Harbeth P3ESR or C7ES3

[igor_xxx]

First of all my name is Igor, I'm from Macedonia and I'd like to say Hi to everyone on the HUG and say that this is the first time to see such a great community and honest answers from the manufacturer(s) regarding their products.

Now my problem,

I've been searching high quallity speakers for my small room (3.5 x 3.5 meters) and nothing in my price range, I dont know how to explain this sounded "right" to me.That was until one day I had the chance to listen the P3ESR at a friends house and this was a magical moment, I forget everything and just enjoyed the music.

From that moment I knew Harbeth is the way to go for me, but here is the problem.In my country there is no dealer and I'll have to travel 400-500km to another country where the nearest dealer is.

I have the budget for the P3ESR and could possibly strech it for the C7ES3 (that means 2-3 months from now I'll have the money to buy the C7ES3) if this is the better choice.I dont mind waiting since this purchase will be for a long time enjoyment (7-8 years minimum).

I should add that my music preferences are great vocals (most important), jazz, acoustics, blues, some times soft rock and instrumental.

I listen at moderate levels but like to crank up the sound some times.

Finally the room as I mentioned above is on the small side 3.5m x 3.5m but there is a lott of stuff bed, sofa, wardrobe, chairs, and behind the listening position there is a heavy curtain from the floor to the roof of my room which strech for nearly 2.5meters.

I should add that I cant listen to the c7es3, I got lucky that I had the oportunity to listen the P3ESR and I fell in love with it :).

So whats your opinions on these 2 speakers with all things considered from above?

Oh, I almost forgot, Mr.Shaw you really make one of the best sounding speakers and also verry reasonable priced (well they are expensive but for what you pay you get a lott more).

Greatings

[Art K]

Welcome. Can't lose with either speaker obviously. I am in a similar sized room, with similar musical preferences as yours and I find the P3ESR's to be more than enough. Surprising bass and a rich full sound. I may have bought the 7's if I had the money but I don't feel that I am lacking anything at all. They are the most wonderful speakers I've ever owned.

One of my favorite coworkers, Vesna Cogurik is from Macedonia. She is teaching us much about your country.

[Drdennis]

Igor,

If bass is important and you can be 1 1/2-2 meters away from the speakers go with the Compact 7ES3. Otherwise, the P3ESR would be the better choice.

[BAS-H]

Hello Igor. Welcome to HUG.

Do you have neighbours the other side of any wall? This would push my decision towards P3ESRs. I have neighbours the other side of a thin wall and enjoy music all the more for the knowledge that my little speakers do not disturb them. Hence my decision to go with P3ES2s (predecessor to P3ESRs).

I'm delighted with the ES2s. I hear the ESRs are better still.

Best regards, Ben

[igor_xxx]

Well thanks for all of your suggestions,

Art K:

It's good to hear that the P3ESR is a very capable little speaker, and I must say you surprised me that you know about my country, most of the people in the forums have never heard the name.

Drdennis:

Bass is not important at all, all I need is a tight and controled, well defined.My listening position is 1.5meters from the speakers since I sit on the sofa and very often I sit in front of my PC doing some work while listening to music.

I dont have neighbours since I live in a house and loud music is not a problem, actually my preference is moderate levels.

From your opinions I see that for my room and the things I need maybe the P3ESR is the best choice, since none of you said that the sound quality of the C7 is better, only that it's better for a bigger room or maybe louder music?

Is this correct or am I missing something here?

thanks

[ryder]

Igor, for your perfect square room I would think the P3ESR is a more suitable candidate than the C7ES3. Easier to place in the room with less problems.

Another point to note is some SHL5 and 40.1 users bought the P3ESR to be used in a 2nd system. A friend of mine who is a 40.1 user got the P3ESR for his bedroom system. If I consider setting up a 2nd system (in due time) it would be the P3ESR. The P3ESR is truly a gem that will last you a life time.

[igor_xxx]

Thanks for the info ryder,

I'm starting to develop the same opinion as yours about the P3ESR that this could really be a little gem, after all Mr.Shaw himself said that this is a product of 4 years of hard work and maybe will be wiser to add the money intended for the C7ES3 in the budget for a good stereo amp.

