Of course, everything about Harbeth must sound good on the Harbeth forum. There is no room for negative thoughts or criticism as they practice active moderation.
As much as I love the Harbeth sound, let's admit it. They do not have the most extended highs and some of the detail in the high frequencies are smoothed out. This largely contributed to the low listening fatigue of Harbeth speakers but took away some of the edge and excitement. It largely depends on the genre of music one is listening to.
The lossy thin-walled cabinet of the Harbeth is designed to resonate along with the music whilst most speaker manufacturers try to make their speakers as inert as possible to minimize unwanted cabinet resonance. Cabinet vibrations are some sort of a coloration but Harbeth promote this philosophy which is the archetype of the BBC heritage.
As for fast vs slow. It is interesting some may express the inappropriate use of these terms in describing sound or speakers on the Harbeth forum since in their mind they do not mean anything. Again, when someone states that the speaker(or music) is fast or slow, it will relate to the ability of the speaker or system to highlight or reproduce the transient attack and dynamic swings in music. I believe most criticism on Harbeth is they fall short in rock or dynamic music, sounding slow when compared to dynamic speakers due to their inherent design characteristics. The bass will not be as quick, tight or agile with the cabinet vibrations. For music with lots of thumping bass lines, the Harbeth may exhibit some bass boom as the bass plods along with the music, due to resonance build-up within the cabinet. Coupled with the smoothed out treble, this may have given the impression that the Harbeths sound slow or can't boogie to some people.
The 40.1s are IMO the most polite speaker in the Harbeth line, followed by the SHL5. The C7ES3s are the most dynamic(in other words, quickest and has the best speed) owing much to the smaller box apart from the 2nd generation Radial driver, hence the highest boogie factor.
As much as I love the Harbeth sound, let's admit it. They do not have the most extended highs and some of the detail in the high frequencies are smoothed out. This largely contributed to the low listening fatigue of Harbeth speakers but took away some of the edge and excitement. It largely depends on the genre of music one is listening to.
The lossy thin-walled cabinet of the Harbeth is designed to resonate along with the music whilst most speaker manufacturers try to make their speakers as inert as possible to minimize unwanted cabinet resonance. Cabinet vibrations are some sort of a coloration but Harbeth promote this philosophy which is the archetype of the BBC heritage.
As for fast vs slow. It is interesting some may express the inappropriate use of these terms in describing sound or speakers on the Harbeth forum since in their mind they do not mean anything. Again, when someone states that the speaker(or music) is fast or slow, it will relate to the ability of the speaker or system to highlight or reproduce the transient attack and dynamic swings in music. I believe most criticism on Harbeth is they fall short in rock or dynamic music, sounding slow when compared to dynamic speakers due to their inherent design characteristics. The bass will not be as quick, tight or agile with the cabinet vibrations. For music with lots of thumping bass lines, the Harbeth may exhibit some bass boom as the bass plods along with the music, due to resonance build-up within the cabinet. Coupled with the smoothed out treble, this may have given the impression that the Harbeths sound slow or can't boogie to some people.
The 40.1s are IMO the most polite speaker in the Harbeth line, followed by the SHL5. The C7ES3s are the most dynamic(in other words, quickest and has the best speed) owing much to the smaller box apart from the 2nd generation Radial driver, hence the highest boogie factor.