effect. Well, on my rendition of those cuts, as clear and precise and beautiful as they were....they just were not in the room with me at all. Frankly, this isn't that important to me, but it again demonstrates a certain lack of energy in the presentation.

It is hard for me to agree that the speakers are neutral. As I noted, I don''t believe they have proper bass weight (spectral balance). Whatever I did with the subs, at the point where the crossover or volume was too high, they let me know - it just wasn't happening with the mains.

Although it doesn't matter much to me what a speaker designer says on his website about speaker design (it is wonderful that there are so many different slants on making speakers), I will say I found the Harbeth website slightly cult-like. If you visit there, you will find that Mr. Shaw does not believe 1) that the quality of you gear and ancillaries will have much of an effect on your listening experience (as Harbeths are just that good); 2) there is no such thing as burning in speakers (we all just adjust to sound over time) and 3) it doesn't matter much what stands you stick you Harbeths on - including inverted plant pots. I don't agree with any of that stuff, but would gladly fuggedabowdit if the speakers were truly that good. But as I didn't find them to be involving or fun, I have to say I was slightly put off by these positions, which are clearly not shared by the vast majority of audiophiles. And although Mr. Shaw was nothing short of civilized and congenial in his response to me on one of these issues, I took it on the chin from some of his "Harbethians" for daring to disagree.

As these speakers have received universal praise, I expect my comments to be taken skeptically. And that's fine. Look, the 7 es3's have tremendous strengths - I mean, tremendous! And many people rightly love the things. But electrostatic clarity and quickness I can get from ....an electrostatic! What I crave in a box speaker (because I see it as a box speaker's strength) is moving air in a realistic way. This is as important for a piano forte as it is for a blues solo. If the only adjective left to a depict a peformance is "nice," the heart hasn't been moved. Other than for female vocals and some massed vocals (whiich were, within the voice range, really riveting), I just couldn't get jiggy with the Harbeths.

Of course, your results in your room with your equipment may be entirely different, and as I said, even if you agree with me, you may not care about the areas of my concern. Many don't. I would suggest, however, that if you're considering these speakers, you audition them with a large variety of music for at least a couple of hours. They make a wicked good first impression, which stays for many, but wanes for some (such as I). You need to get past that and listen for a while to make certain the wonderful strengths of these speakers are enough to keep you in the game long term.

I understand that my review may engender responses and defenses, which are always welcome on this forum. These speakers deserve more comment here one way or the other anyway. They are remarkable in what they do well.

Natural sound, non-fatiguing, transparent, superb vocals, realism!!!

none

These are superb speakers. My first venture into a pair of speakers that would have been over 2000 dollars new, and possibly my last venture into any pair of speakers, until forced into a change, then it will probably be Harbeth. Previous reviews speak for themselves,but i had to add my approval. The best hi-fi investment i've ever made. Anyone out there who gets a chance to pick up a used pair of these will be very impressed.

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Heybrook, B&W DM17, Spendor.
Speakers used with Quad 34306, Marantz cd-17 mkii, Van Den Hul budget interconnects, PAD Colossus mains lead, budget Nordost speaker cable.

Absolutely fantastic vocal presentation.

Not the speaker for those looking for hyper-detailed, equipment-flaw-finding speakers.

This is for the SHL-5. OK, you've read about what a fantastic speaker the 7 is, but the SHL-5 just takes all of these qualities further. It is more coherent with more bottom and a sweeter midrange. I have auditioned speakers costing up to 50K and none of them presented vocals as well as the SHL-5s. The bass is full and euphonic and the top end never spits, even with the supertweeters. Is the SHL-5 the most accurate Harbeth? Probably not. It just sounds fantastic and that's all I care about. One more thing - although these speakers can definitely exploit fine electronics, they do not highlight equipment flaws in the chain. You can drive them with a $300 CD player and $300 receiver while you're saving up for something better. Try that with Dynaudios! They are more expensive than some, but they are made in England by people getting real wages, so that's what happens. Meanwhile, the Far East can't get Harbeths fast enough. Go figure.

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Spendor S5e, Paradigm Studio 40s.