Also I can get the P3ESR for a very good price since I'll buy from another country and will get Tax Return and at top of everything they will be Rosewood SE.I know that Special Edition doesn't mean better product but somehow it gives a little better feeling in the mind :) especially for the same price.

Another thing, how would you compare the metal tweeter on the C7ES3 or even P3ESR with let's say the Excel in the M30 is it refined enough? There is a little option even if I go for the C7ES3 that for very little money to get the M30 (overal how is the M30 compared to the others) and thats why I'm asking this last question because maybe in the near future (3-4 years) I'll have a bigger place for my audio enjoyment.

Greetings

{Moderator's comment: General point - buying outside your country ...... Buying from another country (unless there is definitely no Harbeth official importer in your county) than yours is both against the spirit of the Harbeth organisation and voids your Warranty. If you do not have an official Harbeth importer in your country and you do buy from an adjacent country please get a written document that says the seller will personally promise to give you after care warranty. Normally, out-of-territory sales result in a cancelled Warranty.}

[EricW]

Igor:

After going through the same mental merry-go-round as you, I've decided to stick with my P3ESRs for now. The primary reason being that I live in a condominium building and I'm concerned about a speaker that might generate too much bass, which travels through walls much more easily than higher frequencies. The sound quality is superb throughout the Harbeth range so I wouldn't be too concerned about significant differences between models, aside from bass and overall loudness capability. But in a room as small as yours (same as my listening room), I don't think you will have any trouble filling it with the P3ESR.

For the same reason, I wouldn't focus too much on the M30 tweeter. Yes, it's excellent, but you don't listen to just a tweeter, you listen to an entire speaker. I've compared the M30 and the Compact 7 ES-3 and there are aspects of both that I like, without a clear favourite between the two. But unless you decide that the P3ESR is not enough, that's not a decision you need to worry about.

[igor_xxx]

The thing is that there is no official importer in Macedonia for Harbeth, I'll be alot more happy if I can go and audition the speakers here to buy them but since there isn't I have to go in another country or buy second hand but then again these are very rare speakers and I like to buy knew stuff and support the manufacturer.

Thanks for the advice on the warranty I'll sort that with them when the day comes for the purchase.

{Moderator's comment: General point - buying outside your country ...... Buying from another country (unless there is definitely no Harbeth official importer in your county) than yours is both against the spirit of the Harbeth organisation and voids your Warranty. If you do not have an official Harbeth importer in your country and you do buy from an adjacent country please get a written document that says the seller will personally promise to give you after care warranty. Normally, out-of-territory sales result in a cancelled Warranty.}

I see your point EricW and I think thats the right way to go with the P3ESR.I really dont need high SPL (well some times most when I watch movies but thats not that important).I ask these questions because I dont know if the sound is a lot different between differrent models or all I need to know is that Radial2+Harbeth is a win-win situation and all that is there is to choose the size of the speaker for the room.In my case P3ESR.

I really start to think this sholud be my choice.

[singslingr]

Hello Igor, I'm another satisfied P3ESR owner and would fully recommend it. It is a very good loudspeaker, even for medium-sized rooms.

Just curious - what amplifier are you using?

[igor_xxx]

thanks for the info singslingr, I must be honest and say that the first time when I saw the P3ESR I didn't think at all that this speaker can manage to give big sound and scale without sounding like everything is compressed.

this is my first upgrade, the amp and source will follow soon, for now I have the Panasonic SA-HE75 Avr but I want good stereo amp.The listening was with a Naim 5i and I liked it a lott.

I really wish I could listen the M30 and C7 and form an opinion about them since the purchase will be blind, I'll have to order them unheard.

[singslingr]

thanks for the info singslingr, I must be honest and say that the first time when I saw the P3ESR I didn't think at all that this speaker can manage to give big sound and scale without sounding like everything is compressed.

this is my first upgrade, the amp and source will follow soon, for now I have the Panasonic SA-HE75 Avr but I want good stereo amp.The listening was with a Naim 5i and I liked it a lott.

I really wish I could listen the M30 and C7 and form an opinion about them since the purchase will be blind, I'll have to order them unheard.

