Harbeth SHL5 specific

[A.S.]

We are now investigating this situation. After discussion here we think we can synthesise the mark you have on your cabinet. We going to experiment and report later.

Members here should appreciate that whilst they have a direct channel to me through the Harbeth User Group, as a matter of contract law and courtesy, your first point of contact is with your local supplier. He or she is capable of resolving almost every issue and concern. All Harbeth dealers strive for happy repeat customers. Discussing any matter or concerns with your dealers first will definitely speed-up the resolution.

[A.S.]

We have considered how the marks could have appeared on your cherry cabinet. You have mentioned (private email) that the cartons were not sealed when you bought the speakers. This is an important point because cherry veneer is very sensitive to light: the veneer will darken after even just a few hours of exposure to light. For this reason, when we receive cherry veneer cabinets from the cabinet maker they are protected by black cling-film. During production, we take care to cover-up cherry to prevent them being exposed to daylight or factory strip lighting.

The very last stage of production is to place the speaker in a clear polythene bag, and then for us to seal the bag with sticky Harbeth tape. Then the sealed bag is placed inside the carton. Normally, the customer would open the carton, lift out the speaker in its polythene bag, completely remove the bag and then inspect the speaker and connect it ready to play. We think that what must have happened in this case is that the polythene bag was partially opened, and rolled down. Daylight or electric light would have passed through the polythene, but not through the end of the sticky tape. Hence, under the tape no sunlight hit the veneer which has remained the original lighter colour. The attached photo suggest how this may have happened.

If this is indeed the situation, then over the months the lighter patch will naturally darken and 'catch-up' with other now darker veneer. We believe that this is the most likely explanation.

>

[ic3m4n]

Dear all,

I will be receiving my SHL5 soon (a week or less). I have read from this user-group about custom-building the stand and have seen some great ideas already. I would like to ask, however, how I can put the spikes or what spikes I can buy to put under the stand as I have carpet flooring.

Hopefully I'll have the stand ready before my SHL5 arrives. Any suggestions is much appreciated. Btw, I'm from Sydney.

[midwoofer]

Alan,

As you know my listening room is the basement, so there is no sunlight. What should I do? move the speaker to a sunlight exposed place for a few days?

From your explanation, I understand that the mark hasn?t appeared at factory production, hence the boxes has been unsealed and the cabinets exposed to the light an indefinited period, before I received them. Please, correct me if I?m wrong.

The question now is why they has been sold as factory sealed, as the dealer told me.

[A.S.]

Yes, I think if you put them in the shade (not full sunlight) they will slowly level out to the same colour. That assumes that I am correct and the mark is indeed light related and not something latent in the veneer or a mark created in some other way. But of course, this mark will not effect the sound.

Factory sealed cartons? Factory sealed means factory sealed. It does not mean opened then re-sealed by another person outside the factory. There can be no ambiguity about whether factory sealed or not. How do we seal the carton before it leaves the factor?

1) First we staple the carton bottom.
2) Then we turn over, slide in the speaker with top/bottom packing caps
3) Then we staple the top flaps
4) Then we run the Harbeth security sealing tape around the entire carton along the flap joints
5) The we put the "made by" signed sticker across the security tape signed by the very last person to hand and pack the speaker who is ultimately responsible for the condition of the speakers

So, if any of the staples have been removed, the security tape cut or the "made by" sticker cut then the carton is not is factory sealed condition. It's up to you to decide if the carton has been opened or not by your own examination. If you believe that the carton has been opened, the speakers still may be perfect. Sometimes the customs dept. in the receiving country open the cartons (UK Customs do not, as the speakers are being exported). Sometimes the receiving dealer wants to check the contents. Sometimes the customer is a little picky and wants to select a particular veneer before buying. All these things can and do happen. But legally and morally, we here at the Harbeth UK factory where the speakers were made can only warrant that the speakers were perfect when they left the factory in stapled, taped cartons.

If you are in any doubt about the condition of speakers still hidden in their cartons when you receive them, be sure to sign the delivery document "Cartons not opened", "Contents not checked", "Unexamined contents" or similar.

[tricka]

G'day mate
check your inbox - I have sent a couple contacts for speaker spikes.
Cheers
Andrew

[ic3m4n]

Thanks for your suggestions =) Please see my reply in your inbox.

