New Harbeth P3ESR

[DrewTurner]

I was pleasantly surprised to see that The Absolute Sound magazine gave the P3ESR a brief (fantastic) review and listed it in their 2010 products of the year issue.I was under the impression that that Harbeth had not released this little gem for review yet.

[coredump]

I was pleasantly surprised to see that The Absolute Sound magazine gave the P3ESR a brief (fantastic) review and listed it in their 2010 products of the year issue.I was under the impression that that Harbeth had not released this little gem for review yet.

oh it could have been the prototype model prior to the launching of the P3esr. it was showcase at the CES hifi show before the product launch too.

[A.S.]

Well that's news to us here at Harbeth that TAS have been kind enough to review it. I do know that there are a couple of pairs in "Review stock" in the USA, but this is the first we've heard about an actual review. Can you give us any more information - extracts? and who was the reviewer please?

Actually, the P3ESR sales situation is now extremely strong. And this week we received the biggest order in our history from one European distributor - the earliest we can produce it with our other order commitments is Sept. 2010, which the customer accepts.

As mentioned before - if your distributor has applied some forward thinking and planned regular orders ex-Harbeth then the length of the order pipeline is of no consequence to you; you should be able to buy Harbeth with little or no waiting.

[tozen]

This might shed some light:

http://www.avguide.com/forums/harbet...till-available

It looks as if the review/award was for the previous P3. Alan, you may not like their assumption that the P3ESR entailed only a 'slight' revision! My own P3ESRs are arriving this coming week. Can't wait...

[EricW]

Yes, I remember reading Robert Harley's comment when it was first posted and thinking "Hmm: doesn't he feel comfortable in opining on the sound of a speaker he's never heard!" Must be nice to be able to be that authoritative without even having to listen to the product in question.

My view is that the P3ESRs are much more than a "slight" revision of the P3-ES-2, but that's been covered elsewhere on these forums so I won't go on about it.

[A.S.]

... when I've invested four years in the ground-up redesign of the P3ESR from the P3ES2! Actually, it's been mentioned in this thread here before that the P3ESR is a re-look at the concept of the mini-monitor, and not a brush-up. As soon as you change a bass unit (there is nothing at all in common between the bass unit of the P3ES2 and P3ESR apart from the approximate size), you will have different electrical and acoustic parameters .... that implies a totally different crossover ....

[DrewTurner]

I've realized today that the TAS best of 2010 review of the P3ESR I spoke about recently on this site, is actually just a previous review of the old P3 by Paul Seydor.The heading of the review(pg.30) has just been changed to P3ESR.Sorry for the confusion.

[honmanm]

They have arrived... and after a few days with the P3ESRs I'm still at a loss for things to say about them. I had expected a characterful mini-monitor in the mould of the [previous generation] HL-P3, obviously more refined... but the P3ESRs are category-defying. It is very hard to say that this, that or the other aspect of the sound is attributable to the speaker.

They disappear like panels and don't sound at all boxy, don't have any noticeable emphasis (or dips) through the frequency spectrum. Bass I can't comment on as it is something I've never given a critical listen to - panel nuts usually can't be too fussy about bass.

As you promised, the P3ESRs are very amplifier friendly and they make even cheap amplifiers seem stupidly good. My pact with Mrs Honman that enabled the purchase of the P3ESRs meant parting with the Quad 33 and 303, so I have been using low-powered integrated amplifiers (a friend has a soft spot for British amps of the 1980s). A 25Wpc NVA amplifier that I bought as a stop-gap (£100) - and which is rather shrill with the [previous generation] HL-P3s - does very nicely indeed.

My only complaint is that it is hard to tell how loud the system is playing...

For reference the room is about 2.7mx5m, speakers about halfway along and playing lengthwise, on Rega Kyte stands.