Cello's wind intruments, classical guitar , harp are to die for. Piano is not an orphan with these speakers, piano peddles have a gorgeous weight and piano keys exhibit exemplary behavior with a beautiful and progressive decay. Dont imagine that this investment is of service to classical music only. Kenny G. will send shivers down your spine. Wait until you listen to Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman, you will fall in love again. These speakers are only meant to do service to humanities greatest legacy and invention by bringing order to chaos and removing all the clutter and noise we hear every day. From now on everything musical will be immensely coherent to your ears.These speakers are also meant to remind us to stop and smell the roses to truly appreciate the wonders of life. I would never have believed that audio gear could have brought me to tears but It as on numerous occasions.The compact 7 is the most engaging and hypnotic instrument I have ever heard in my life. I can listen to them 24 hours a day, they are musical windows to my soul.They give and give and never ask anything in return. When I play my Loreena McKennitt The visit CD I am transported to the lush green pastures of the Emerald Isle. They are today the most cherished presence in my life. I could not live without them. Intimacy and neutrality is the operative word. Break in is short. They are like the finest bottle of red wine improving with time. I am on cloud nine with these babies.Performance to price ratio is expressed in stratospheric terms. Best physical placement is 5 feet from the rear boundary and 9 or 10 feet apart. I matched mine with top of the line Sound Anchors Pro Monitor stands wheighing about 100 lbs each and dampened. A very beneficial addiction is the dividend this investment pays to it's enlightened owner.

None whatsoever.

What I will disclose herewith is the truth , the whole truth and nothing but the truth. On September 2, 2003, life gave the most surreal wake up call imaginable as I suffered a massive and near fatal stroke to the right hemisphere of the brain, When I arrived at the hospital 16 hours later I was in a deep coma and in severe respiratory distress , a tracheotomy was performed in my throath permitting me to breathe thru a tube. I did not see a blinding light or my life flashing in front of my eyes. It was simply a total void of will I survive or will I be a vegetable. 3 weeks later I emerged and had the entire neurological staff at my side with their inferior jaws almost touching the ground. They pronounced me a miracle. I had absolutely no clue that I had just entered the twilight zone of the mentally unwell. The following 6 months was wall to wall therapy facing the rest of my life confined in a wheelchair. I was fighting a battle against the most complex entity in the universe, and it possesses a door lock for which there is no key. I have to become my own locksmith. To this day I have not witnessed a single hint of improvement Given my total incapacity to climb stairs I had no other alternative but to terminate my lease and take my entire life savings and purchase a condo unit in a building with elevator service. As if a stroke was not enough on May 5th 2004 I suffered my first of 10 epileptic seizures that will require that I be medicated for the rest of my life. being denied the permission to drive a motor vehicle.I needed that like I needed a bullet in the head. Given that my condo floors are made out of reinforced concrete doing physical therapy with an epilepsy condition becomes a very risky endeavor. Imagine living the rest of your life with a 2 by 4 instead of a left leg .I am the proverbial leaf in the wind. For me walking 200 feet with my quadripod cane is like running 5 consecutive Boston marathons. I wake up every morning seing life in a foreign brain with emotions that I dont recognize. Thank god for me in 1998 I had the foresight to upgrade my Rogers LS7t speakers for a pair of Compact 7 SE2.I also had the foresight to upgrade my YBA Integre DT integrated amp, to the then brand new YBA Integre Passion integrated. The foundation for pure musical nirvana was in place.I think of these 2 components as the Romeo and Juliet of high end audio. The radial driver is an exceptional piece of acoustical engineering. Specs claim 46 Hz to 20 Khz. With my YBA amp the bottom end feels much more like 40 Hz. When using the fine YBA Diamond speaker and interconnect cables in a by wired configuration. They will melt the harshest heart on earth. You will be very hard pressed to find a more pleasant and pristine sound. At any price. These speakers are not to be analyzed but appreciated as exceptional musical instruments. Need I say more we are in presence of greatness here.Wait until you listen to Yo Yo Ma. You will recognize genious and passion for the artform. Put your seatbelt on as you will be jumping with joy and have entered the qualitative dimension of the universe. Close your eyes and immerse yourself in the ocean of wellbeing and serenity.

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Why bother I am in pure musical nirvana as it is.

