In Appreciation of the Harbeth Compact 7 ES-3

I know, at least on my system, swapping the 12ax7's makes a bigger difference than the 12au7's. That said, the 12ax7 Mullards I have in right now pretty much went from 'gross and mushy' to 'I'm not ever looking for different tubes' somewhere around the 25-40 hour mark. I'm just guessing as I wasn't keeping track but it was basically one week's worth of listening everyday. Maybe they need a tad bit longer.

I also had a Mullard in the cd player (12au7), which was an improvement until I had Mullards in the 12ax7 spot on my amp. Once they burned in I noticed that my vinyl rig was sounding way better than normal in comparison to my cds (They always sound better but not by a ton and I own a lot of stuff in both formats so I can tell real quick when it's off). Back to the stock tube in the cd player and it sounds amazing again. Tubes and synergy, I tell ya. Seems like any small change can throw off a bunch of stuff.

 

I have the Harbeth C7 ES-3 all set up with the Sound Anchors custom stands (Note these are seriously substantial stands, made to order, made in the USA). After some experimentation and fussing, I struck gold! In my living room, I sit across from them oriented on the room's width dimension. They are placed a mere ~11" from the back wall, ~3'6" apart, and 8'6" away from the base of my listening chair.

"Much too close!" some may say.

"Sweet spot found!" I say.

When I was battling the room for optimal placement, I was getting mixed listening results, in addition to the speaker break-in that is still in progress.

When I stumbled on my current arrangement, I was transported back into the stereo store's listening room in terms of hearing the killer Harbeth sound. Neutral to my ears, but when called upon, displaying full bass and remarkable mid-range and no harsh brights. I am focusing on albums with intriciate and pronounced acoustic guitar fretwork with the occasional string squeak--artists like Jose Gonzalez, Josh Rouse, and the mighty Lindsey Buckingham. Couldn't be happier!

Another big adjustment was switching out my Nordost ribbon speaker cables for QED 79 strand as suggested by my Harbeth brochure (and I happened to have the QED wire laying around, as luck would have it). This made a monster difference with my setup. Now I am down to only fretting about whether to take off the gold banana plugs and go straight wire. Egad, so much to adjust and fine tune! For the moment, I am successfully resisting fussing about and just enjoying the sweet spot, but alas this contentment will be fleeting.

So happy with these speakers! Highly recommended.

 

3- 1/2 feet apart and listening 8 and a half feet away? Doesn't it sound mono?
They sure do sound good with strings. Also drums.

 

No, it doesn't sound mono. Sounds perfect stereo to me. The way I rationalize it, I didn't choose this sweet spot, as it runs counter to my notions, but my ears sure are happy.

Also, forgot to mention I don't have the speakers toed in. They are straight out, per the Harbeth instructions.

Tonight, I listened to Sun Kil Moon's "Tiny Cities" and the Harbeth C7's continue to impress...

 

What does having them so close to the back wall do to the bass frequencies? I'm not that familiar with the Harbeth sound anyway, but have read that they can be more midrange forward. Did moving them closer to the back wall balance them out for you?

 

Ive had Harbeth 7ES3's for several years now. IMO they are not midrange forward, they are accurate and with a clear midrange. Need to keep from the front wall to avoid bass buildup which can "muddy" up the sound and also collapse the soundstage.

 

My speaker placement distance from the back wall works for my room. The bass sounds full and not muddy. I would not call my Harbeths midrange forward--the overall sound is neutral, not skewed. Midrange sounds great, not goosed.

 

I'm just trying to figure out how I can sneak them into my little 12 x 12 room and have them inches from the back wall. I love the look of those speakers, but I guess there's just no way...

 

They work well in my 9 x 14 room. They are about 24" from the back wall and 18" from the side.
This is a slightly out of date photo. Note, there are isolation blocks between the speakers and the, no longer empty, boxes.

 

Do you like your harbeths straight forward (as shown) or toed in toward listener?

 

I've got mine in a room that's 12.5 feet by 13.5 feet and I recently switched them to a diagonal setup and the sound quality is much better that way. I had them pointed across the room initially about 18" from the wall behind the and the bass was a bit boomy. Moving them to a diagonal arrangement has fixed that problem, so I'm getting a lot better detail in the mid and high frequencies, plus the soundstage has much better depth. I was surprised by the difference.

 

I need to update my profile photos. I have them toed in a bit more than shown. Perhaps 15 degrees or so. I'll have to take some photos this week and get a more precise measurement.

 

Cool thanks. I recently angled mine directly at listening area, close to equilateral triangle or slightly less than. Really is room dependent...and also to your liking too.

 

I updated my room photos (front and back) in my profile information. You can just barely tell they are toed in more.

 

I can tell because there's stuff inside the speaker stands now.

 

This is just about my exact setup, maybe a few more inches from the side wall. Toed in at 12dg. Room is 10 x 14. Sounds amazing, very balanced.

 

Update: I moved the Harbeths an even foot from the rear wall, as I was getting too much bass buildup on certain records. Sounds perfect (at least for the moment...).

 

even though the manual recommends 29" from the wall minimum?

 

Yes, in spite of it all.

 

I tried using the Cardas setup guide the other day to see how my Harbeths would respond. The problem is using that setup methodology in my room, the speakers were always too close to the wall behind them. By the time I had them far enough out from the wall, they were too close together for a nice soundstage. I went back to using the rule of thirds as a starting point, which puts them 5 feet out from the wall. Sounds much better! I can now move them in small increments to dial in the bass exactly where I want it.

 

I remeasured and I am actually 16" from the back of the speaker to the back wall. Happy camper for now.

I imagine that I will be playing with the placement for quite awhile, through the 100hr break in period at least. Plus we haven't hung up art and pictures on the walls that may trap the bass a bit.

 

Will the Harbeth C7 ES3`s be upgraded anybody know?
I probably can`t afford them either way but I`m interested.

 

Historically, I think The C7 model gets revised every 10 years or so but that's no indication of future versions. Original Model 7 circa 1988, ES2-1999, ES3-2008.

 

Seems like the consensus is that LFD is the perfect amplification to pair with the Harbeths. Anyone try an LFD LE V with the C7's? Wondering if there's enough power?

 

Ok. Well after much experimentation with different placements of the C7's and different tubes in the Rogue Sphinx, I tried out a Luxman 505u... and WOW - this is what I had been looking for. In addition to the Luxman I also have VPI Classic 3 in here now . I'm very happy.