[ic3m4n]

After considering the cost of building my own stand (or more accurately get a professional to do it for me) I have decided to get the skylan stand instead. Thanks to those who responded =)

[codel]

I would like to know if these binding posts accept only bananas or not.

Thanks.

[John Geisen]

Banannas, spades, or bare wire.

John

[Tjoeb]

Well, two months later now...With my new Super HL5's, these have been some of the most exciting weeks of my music-listening life. These speakers are so well-balanced and sound so natural and engaging, proving it really is possible to listen to music through a highend hifi-system, without being reminded all the time that's it's only an "electrical recreation" of the truth...
Very well done, Alan!

For those interested, here's a link to my system :
http://my.hifi.nl/index.php?user=7260

It is of course in my own language (Dutch), but I'll gladly translate if somenone would want so.
And don't be fooled by my beard, it's false!! :-)

Very pleasant to mention that despite the relatively modest price of my system, it is getting very high marks from the (mostly Dutch and Belgian) readers, facing very expensive competition(+100.000 Euro-systems). The Harbeths do have a certain appeal, I believe...

[keithwwk]

Well, two months later now...With my new Super HL5's, these have been some of the most exciting weeks of my music-listening life. These speakers are so well-balanced and sound so natural and engaging, proving it really is possible to listen to music through a highend hifi-system, without being reminded all the time that's it's only an "electrical recreation" of the truth...
Very well done, Alan!

For those interested, here's a link to my system :
http://my.hifi.nl/index.php?user=7260

It is of course in my own language (Dutch), but I'll gladly translate if somenone would want so.
And don't be fooled by my beard, it's false!! :-)

Very pleasant to mention that despite the relatively modest price of my system, it is getting very high marks from the (mostly Dutch and Belgian) readers, facing very expensive competition(+100.000 Euro-systems). The Harbeths do have a certain appeal, I believe...

welcome to world of Harbeth. I can fully understand how you feel. I had the 7 for 5 yrs plus and the 5 for 1 yr plus now..I love both very much...

Yesterday, I heard few Karajan recordings...the musics from my Harbeth touched me so much. I can smell string instuments wood body and brasses metal texture without exgressive edge and brightness. I can feel Karajan passion in each cd. His musics are not perfect..but his is great!

I am in my music paradise with Harbeth.

[davidlovel]

Dear All

Because I am wary of any 'honeymoon' effect in assessing a new hifi component, I have resisted the urge to post on this thread until now. I have had a pair of SHL5s for 15 months and I am extremely pleased with them.

I started following the Harbeth user group discussions in the period leading up to my purchase and I found a lot of useful information here that influenced my final choice. In case there is anyone else out there following the same process it may be helpful if I summarise "my route to SHL5s".

I started 33 years ago and though my musical tastes have broadened I have retained the same core (classical and jazz) so my hifi requirements have changed little i.e. transparency, accuracy and musical involvement. For my first hifi system I chose Celef MiniProfessional speakers, as I could not afford Spendor BC1s which were my favourite. While the Celefs had the more accurate bass and were very 'involving', I found their treble could become tiring on some material so 7 years later when I could afford it I replaced them with Spendor SP1s.

The SP1s were an excellent compromise - they may not have had quite the mid-range magic of the BC1s but the bass was better, if not as good as the Celefs. So 15 years later when practically everything else had been upgraded in the system I set out to see whether I could find some better speakers. My only real criticism of the SP1s was that they were too "comfortable". They could cope most effectively with all music, including poor recordings, but they did not present as much of the "challenge" of the music that can be experienced live, as I would like.

Interestingly I did not audition the SHL5s as they had the same roots as the BC1 and SP1 (BBC spec boxes) and I (mistakenly) thought that they would sound very similar. After auditioning a large number of speakers I bought a pair of Audio Physic Avanti 2s, which gave me what I was looking for, as well as superb bass (this model was an infinite baffle design) and fantastic imaging. To cut this long story short I had to replace these when I was unable to reproduce their original performance following damage inflicted by an amplifier that had inadequate protection circuitry.

My 10 years experience with the Avantis gave me a good yardstick by which to judge alternatives and I am very happy with the SHL5s. Compared to the Avantis they are better integrated from bass to treble and more transparent in the mid range. They do not provide such holographic images (in our room at least) and I have had to work hard to get a really tuneful, solid bass.

