How many Harbeths do you own?

[A.S.]

This thread invites users with more than one pair of Harbeth speakers to tell us what they own, which rooms they are in, and their experiences.

[yslee]

Greetings,

I've 3 pairs.
1st pair - C7ES3 in main music room (11'W x 19'L x 9'H)
2nd pair - SHL5 in my living room. (17'W x 19'L x 10'H)
3rd pair - P3ES2 in my small home office/study room (9.5'W x 15'L x 9'H)

I was listening to SHL5 for 2 years in my main music room before decided to get both the C7ES3 and P3ES2 at the beginning of this year.

All 3 pairs sound great and allow me to enjoy my music (mainly classical and opera) in my main music room. But my current preference/favourite is the C7ES3 as my main music listening speaker.

Best regards,
Y.S.Lee

[matthewz]

Dear fellow Harbeth-owners,

My Compact 7 (the first ed.) has been serving me years of wonderful sound reproduction.... and Yes, one pair of Harbeth just can fulfill my hi-fi needs. =)

Cheers,

J.L.

[Hu]

Boss and fellow Harbeth-owners,

Soon my M30 of 30 anniversary edition will arrive, so I own two pairs of M30s.

Cheers.

H

[shseto]

Our family have 2 pairs of Harbeth at the moment.

A pair of HL-Compact from the very early 90s in my Dad's living room

A paif of Compact C7ES-3 in my living room

No plan to buy or sell any in the near future expect for upgrading to SHL5 when living condition allow (ie. have more space) or when Alan announces that he is not making speakers any more, then i surely will have to stock a pair or two SHL5, wonderful speakers for great music, that I wouldn't want to part with for the rest of my life.

[tinears02]

2 pairs of P3s - one in my dad's living room and one in mine,
the former in teak veneer and the latter in walnut. Been listening
to these for > 15 years.

yslee - what are your comments on the difference between the SHL5 and
C7ES3 ? Why did you swap them in your main listening room?
Apologies if this is sligthly off topic, I did not want to move this thread.

cheers
yh

[KT88]

An embarassment of riches, I must admit, as I own two Models. My first pair is a 25th Anniversary Edition of the Compact 7 ES 2's, in the lovely and rare maple finish, mounted on Epos 12 20" open frame stands. These are in a fixed installation with vintage conrad- johnson tubes up front (PV 10A pre amp, MV 75 A1 amp) and also a rather rare GSI modified Dynaco Stereo 70. It uses the now defunct 8417 power tube and is wired for 28 WPC, push-pull triode. This is the best sounding amp in my house, including a pair of Quicksilver Audio V4 monos-now that's saying something. Sources are a Califronia Audio Lab CD player and a Project 1 X-Pression turntable, Sumiko Blue Point Special cartridge.

I recently aquired my second pair, a 30th Anniversary Edition of the Monitor 30. These are in rosenut, and sit on Foundation 24" open frame stands. I am a professional musician and use these in a variety of systems and settings, often to listen critically to recordings of my own work. I love the portability of these speakers and their utterly neutral and transparent sound. Sometimes they reside in the basement with vintage NAD gear in front, including an original 3020 amp which still sounds quite good, nearly 29 years after I originally purchased it. When I really want to hear it all, I'll park them in front of the Magneplanar MG III A's in my main rig upstairs. Here they are fed by a VPI HW 19 Mk 4, a Well Tempered Arm/Grado Reference Sonata, Njoe Tjoeb CD player, Audible Illusions Modulus 3 A pre-amp and the Quicksilver V 4's. The Excel Tweeter in the 30's rivals the ribbon in the Magneplanars, and overall, I don't have a preference between these two speakers-the 30's are that good!

Going from the Compact 7's to the Monitor 30's is like moving from Row K to Row C in the same concert hall-same overall sound, but with a different perspective. Each is equally addictive in its own way.

Alan, many thanks and blessings to you and your entire staff for bringing music to life in my home and providing me with a tool for critical evaluation!

Regards!

Bob LaBarca
State College, PA
USA