transparency, natural vocal-reproduction, soundstaging, imaging

none really

Never in my admittedly limited career as an audiophile have I been so utterly delighted by one of my purchases. Now I finally know what an audio reviewer means when says a speaker "provided a wide, transparent window on the music." Before I heard the Harbeths, I thought such a reviewer was merely waxing rhapsodic. Not any more... The rather utilitarian appearance of the Harbeths gives no hint about the tremendous musicality (another phrase whose meaning I now understand) hidden within. The first thing one notices when playing these speakers is their uncanny transparency. I've heard speakers in the past that were this transparent, but they were all electrostats. This level of clarity from a simple two-way dynamic speaker is truly remarkable. It has to be that unique 8 inch Radial driver. Those Harbeth engineers really are on to something. Voices are spookily real. Cellos, violins, oboes... hell, the whole orchestra is reproduced with a realism that I have never before experienced in my listening room. One really can't talk about transparency without also mentioning a speaker's soundstaging and imaging capabilities. I had always believed that in order to excel in these areas a speaker would either have to be a tiny bookshelf or a narrow baffle design. So when I unwrapped my Compact 7's, I admit that I was a little bit concerned. My doubts turned out to be completely unfounded. The Harbeths image as well or better than any speaker I've ever owned... ditto for soundstaging. In conclusion, the Harbeth Compact 7's are a remarkable bargain even at their current retail price of $2500. No they aren't perfect. I'm sure some listeners out there will balk at their limited bass (specs give the cutoff at 47hz, but room reinforcement should provide a solid 40 hz in small to moderately sized rooms.) Or some will say that the delicate treble is too "rounded" (such people need to attend more acoustic concerts and hear how high frequencies really sound...). But if you're a fan of classical music or jazz like I am, then the Harbeths may just be your ticket to audiophile nirvana. By the way, my Harbeths are currently being powered by a Yamaha mass market receiver. Don't be fooled into believing you have to spend thousands of dollars on high-end amplifiers, pre-amps, cables, etc. to achieve this level of sound quality. Speakers are by far the weakest link in the audio chain. Buying the best speakers you can afford will always give you the best bang for your buck.

coherence timbral accuracy midrange resolution musicality value easy to drive

not very pretty to look at lack of deep bass

This review is long overdue. Having unsuccessfully completed a fairly exhaustive search to replace my Compact 7's, I figure now is a good time to write about the virtures of this wonderful loudspeaker. For once, all that you have read about a product is true. Beyond all of the typical audiophile jargon is an essential musicality and rightness that consistently draws the listener into the music. Other speakers may go deeper, provide greater detail, more pinpoint imaging, etc. but none in my experience get the whole package so right. And I have listened to (or owned) many products costing up to five times as much. The Compact 7 has a midrange neutrality that is astonishing. Each recording is revealed as it was cut in the studio. I'm not talking about clinical precision here but rather harmonic rightness and overall coherence that brings living breathing performers to life in your listening room. The 8" Radial driver is both perfectly neutral and highly resolving. Midrange detail is the absolute best I have heard but with no edge or hardness. Just play one of your favorite female vocal tracks and you are cooked. I could go on and on about the midrange quality of this speaker, but I would simply invite you to go have a listen for yourself. This is a very open sounding loudspeaker. As such it does not present images that are highly specific but rather somewhat diffuse within the soundstage. This is not to say that these speakers, despite their appearance (fairly large, wide baffle etc) do not image well. They most certainly do, with a laid back presentation that will have you listening for hours at a time. The flexible cabinet that breathes with the music would seem to go against most thinking on cabinet construction but it works. Everything appears from the front of the speakers rearward, rather than excessive detail dumped in your lap. There is a slight warmth to the presentation, particularly in the midbass, but not the typical bump found in other British monitors. The bass is the most tuneful I have encountered. Bass lines are gloriously portrayed with astonishing timbral accuracy. Rated at 48hz -3db the bass does not go very deep--though I feel in room response to be closer to 40hz depending on the room. Large rooms like mine will require a subwoofer to get full range response with weight and authority. I'm using a Rel Stadium which matches up wonderfully. The treble response is extraordinary as well. I was intially skeptical about the aluminium dome tweeter but do not be alarmed. It is smooth and, like the rest of the frequency spectrum, remarkably accurate. If anything, this tweeter is more laid back than most, never getting hot unless it's on the recording. Cymbals have just the right metallic shimmer and decay. Strings are sweet and airy. These speakers are great for all types of music. They have superior dynamics and a nearly electrostatic speed--in fact the first time I heard them my initial impression (which I retain) is that they had the speed and neutrality of electrostatics with the punch of dynamic speakers. As such they can rock (particularly with the sub). However, jazz and classical, particularly chamber music are rendered extraordinarily well. Just listen to a good tenor sax recording, it will blow your mind. The Harbeth's are easy to setup and drive. The front porting allows fairly close placement to the rear wall. I run them about 2 feet out with 3 1/2 feet to the side walls. I've achieve similar results with less and in a 11 X 11 room although my present 26 X 13 room is better sounding yet requires the sub. The Naim gear is a great match (only 35wpc), and many folks over in the UK claim that this is one of the best combos going for the Harbeth line. What more to say? I was reluctant to replace these but my wife wanted to get a better looking floorstanding setup. I looked and listened to a number of products (and I've owned a bunch in the past too). Nothing was able to involve me in the music the way the Compact 7's do. When I took my wife to hear the best thing I found, she wholeheartedly agreed to ignore the stands and keep the Harbeths. If you're in it for the gear, perhaps these are not the speakers for you. They are rather drab looking and will not impress your friends. However, if the gear is just a means to an ends--enjoying music, then I wholeheartedly recommend this product. At current pricing, they simply cannot be touched. Add a good sub for $3000 and you will have a setup to last you a lifetime. One final thought--as always, good stands are a must. I had some custom made by Target. At 19'' they seem the right height. Sound Anchor also will do a nice stand for the Compact 7's.