The transparency and accuracy in the sound from the SHL5s has caused me to re-assess other parts of the system and hence make worthwhile improvements (I'll comment on these on a more appropriate thread).

David Lovell

[ryder]

I just heard the SHL-5 and Compact 7ES-3 back to back at my dealer last weekend and was floored by the utter coherency and unforced midrange that these speakers possessed. I am now leaning towards getting the SHL-5. My dealer informed he does not take in eucalyptus finish for the SHL-5 and only import the cherry finish due to poor demand of the former. My question is, can Harbeth UK encourage dealers to carry at least two "standard" finishes (cherry and eucalyptus) so that customers can have more choices to choose from? I would appreciate if someone can post a picture of the SHL-5 in eucalyptus finish here as I am curious to know how it would look like in that finish.

[Stephen PG]

welcome to world of Harbeth. I can fully understand how you feel. I had the 7 for 5 yrs plus and the 5 for 1 yr plus now..I love both very much...

Yesterday, I heard few Karajan recordings...the musics from my Harbeth touched me so much. I can smell string instuments wood body and brasses metal texture without exgressive edge and brightness. I can feel Karajan passion in each cd. His musics are not perfect..but his is great!

I am in my music paradise with Harbeth.

Hi, my first post here, hopefully not my last!

I'm going to be auditioning a pair of SHL5's in London this weekend, and will be taking the Karajan Sibelius along with me (as well as a few others).

btw, Have you heard the Testament recording of the Brahms 1st?

[ryder]

My room is on the smallish side of things at 3.5mx5.2m with the speakers along the short wall. The speakers will have ample space from the back wall (>1.0m clear). Since the width of the room is only 3.5m, will the SHL-5 sound okay close to the side walls?

May I know the recommended arrangement of treatments for the SHL-5 in order for these speakers to sound at their optimum? Do the speakers benefit with absorption or diffusion on side walls and front walls?

Below are the arrangement and photos attached for your easy reference. Any advice would be most appreciated(especially from the man himself).

[keithwwk]

Hi, my first post here, hopefully not my last!

I'm going to be auditioning a pair of SHL5's in London this weekend, and will be taking the Karajan Sibelius along with me (as well as a few others).

btw, Have you heard the Testament recording of the Brahms 1st?

Hi Stephen,

Welcome on board!

Do let us know what is your impression after auditioning the 5.

Silly me, I stil got zero music collection from Testament. Can you pm me his Brahms 1st cover please?

[keithwwk]

My room is on the smallish side of things at 3.5mx5.2m with the speakers along the short wall. The speakers will have ample space from the back wall (>1.0m clear). Since the width of the room is only 3.5m, will the SHL-5 sound okay close to the side walls?

May I know the recommended arrangement of treatments for the SHL-5 in order for these speakers to sound at their optimum? Do the speakers benefit with absorption or diffusion on side walls and front walls?

Below are the arrangement and photos attached for your easy reference. Any advice would be most appreciated(especially from the man himself).

Hi ryder,
I think this is very hard to tell how to optimal sound whithout knowing the actual acoustic property in a room. But lucky, harbeth no need exotic room treats to sound half Best!

My room is 3.3 x 5.5x11H (m). In my room, I got serious midbass issue when I place my Harbeth at short side. I now playing them at long side to give me best compromise musical playback. I felt my 7 or 5 sound best when away from side wall at least 3m. Btw, your room acoustic property sure differ from mine, so you still need to try.

Personally I do not feel 5 need much room treat. What I saw in your pic, you got some basic treatments at corners and back wall. I didnt see any treatment on the side wall and maybe you can add that on.

You can take a look some harbeth users room in below link:
Photos of your beloved Harbeth Speakers & Setup
http://www.harbeth.co.uk/usergroup/showthread.php?t=338

Just my 2 cents.

Cheers!

[ryder]

Thanks for your response and the link keithwwk. The Harbeth rooms look fabulous.

May I ask if you are in Malaysia or Singapore? If you are from Singapore, may I ask if the dealer has eucalyptus finish for the SHL-5 speakers? Thanks in advance.

[keithwwk]

Hi ryder,
What I know is the finishing you mentioned is a special order and need an additional charge. Cherry is the normal finishing that most showroom have.

I suggest you email or call them to verify yourself.

http://www.harbeth.co.uk/uk/index.ph...ge=wheretobuy2

Cheers!