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.

Radial [proprietary] driver delivers unsurpassed performance with negligable speaker coloration of vocals and string tone. Perfect cabinets with craftsmanship second to none.

Zero, unless you need frequency response lower than 50 Hz, (and you should get a sub, anyway.)

I left a review some two years ago here, and after all that time and a few system upgrades, I remain convinced in this speaker's remarkable abilities. I never have the feeling that I need to look at the Compact 7ES-II as a source of weakness to upgrade. They remain as enjoyable as the day I first heard them. I cannot recommend anything more than this speaker; first class sound and craftsmanship. The real deal. If you are serious about music, (i.e. to come home from a concert and not be disappointed by your system's reproduction in comparison,) you would be well served by considering something from the Harbeth stable, large or small. The professional studio guys already do. System as of 8-11-2003: Harbeth Compact 7ES-II M&K MX 700 subwoofer Carver A-760x amp Z-Systems rpd-1 digital pre/equalizer NAD C 160 pre Magnum Dynalab FT-11 tuner Bel Canto DAC1 Pioneer DV-434 Alpha Core Goertz MI 2 Veracity cable

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Spendor SP1/5, JM Reynaud Arpeggiones, PE Leon Prima, Paradigm Atom, PSB 400/300i/AV/Mite

Clean bass, natural midrange and smooth extended highs. Low coloration, with excellent soundstaging.

For this price NONE.

I have owned the Harbeth Compact 7SE’s for a year now, and I find myself liking them more each time I listen to them. There are other speakers, which will play louder, go lower and cost more than the Harbeths, but for overall uncompromising delivery of the musical event these speakers are hard to beat. They are equally good with all types of music be it jazz, pop, classical or opera. They do not add to or detract from the sound of the original performance, thanks in great part to the 'Radial' midrange/woofer. This speaker really gives a very transparent view into the music with very low coloration. No speaker is completely neutral, but this comes about as close as any speaker I have encountered. They are equally good on all types of music from a large Mahler symphony to the intricate fingerings of a flamingo guitar to the intimate voice of Patricia Barber to a large scale choral work. They do it all with no preferences or shortcomings. Before I purchased these speakers I was a little concerned, about the metallic dome tweeter, however, this concern has proven to have no merit as these tweeters have provided a very revealing and extended high end with no traits of shrillness or harshness what-so-ever, just smooth extended highs. No, it will not do the bottom extremes, but what it does; it does with complete clarity and control, with no mushy or smeary base. As a result of this clarity, the listener gets the impression that the speaker is really going deeper than it probably is. I have owned numerous speaker systems, over the years. All of them played all of the notes, one or two of them even played all the notes with inner detail, but the Compact 7ES is the only one to play all the notes with detail and emotion. This emotion translates those notes into beautiful music, and beautiful music is what these speakers are all about. Every CD and LP played is like hearing them for the very first time. While you may be familiar with the music, the inner detail and emotion with which it is presented is like a new experience. Another strong point about these speakers, to me, is that they reveal more about the acoustics of the concert hall, theatre, jazz club etc. in which the recording was made, than any other speaker I have had the pleasure of listening to. The reverberation of the recording site is magnificently captured, adding a tremendous sense of being to the sound. I am using an Audio Research SP15 pre-amp along with the AR D-130 (solid state) power amp with the Harbeths but I really believe that they would perform well with either SS or tube amps provided your amp has sufficient power. They will sound more authoritative with a little more power from your amps. Are there better speakers? I’m sure there are, however it would be impossible for me to ever hear all the good ones so I can only relate to the ones I have heard, and summing up my assessment of these speakers they are a very beautiful, musical speaker, which does its job and does it well. They are definitely a music lovers’ speaker, a speaker which tells it like it is, with very little in the way of coloration or very little in the way of derogation. Just beautiful music through and through.

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Spendor 1/2, Vandersteens, Spendor BC1,Thiel 1.5's and Sound Dynamics RTS-3's.

Smooth highs, midrange to die for, natural bass. Very natural sounding. Despite size, works very well in small rooms. Excellent in mid-size rooms.

heard them in a very large room once and they were a little too laid back

First time I heard these speakers (playing a female vocal track) my jaw dropped and I knew immediately I had to have them. The midrange is world-class, regardless of price. Highs are very smooth but still extended. Imaging is among the best I've heard. The speakers just disappear. Bass is very natural sounding and more than sufficient for me, but those who like really fast tight bass (the kind generated by electronic synthesizers) might want more impact. I suffer from occasional tinnitus and most speakers I've heard aggravates it to the point where I have to stop listening. But these speakers do not aggravate my ears and I can listen for hours with no problems. They're keepers. I've never once second-guessed my decision to purchase them.

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3a MM, Wharfedale Diamond 8.1 Also auditioned various Totem, Triangle and Proac bookshelfs/standmounts

Vocal, imaging and natural bass. Quite easy to drive. I use Jadis DA-5 with quite good results.