Hello Igor,

Sorry I'm not familiar with your amp but I use the P3ESR mainly with Naim amplifiers so I can highly recommend the Harbeth-Naim combination - it's very musical and sounds good even at low volumes. The Nait 5i is very highly rated within the Naim range so it would be a good match.

Also, just a gentle reminder to get a decent set of stands for the Harbeths as they benefit from having good support.

Good luck and by the way - welcome to HUG!

[hifi_dave]

Igor,
They are all great speakers and you won't go wrong whichever you choose.

As for the amp - a Nait will sound far better than the AV jobbie and they go well with Harbeth speakers.

[KT88]

One more thing, Igor

Don't worry about going in blind. I bought both my pairs of Harbeth speakers (Compact 7 ES 2 and Monitor 30) without having heard them prior to purchase, and was absolutely delighted with them.

Enjoy, welcome to the HUG!

Bob LaBarca
State College, PA
USA

[igor_xxx]

Thanks for all the great info, this really is a great place to get some good advice.

I

[igor_xxx]

That was an error, the above post wasn't ready to post.

Any way I wanted to say that I'll probably go with the P3ESR because for now I really need a speaker that can sound great at a moderate level in a very small room and later if I feel the need for bigger sound when I'll have another bigger place I'll look into the SHL5 or maybe even the M40.1.

Singslingr the AVR is nothing and it will be changed very soon, I want high quality stereo amp only.Thanks for the tip for the stands. Actually since we're talking about stands on another forum a read that metal stand weren't prefered with the P3ESR, something about bass response or I dont know, does anyone have opinion about this?

hifi_Dave I read your great opinions for the Harbeth range and I must say that you do have a point that these are all excellent speakers. I start to think that Harbeth is one of those great companies that unfortunate are often overlooked, well in my region thats for sure. I know for personal experience when I talked with some guys that are very into hifi when I said Harbeth they were all like...what is that? I mean here the best speakers that you can find in a shop are b&w, jbl, canton and similar brands.

KT88 you sure give me courage and how I previously liked the P3ESR I think this is the the right way to go, like I said above, first P3ESR, then something like SHL5 or M40.1 and move the P3ESR in a second system.This should be good path and also if I go for the P3ESR for 2-3months I'll have enough money to buy the Nait 5i because I see also in another forums that Naim+Harbeth seems match made in heaven.

But there is a problem if I go with the P3ESR, because the dealer doesnt have the Rosewood SE edition in stock and I'll have to wait 5-6months for it and that will be real torture in every mean of the word.

Talk about bad luck :)

{Moderators comment: we will have some truly great news from Japan concerning the P3ESR shortly.}

[igor_xxx]

{Moderators comment: we will have some truly great news from Japan concerning the P3ESR shortly.}

Now you've got me thinking :)

Thanks for the info and I'll wait for the great news !!

[Art K]

I wanted Eucalyptus and would have had to wait...Cherry is very nice, Igor.

[igor_xxx]

Today I spoke with the dealer and they have the Rosewood finish in stock, the 5-6months wait actually was for the Rosewood SE edition. Now that's a dilema, buy the "ordinary" (I know there isn't ordinary Harbeth) or wait maybe 6months for SE edition to be made and delivered.

Honestly there is no way for me to hear differences between the 2 models, when I had the audiotion I didn't even know that there was a Special Edition and thought that the speakers sound astonishing.

I just wanted to HAVE :) the SE edition just for that little feeling that is Special edition.

:)

{Moderator's comment: buy the standard edition and you can enjoy music today at today's price. Price increases on 1 Jan 2011.}

[igor_xxx]

{Moderator's comment: buy the standard edition and you can enjoy music today at today's price. Price increases on 1 Jan 2011.}

That will be the best thing to do, I need to stop torturing myself and just start enjoying music with this great speakers.

Just one quick question, if you cant answer me thats OK, can you give or take tell me how much will the price for the P3ESR in Rosewood will increase, because I'll have to buy the speakers after New Year since thats the time when I get bonus at work.

{Moderator's comment: the UK price will increase by about 6% but we can't say how much the price will increase overseas because too many factors oustdie our control.}