Harbeth SHL5
- Thread starter sidvee
- Start date
unleash_me
Well-Known Member
Sid, hearty congratulations!
After getting my pair, I've not really bothered to audition any other speakers. The best I could find with my sonic limitations....what else can I say, welcome to the club!
unleash_me, what is the CDP you are using ? is the the Audio research, the Ayon or the Marantz CD7 ?
if you can could you post as to how how does the macintosh go with the Harbeth ? My guess is they should play to their strengths with each other
if you can could you post as to how how does the macintosh go with the Harbeth ? My guess is they should play to their strengths with each other
Sid, hearty congratulations!
After getting my pair, I've not really bothered to audition any other speakers. The best I could find with my sonic limitations....what else can I say, welcome to the club!
Thanks Unleash_me. I concur. These are going to be my reference for longer than the N805's, I think.
Cheers
Sid
unleash_me
Well-Known Member
Arj, my cdp is an old Marantz CD7. I'm a relatively new entrant to the tube world. Only a couple of years of rolling exp so far! With my SHL5, I find the combination of Gold Lion reissues of KT88 with Mullard Russian reissues of 12ax7 and NOS12at7 Telefunkens, sound the best compared to the stock tubes. Will try to put together a detailed impression once I get a breather But lately when ever I get a chance, I find myself spending more time with the Havana, WA6 Sophia Princess and DX1000 combo - Splendid!
But lately when ever I get a chance, I find myself spending more time with the Havana, WA6 Sophia Princess and DX1000 combo - Splendid!marsilians
Well-Known Member
Congratulations. These are some of the excellent speakers for music. Hope you enjoys hours with it.
pratimbayal
Active Member
Congratulations Sidvee on you latest addition.
Also best wishes for your future addition of RG7 .
Recently you have auditioned very good speakers - Apart from Harbeth , among Proac D2, Proac D18 , B&W 805 diamond which one u will keep ahead and why ?
I have pmed you also.
Cheers
Pratim
Also best wishes for your future addition of RG7 .
Recently you have auditioned very good speakers - Apart from Harbeth , among Proac D2, Proac D18 , B&W 805 diamond which one u will keep ahead and why ?
I have pmed you also.
Cheers
Pratim
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panditji
Well-Known Member
Congratulations Sid. Heard the SHL5s again in London last week along with the Compact 7ES3 and they are better than the Compact 7s. However since i have a very tiny budget, I am inclined towards the Compact 7s...
BTW, I know it is a little late but Harbeth ships speakers directly to India for approx. 1750 GBP for the Compact 7ES 3 pair (cherry) including shipping. You only pay for the customs duty and clearance.
People interested should contact Harbeth directly. They are superb speakers if you are a musicophile and you will just be mesmerised by their sound.
I heard the Sonus Faber Luito and the Cremona M along with ATC SCM 19s but my heart belonged to Harbeth all the way....
Enjoy your music Sid....
BTW, I know it is a little late but Harbeth ships speakers directly to India for approx. 1750 GBP for the Compact 7ES 3 pair (cherry) including shipping. You only pay for the customs duty and clearance.
People interested should contact Harbeth directly. They are superb speakers if you are a musicophile and you will just be mesmerised by their sound.
I heard the Sonus Faber Luito and the Cremona M along with ATC SCM 19s but my heart belonged to Harbeth all the way....
Enjoy your music Sid....
Dont get me wrong Panditji - on their own the 7es3 are superb speakers. Only in direct comparison to the shl5, I observed these shortcomings. Secondly Shl5 require 3-4 feet from the rear wall and at-least 8-10 feet listening distance from them. If these conditions are not available then 7es3 is the way to go. In fact that is what I almost decided till I spent a lot of time playing and positioning the shl5 at the dealer to make sure it will work in my room. Great to hear that Harbeth will ship to India as well. Another option to consider and IMO a must consider option for someone looking to spend in the range of 1.5 lac.
Cheers,
Sid
Kevian
New Member
Congratulations Sidvee....you've made us Hyderabadis proud...Many happy listening hours to you.
...Many happy listening hours to you.Thanks Pratim - I was quite disappointed with the 805 diamond. After having lived with the N805 for 5 years, I thought that my next upgrade would be these, but unfortunately these did not impress. I still feel that the Nautilus tweeter in the N805 is the best of the past 2 upgrades, in-fact with the Diamond tweeter I felt that the speaker lacked overall coherence which in turn deteriorated the soundstage coherence.
Regarding proac - D18 did not impress me at all. The main thing I felt was that the sound was restricted to the space between the speakers and it did not escape the confines of this space. What it did in this space was good but not great. Switching to the D2's, the soundstage got slightly bigger, maybe a function of the smaller front baffle/cabinet size, but still that feeling of a narrow presentation window persisted. Moreover I think the tweeter performance of the D2 was below the d18's - not too sure of they use different tweeters. I think the best speaker in the proac range would be the new tablette anniversary. Heard it briefly but to my ears it sounded much better.