Highs still a bit dry compare to other speakers especially those using silk dome tweeter. But other than that, performance is superb and captivating

At first, i thought these speaker is only good at imaging. After i roll the tube in my preamp, i notice that it can sound very rich like the LS3/5A in midrange also. The bass is very relaxing and not overly slow. No fatigue at all. Highly recommended!

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Dyanudio confidence 3. Proac R1SC. KEF 1s/35A

None.

Wow. This is a great speaker. It offers so much detail, yet is so laid back. It's just a joy to spend hours rediscovering music that I had forgotten about. It's very versatile as well, delivering great performance on everything from La Boheme to London Calling. Quite a product.

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B&W, Spendor, Atlantic Technology (Home Theatre)

Realistic vocal reproducer. This speaker is a musical instrument.

None.

This speaker is amazing. It has the clarity, timing and midrange that will definitely bring musical happiness to any listeners. Its vocal reproduction is second to none that I have ever heard of. Highly recommended.

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LST Audio Lab, Tannoy R2

Almost every aspect of the Harbeths is a strength: highs, mids, dynamics, accuracy and detail, speed, transparency, and aesthetics.

The only weakness that I can think of is not a weakness of Harbeth Compact 7's but of standmounts in general, a lackluster bass range. This is easily remedied with Sound Anchor stands, though.

My system includes Harbeth Compact 7's mounted on Sound Anchor stands with Blu Tak, a Project turntable with Sumiko cartridge, NAD phono amp, Music Hall MMF-CD 25 upsampling cdp, Sony SCD-775 SACDp, Audio Research LS2bMII preamp, and a Krell KAV-250 amp. I primarily listen to classical and some alternative/rock, nothing really heavy. I was originally a "married for life" Spendor fan who alternated among the SP 1/2E's, BC-1's, and S3/5's depending on my mood. I thought if I were to ever buy another speaker, it would be a bigger Spendor, maybe the S8 or S9 until I read the reviews by Bob Neill and Robert Greene of Harbeth Monitor 40's and Compact 7's. Both use the Monitor 40's as their reference speakers and applauded Harbeth's tonal accuracy and balance. This aggravated that already annoying upgrade bug of mine enough to get me to purchase a used pair off of the internet. Finding a used pair is a task in itself since most people are not apt to part with them, and I understan why. Once I got them hooked up and situated in my tiny 8X10 room the Harbeth's delivered sound that was balanced, detailed, slightly forward, and clear. The Compact 7's ran the gamut of sounds with ease and delivered on clarity. I could hear the bows rattle and tap the wooden frames of the cellos and basses; I could hear pings and whistles from crowd noise on my Best of Unplugged cd; the music just came forward toward me. They are the most accurate speaker I have ever heard. Whereas the Spendors were warm and softened, slightly honeyed, the Harbeths presented much better and more realistic detail. Harbeths apparently like the more juice you feed them so I would suggest using solid state amps instead of tubes. The bigger the amp the greater the soundstage they provide. This speaker is not necessarily for everyone. If you want the most accurate speaker out there for under $5000, go for it. If you are looking for something more musical and less transparent, I suggest Spendor or Sonus Faber. My tastes incline to accuracy so I have found my last speaker. *Interesting notes: 1. Every reviewer of Harbeth to date has bought a pair. 2. Alan Shaw demonstrates Harbeths by playing his recorded voice through them and speaking after it. 3. They were designed with his daughters voice as a reference.

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JM Lab Chorus 725, Spendor SP 1/2, BC 1, S3/5, and SP 2/3, Boston Acoustic VR950, B&W N 805 and 804, Paradigm Studio 100's, and PSB Stratus Gold.

The emotion, transparency, clarity and inner detail of the music. Build quality is very good.

None at this price point.

I have owned these wonderful speakers for a month now, and I find myself liking them more each time I listen to them. There are numerous reviews on this speaker and (save one) they are very complimentary and say, very eloquently, what the owners think of them, so rather than duplicate what these owners have already written I am just going to make two short observations. I have owned numerous speaker systems, over the years. All of them played all of the notes, one or two of them even played all the notes with inner detail, but the Compact 7ES is the only one to play all the notes with detail and emotion. This emotion translates those notes into beautiful music, and beautiful music is what these speakers are about. Every CD and LP played is like hearing it for the first time. While you may be familiar with the music, the inner detail and emotion with which it is presented is like a new experience. The second comment I am going to make about these speakers is that they reveal more about the acoustics of the concert hall, theatre, jazz club etc. in which the recording was made, than any other speaker I have had the pleasure of listening to. I purchased these speakers from Winter Tree Audio and I would be less than fair if I did not state that Garnet Lewis is a real GEM. His honesty, integrity, understanding and sincerity before, during and after the sale was a very pleasant experience all around. Five stars in every way.

I wish there were an edit feature. I meant to say the market doesnt support accuracy in loudspeakers. Speakers that call attention to themselves are easier to sell.