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Thread: Harbeth P3ESR

  1. #11
    Join Date: Aug 2010

    Location: Torquay, Devon.

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    I'm Shane.

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    Quote Originally Posted by hifinutt View Post
    its a good price but they are not rare . at least 6-7 pairs of second hand market in past 6 months . they are easy to sell and beautiful sounding . friend of mine just got a pair and very happy with them

    Exactly! They're fairly easy to source.

    S.

  2. #12
    Join Date: Sep 2009

    Location: west mids, UK

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    I'm Phil.

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    in fact my friend who just got his , is not too far away in plymouth !
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    And don't you let nobody drag your spirit down

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  3. #13
    Join Date: Jan 2008

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    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.
    .

  4. #14
    Join Date: Feb 2008

    Location: Middlesex, UK

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    I'm Alex.

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    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

  5. #15
    Join Date: May 2009

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    Quote Originally Posted by spendorman View Post
    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.
    I'm so happy with my Harbeths, I've never thought of comparing them with anything else. They certainly don't seem lacking in liveliness.

  6. #16
    Join Date: Jan 2008

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    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.
    .

  7. #17
    Join Date: Jan 2013

    Location: Bristol

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    I'm Justin.

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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.

  8. #18
    Join Date: Jan 2008

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    Good point, Justin.
    I had neglected the AE1 comparison.
    I owned a pair for a while.
    Utterly, totally different to any Harbeth.
    .

  9. #19
    Join Date: May 2008

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    I'm David.

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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!!!!!
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  10. #20
    Join Date: May 2009

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    Quote Originally Posted by DSJR View Post
    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!!!!!
    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.

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