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Solid clean bass, excellent midrange and treble with good soundstaging particularly depth in my room. The speaker also has excellent dynamics and at times can almost lift you out of your chair when music goes from ppp to fff.

Ultimately the speakers doesn't do deep bass which will be a negative for pipe organ and electronic music lovers

This review is for the Harbeth Super HL-5 This is next to the Monitor 40 the largest consumer speaker that Harbeth makes. It is approx. 24 x 13 x12 inches. It features the Harbeth Radial 200mm mid/bass driver used in the 7se as well as the Monitor 30 and 40. It also has an SEAS 25mm tweeter and a 20mm supertweeter. I have used these speakers for a wide variety of music and have found them to be very good with all types. On pop/rock music the speakers exhibit punchy bass and are excellent on vocal reproduction. Female vocalists such as Stevie Nicks, Emmylou Harris, Karen Carpenter, Patricia Barber et al sound quite marvelous. Male vocalists are also outstanding from Frankie Laine to John Fogerty to Tom Petty etc., these speakers do a terrific job on hard rock as well as pop, and also jazz and blues. Acoustic music in particular is very well handled. In the area of classical music i have found these speakers to be outstanding. Whether you listen to vocal, choral, chamber, or big orchestra they are outstanding. Even the big scores of Bruckner, Mahler and Strauss are thrillingly reproduced. Percussion instruments such as triangle, harp, and piano are outstanding. I positively loved listening to piano concertos from Mozart to Prokofiev. Timpani and other drums are thrillingly reproduced. Timpani hits at time were like gunshots, very visceral in their impact. Audiophile recordings from labels such as Mercury, Early RCA, Reference Recorings, Telarc et al are generally outstanding. Even Columbia recordings from the 50's and 60's featuring Bruno Walter in particular were astounding. I had never heard the brass instruments in particular on these recordings so well reproduced. Cellos and Double Basses are often shortchanged by speakers but not by the Harbeths. Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert symphonies are reproduced with power due to the excellent reproduction of the bass stringed instruments. The speakers have excellent bass down to the 40-45hz area. I also use the speakers as the main speakers in my home theater as my system does double duty. Here the speakers are also excellent. Dialogue reproduction is so good that i stopped using a center channel. The speakers have a wide enought horizontal spread that a center channel wasn't needed. The speakers are able to handle all kinds of movies even the big sound blockbusters such as Lord of the Rings Movies, Star Wars, Blackhawk Down et. al w/o any problems. A subwoofer comes in handy at times for these but i believe most people would be quite happy w/o one as the bass that is there has good volume. The speakers also are excellent at reproducing movie music soundtracks. One thing i noticed with the speakers was that a lot of cd's i have that are to bright with other speakers were made more listenable with these speakers. The speakers have a warm sound which may help some of these cd's and i wouldn't doubt having two tweeters may also have an impact. The warm sound doesn't mean however that the speakers are weak on detail. Quite the contrary they are excellent in this regard. At times they drove me nuts with sounds on classical recordings in particular where i could hear a lot more of chair scraping, music stand hitting, conductors humming, etc. etc. I also must point out the speakers have excellent dynamics. In Mahler symphonies for instance when you go from silence to kapow such as the transition from the 3rd to 4th movement in the first symphony, it almost knocked me out of my chair(Boult-LPO Everest) Timpani rolls such as in Tchaikovsky;s Romeo and Juliette have terrific visceral impact. They go from nothing to very loud with little compression if you have enough amplifier power and is quite thrilling.

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My ancillary equipment includes a denon 3802 receiver, Perreaulx ed player, sony dvd player, McIntosh Laser Disc player and Nakamichi cassette deck. Speakers include Allison 9's and 6's, Klipsch Forte II's and Blueroom minipods.