Anyways - these are just my views - tested at dealer showrooms, with their placements and equipment -but with my music for approx. 3 hours or so, and not statements of facts. YMMV.
Cheers,
Sid
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panditji, any idea how much the custom duty and clearance would be and what would be the shipping cost. Regards.
Sachin - from my experience of having imported a few items - if you use DHL or fedex the duty is likely to be between 30-37%. Not sure about local taxes, octroi etc, but here in Hyd we dont have to deal with that. Since Panditji has stated that shipping is included (not too sure about insurance), that cost is considered.
Regardless my humble advice - do audition the speakers - before you buy.
Cheers,
Sid
Congratulations Sidvee. I can absolutely relate to your feeling of discovering something so amazing. Some day I would love to hear the Harbeths setup the way you have described.
BTW, now that you have the SHL5 as your mainstay speakers do you still think you need the RG7, since they are not particularly very revealing of the amplification ? I heard them with three different amps at Jimmy Goh's place and to me they sounded pretty similar, in fact I preferred the lowest priced Rega Brio the most. What is your take on this ?
BTW, now that you have the SHL5 as your mainstay speakers do you still think you need the RG7, since they are not particularly very revealing of the amplification ? I heard them with three different amps at Jimmy Goh's place and to me they sounded pretty similar, in fact I preferred the lowest priced Rega Brio the most. What is your take on this ?
Thanks Dr. Bass. Your thread on Adelphi is what inspired me go and explore there so thanks for that as well. You are welcome to listen to my setup anytime you are in Hyd.
You are absolutely right on the indifference of the Shl5 towards amplification. In-fact at Jimmy's place he was running it with a no-name chinese integrated ($800) and I am running it with the ARC LS26 into the quicksilver mid monos and I cant really glean any major sonic difference. What I can perceive though is that treble seems to more smoother in my listening room and imaging seems to be more defined (could be placement driven also). Now regarding the Rg7, my take is that, yes it may not be absolutely necessary, but it will probably be my last solid state amp upgrade for some time, so I would like to get it and be done with it and hopefully I will gain some more improvement, albeit the diminishing kind
.Cheers,
Sid
Pandit-ji and Sid,
If you have read my earlier post and my comment on the Compact 7s, I want to clarify something. Sonic quality, especially from the speakers, is very much personal. The compact 7s I heard were very sweet sounding, but as I said 'not my cup of tea'. That does not mean that they were bad speakers. There are many in the whole world who absolutely adore these speakers. My personal preference is first and foremost a very open sound with clear and true tones. The compact 7s gave a very polished and somewhat restrained performance (instead of being very open and dynamic) and were too sweet for my taste (that's why I said 'in a way musical'), but that's just me. The room was very big with speakers placed away from all walls. The amplification was something I know by heart (guess what it was). The music played was all my usual audition CDs. The only other unknown (apart from the speakers) was the source: an Oppo DVDP as transport and a NOS DAC.
I look forward to hearing the SHL5s someday.
Regards.
If you have read my earlier post and my comment on the Compact 7s, I want to clarify something. Sonic quality, especially from the speakers, is very much personal. The compact 7s I heard were very sweet sounding, but as I said 'not my cup of tea'. That does not mean that they were bad speakers. There are many in the whole world who absolutely adore these speakers. My personal preference is first and foremost a very open sound with clear and true tones. The compact 7s gave a very polished and somewhat restrained performance (instead of being very open and dynamic) and were too sweet for my taste (that's why I said 'in a way musical'), but that's just me. The room was very big with speakers placed away from all walls. The amplification was something I know by heart (guess what it was). The music played was all my usual audition CDs. The only other unknown (apart from the speakers) was the source: an Oppo DVDP as transport and a NOS DAC.
I look forward to hearing the SHL5s someday.
Regards.
Asit - I concur with you whole heartedly on the point. I also felt that the 7es3 were recessed especially in direct comparo. to the Shl5. 2 things work for the Shl5 in this regards - the tweeter itself is different and there is an additional supertweeter crossed over at a relatively higher frequency. Where this was most noticeable to me was cymbal strikes and subsequent decay which was very realistic and had more presence.
You are welcome to my home anytime you are down south.
Cheers
Sid
panditji
Well-Known Member
Asit, no need to clarify. We all have different opinions so feel free to express yourself without thinking what others might feel. The kind of music i listen to, the Harbeths sounded very nice to me. Period.
But it does help in getting a different perspective so next month when i hear the Harbeths again at Jimmy Goh's, I will take your opinion into account and see for myself if I am ok with it.
But it does help in getting a different perspective so next month when i hear the Harbeths again at Jimmy Goh's, I will take your opinion into account and see for myself if I am ok with it.
Congrats Sid
Considering your vast experience and refined taste it was only a matter of time before you pulled the trigger on the Harbreths.
Enjoy
Cheers
Bellofelix
New Member
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