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Alan Shaw speaks a lot about following scientific principles. Yet, where the state-of-the-art in the Harbeth form factor has moved along to things like low-diffraction cast enclosures - think Genelec 8030 or Neumann KH120A - that yield a demonstrable improvement, the brand is content with ply boxes. Where such speakers are using analog active crossovers, or even DSP with biamplification and built-in protection circuits, the brand is using a passive XO without anything nearly as sophisticated. And we haven't even gotten to directivity. Defenders might say Harbeth's premium can be chalked down to UK production - well, Genelec manufactures in Finland and Neumann manufactures in Ireland (note: not Northern Ireland). Hardly low-cost manufacturing bases. Both can still afford to charge much much cheaper.
Of course, it could be just like what Keith @Purité Audio observed about ATC and MiniDSP: they'd dearly love to progress but they have a customer base that is, for the most part (not saying you are), stubbornly regressive and skeptical of advancement, which forces legacy brands to play to these preferences despite knowing better,
And yet...
The Harbeth speakers I owned sounded wonderful, and very neutral.
They seemed to measure pretty well too:
http://i.nextmedia.com.au/Assets/harbeth_super_hl5_plus_speakers_review_test_lores.pdf
From the review talking about the measurements:
"Harbeth’s Super HL5plus proved to have an extremely smooth and superbly extended frequency response, characterised by a very slight spectral tilt that saw the bass/midrange region very slightly elevated compared to the output at higher frequencies. You can see the evidence of this in Graph 1, which shows the averaged frequency response using pink noise as a test stimulus. It’s important to first note the extension and linearity of the Harbeth Super HL5plus’s response, as measured by Newport Test Labs, because it extends from 45Hz to 40kHz ±3dB—EXTENSION AND LINEARITY THAT ARE, IN MY MEMORY, UNPRECEDENTED.
Be-tween 80Hz and 10kHz the response is within ±1.25dB which is, yet again, a superb result."
(emphasis mine).
And...
"I’ve seen speakers with better low-frequency extension, speakers with better high-frequency extension, and speakers with greater overall linearity. But the Harbeth Super HL5plus is the first speaker I’ve seen that has been able to deliver all three of these very desirable attributes in the one package. Equally important, it’s done it with a design that’s an easy load for any amplifier to drive and using a cabinet whose dimensions are not even close to being visually intimidating. I’m not sure who to congratulate for this marvellous achievement, the BBC, Dudley Harwood or Alan Shaw... or all three. But whoever was responsible—individually or collectively—congratulations are most certainly due, and even more certainly very well-deserved."
Now, when any speaker measurements are posted, someone will pick them apart. Especially if coming from a more single-minded guiding principle - e.g. "DSP or bust."
But those Harbeths sounded superbly neutral in my room and concur very well with what the reviewer had to say about them.
This is why I find the technical arguments - often enough at odds with each other as people disagree - made about the "right way" for speaker design to be very interesting, but I remember to take them with a grain of salt. Especially claims like people don't really buy a speaker like the Harbeth for good sound quality, or that properly designed speakers would leave no place for Harbeth in the marketplace.
The Harbeth's combined superb sound quality in to a design that actually looks beautiful in the home. The Genelec 8030 and Neumann KH120A
speakers look bloody awful - like studio monitors - and given a speaker will essentially end up as a permanent piece of furniture in a room, the last thing I want is an ugly speaker. Someone else of course may like the looks of those monitors over the Harbeth, but that's my point: people have varying tastes and goals so choice-is-good. With a Harbeth speaker I got both excellent sound and beautiful looks, and they aren't irrational needs, so there is a perfectly rational market being served by such companies.
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