I'm in deep, here folk, I found a pair on AG and couldn't stop myself from hitting the buy button... what have I done! 
$4200 shipped
So now I have Tekton DI ext crossed, Pure Audio Horn 1 and Harbeth.
Here is the thoght on it. I work for myself and have been off for the virus, you can't get unemployment, from the state, but got it from the Fed under PUA. They dropped 6K in my account, I paid off the CC and had $4500 left over... Free Harbeth anyone. lol.
$4200 shipped
So now I have Tekton DI ext crossed, Pure Audio Horn 1 and Harbeth.
Here is the thoght on it. I work for myself and have been off for the virus, you can't get unemployment, from the state, but got it from the Fed under PUA. They dropped 6K in my account, I paid off the CC and had $4500 left over... Free Harbeth anyone. lol.
My friend, I envy you!
Amidst all my messing about with speakers like this:
If I had $4000 that had no more pressing needs, I'd just do the simple thing and buy some Harbeth Super HL5 plus!
These speakers attract a fanatical following. Partly because the look like speakers ought to look, IMO. YouTube
And Rosewood? The best! Lush.
Guess I'll just have to struggle on with cheapish. I like this one: SP38/13
Let us know how they work out. A speaker for all seasons, one feels.
Amidst all my messing about with speakers like this:
If I had $4000 that had no more pressing needs, I'd just do the simple thing and buy some Harbeth Super HL5 plus!
These speakers attract a fanatical following. Partly because the look like speakers ought to look, IMO. YouTube
And Rosewood? The best! Lush.
Guess I'll just have to struggle on with cheapish. I like this one: SP38/13
Let us know how they work out. A speaker for all seasons, one feels.
I heared that speaker, and there is a reason why they are so popular, it's probally the speaker i like the most of all the speakers i heared in recent years (and i heared a lot). It has a very transparant sound with a natural feel and no ear fatigue factor at all. It's also one of the very few multiway speakers where i don't hear the crossover filter and it doesn't bother me at all that it's crossovered in the middle of the frequency band (300-5000hz) where i don't like it.
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They are... here's the link to the actual pair I bought.
Harbeth SHL5 Plus with Matching HI-FI Racks Stands (Rosewood) | Monitors | Audiogon
Harbeth SHL5 Plus with Matching HI-FI Racks Stands (Rosewood) | Monitors | Audiogon
But with skill you can probally get close. The cabinets are a big part of the sound, and follow the bbc principle of a lossy thin wall mass damped cabinet, the drivers are polycone plastic woofer drivers build in house to an own design and OEM tweeters (i thought SEAS, but i'm not sure), and the crossover is very tailored to get the perfect sound, but with rather standard parts (nothing exotic) and techniques (measure, adjust, measure adjus, ...).
There is a lot of documentation about it and a fairly detailled explenation about these speakers on the Harbeth site from the and forum from the designer. I learned a lot there to build the tops i actually use in my waw system with Mark Audio drivers. I had these in other speaker cabinets before, but in this cabinet they are at their best. They have a very similar effortless and transparant sound, wich i blame on the type of cabinet and how they damp resonances in it.
The rest is very well studied, but no rocket science if you ask me. And there is enough info also about the techniques used all arround the internet.
And you can start here: YouTube
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that’s all well and said, and no doubt it would make for a fun and challenging project. but one thing I learned from cloning amplifiers is that you never really know if you have achieved your goal without having an original to compare with using your own ears. for example I cloned a NAIM NAP140 and subjectively the sound matches the descriptions I’ve read about on the Internet but can I ever really know without having an actual NAP140 on hand to compare with ? I have many project ideas and not enough time for all of them so sometimes you just have to get out your wallet and buy the real McCoy.
The low driver is said to contribute a lot to what is liked with the Harbeth. Though we know two things : it's a polymer sandwiched on foam. Eton, Focal have both excelent foam core cones. Choose the same box design and material from the 19 mm HDF panels to the wool + polyester fully fulled (sixmoonaudio + stereophile pictures), find the english brand of the polypro/mylar caps to get close. and Waloo ! But hey the big part will stay to make as good for the passive filter... not an everyone task ! What they say : it's a clear sound while being not fatiguing, so clear and with more light than the old polycone of the britanic sound signature... look towards newest Spendors mids perhaps.
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Not true, it's an injection molded polymer cone, that is very stiff, as is shown in this video: YouTube
And the cabinet is made out of thin mdf damped with bitumen, with an screw on front (BBC style lossy mass damped cabinet).
Nah, the cabinet is made of hdf...high density fiber...it s in 6moons & Stereophile bibles. Some models have a thicker front panel iirc, not all.. idem for the bitumen, not rear thefront plate and the sides butin the rear panel only. Vary with the model.
Ah, sory for the cone, believed it was rohacel core, my bad...
Ah, sory for the cone, believed it was rohacel core, my bad...
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It is what it is:
Harbeth Super HL5plus loudspeaker | Stereophile.com
That's quite a crossover for a three way. 24dB slopes AFAIK. No big capacitors, just smallish MKT by the look of it. Who says ferrite coils can't be used in tweeter filters? Negative polarity on the top end.
Cracked Bell cabinet design, ie screwed panels. Not much bracing. The star is the Radial 2 woofers, IMO. Spendor tend to use soft-domes, Harbeth metal. Who knows, eh?
Harbeth Super HL5plus loudspeaker | Stereophile.com
That's quite a crossover for a three way. 24dB slopes AFAIK. No big capacitors, just smallish MKT by the look of it. Who says ferrite coils can't be used in tweeter filters? Negative polarity on the top end.
Cracked Bell cabinet design, ie screwed panels. Not much bracing. The star is the Radial 2 woofers, IMO. Spendor tend to use soft-domes, Harbeth metal. Who knows, eh?
It seems odd, only one piece of wood to stif the lateral panels and brace.
Only glue between the top, botom, side panels. Full of stufing but no mufled sound.
Good margin perhaps cause the hand work is reduced on the cabinet assembly? Thougj veenering is almost sota, a classic indeed. It will shine inside the Victorian house of Grand-ma Berth as in Elon's loft.
I wish I had to listen it with the Spendor A7 the same day.
Is the white and black unit an air coil or a traffo ?
Like the binding posts directly screwed... cost optimised.
Only glue between the top, botom, side panels. Full of stufing but no mufled sound.
Good margin perhaps cause the hand work is reduced on the cabinet assembly? Thougj veenering is almost sota, a classic indeed. It will shine inside the Victorian house of Grand-ma Berth as in Elon's loft.
I wish I had to listen it with the Spendor A7 the same day.
Is the white and black unit an air coil or a traffo ?
Like the binding posts directly screwed... cost optimised.
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I don’t see stereophile or 6moon as trustworthy resources. The are the typical snake oil snobbery paid review- advertising sites and it would not be the first time they were totally wrong. I got my info of the site and fora of hatbeth themselves, wich are more trusthworthy i think and from people who own those as i know several people who own harberth’s and saw and heared them in real live a lot.
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