[orkney]

Hi,

Well, I joined the club -- my P3ESRs arrive shortly. I was lucky enough to pick up a pair in maple and am looking forward to hearing them in my Bryston/Sugden system, where they'll replace the ES2s. Will report once they arrive, once I manage to squeeze in a few minutes of listening between toddler care...

best,

o

[tozen]

"Oh wow!" is my involuntary exclamation if something really impresses or startles me. I don't say it very often. I've blurted it out twice when listening to Harbeth speakers. The first time was a couple of years ago when I first went to audition the SHL5's. I brought along a disc of a Bach piano sonata. It is so hard for speakers to to any sort of justice to solo piano. How many people actually sit and listen to solo piano music? Normally it's just a mangled mess of a piano. Anyway, after the first few notes my eyes popped open and "oh wow" fell from my lips. I was amazed at the life-like tone and timbre.

Fast forward to last week and I had just put the P3ESR's into the system in place of the SHL5's. At the moment I have the luxury of swapping them in and out, enjoying both for different reasons. I so happen to put on another Bach piano sonata. The same thing happened. I listened to a few notes and an involuntary "oh wow" came out. And that was after having had the SHL5's in the system! The more I have listened to the P3ESR's the more I have been struck by the purity of the instrumental timbre. I wanted to register it here because I think most of the praise so far has been for the bass or the surprising scale. In those respects it is impressive, no question, but what really impresses me the most is its purity. Quite wonderful. If I could role the strengths of the P3ESR and the SHL5 into one speaker I would have my perfect speaker. Yes, I know, I'm sure it exists and it's called the 40.1!

[hifi_dave]

No, the M40.1 is far, far better than that !!!

[DrewTurner]

it was nice to see the P3ESR's and Compact 7's spoken about so highly in the latest issue of Stereophile (June). Though the Harbeth's were not actually reviewed, they were used as a reference in comparison to Proac D2 speakers w/ the Leben 600 int. amp. and a pair of smaller Devore ( forget which model)speakers.I understand reviews are not super important, but I always enjoy when Harbeth speakers are written about with such reverence..Especially when used as a reference for comparison with other speakers, or to test the performance of amplifiers and such.

[A.S.]

It was nice to see the P3ESR's and Compact 7's spoken about so highly in the latest issue of Stereophile (June).

We're not on the circulation list so it's always a pleasant surprise to hear good news. Thanks for the feedback.

[bluegrass]

Just a quick word of praise for the P3ESR. I am a professional musician using my speakers all day nearly every day , either as near field recording monitors, for listening to music , or for practicing. They replaced an expensive pair of Genelecs. I am finding them totally natural and non fatiguing, yet with all the detail i need. In a word, perfect companions in my musical environment. Thanks Alan!

[bandit]

Does anyone know if the P3ESR drivers are magnetically shield? I'm going to place them adjacent to an LCD TV. Thanks in advance for your advice.

[A.S.]

They are not. But as far as I know, you only need shielded magnets for the old CRT sets, not LCD or plasma - which is why we dropped the shielding when changing from the P3ES2 to P3ESR.

When the original P3 was designed in 1990, CRT sets were the technology of the day. Twenty years on, they are obsolete.

[bandit]

Alan, thank you very much. I just curious because I noticed that my LCD TV has distorted and faded color when I put a pair of LS3/5a close to it. I will try again when I get P3ESR soon. Appreciate your answer.

[chowyeung]

Alan, how about Compact 7ES-3? Are they magnetically shield?
Cheers

[A.S.]

They are not magnetically shielded - no current Harbeth's are - but they have a reduced stray magnetic field thanks to an anti-magnet which concentrates the inevitable field around the (back of) the cabinet.

I'm surprised to hear that an LCD TV is sensitive to the stray magnetic field from a speaker. I can't imagine why the LCD technology would be influenced by a magnetic field. In a conventional CRT TV, visible colour distortion occurs when the almost weightless electrons are fired like a bullet from the neck at the back of the (deep) TV cabinet onto the screen, and a magnetic field in close proximity pulls them off target.

[bandit]

Alan, I've just realized that the speakers do not affect the LCD TV. I misunderstood that they made colour distortion. I'm not worried about the speaker placement now.
Thank you very much for your comment.