Location: Torquay, Devon.
Posts: 5,684
I'm Shane.
in fact my friend who just got his , is not too far away in plymouth !
ou might slip, you might slide, you might
Stumble and fall by the road side
But don't you ever let nobody drag your spirit down
Remember you're walking up to heaven
Don't let nobody turn you around
… Walk with the rich, walk with the poor
Learn from everyone, that's what life is for
And don't you let nobody drag your spirit down
Eric Bibb
Location: gone
Posts: 11,519
I'm gone.
Excellent speaker - a friend of mine had a pair and then "upgraded" to larger Harbeths.
imho, the P3ESR is the best sounding Harbeth speaker - and I've heard quite a few including the biggies.
Imaging - OMG, the imaging. Stunning.
Capable of surprisingly deep and controlled bass, as well.
They are the only Harbeths I have heard that I would probably be happy to live with for a while.
.
Location: Middlesex, UK
Posts: 4,482
I'm Alex.
A friend has these and 15 Ohm RAM LS3/5a's, he's trying to decide which he prefers, initially it was the Harbeths, now he's favouring the Rams. From what he says, the Rams are a bit livelier.
Spendorman
Location: gone away
Posts: 4,870
I'm joe.
Location: gone
Posts: 11,519
I'm gone.
It's the 'liveliness' that strikes the death knell for me for almost all Harbeths. Or rather, the lack of it.
The P3ESR seem to suffer least from this, to my ear; maybe it's the relative lack of deep bass giving an overall better balanced presentation.
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The original AE1 could be one hell of an earful in a not good way when fed with source and equipment it didn't agree with.
Conversely it could sound fabulous when everything lined up, so to speak.
Very different to a Harbeth type sound. Very capable of sounding harsh with metal driver colouration. But still fantastic at times. And it just looked awesome, I thought.
Location: gone
Posts: 11,519
I'm gone.
Good point, Justin.
I had neglected the AE1 comparison.
I owned a pair for a while.
Utterly, totally different to any Harbeth.
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AE1's have the usual tin-can metal-cone bass issues and these can be masked with a really well matched system in my experience. P3ESR's *should* be rather clearer as they lack this lower top 'hash.'
The thing about most Harbeths is that they're designed to be well away from walls and floors if at all possible. Failure to do this can result in boomy bass which masques the mids and delightful hf, the latter in the P3ESR excelling on brushed cymbals for example.
Shane, it's VERY easy to get Harbeths to sound lack-lustre and bland, but good supplying UK dealers, of which there are a few now up and down the UK, usually make good recommendations as to suitable equipment with the right subjective spec for the job. It's when these speakers enter the used market that problems occur as all manner of crap can e used with them with equally crap end results, the speakers often getting the blame for reproducing faults further back - and this isn't just Harbeths either!!!!!
Tear down these walls; Cut the ties that held me
Crying out at the top of my voice; Tell me now if you can hear me
Location: gone away
Posts: 4,870
I'm joe.
My own non-expert tips: as DSJR says, keep them away from walls, and put them on stands that get the tweeters to ear height (I tried them on shelves at first but they work much better on stands). I use mine with an Exposure pre/power combo, but in my limited experience they aren't too fussy about accompanying equipment. Alan Shaw, the boss of Harbeth, is notoriously sceptical about amplifier differences.