Harbeth Compact 7

I auditioned Harbeth 7's extensively this summer (after some passionate recommendations here) when I was in the market for new speakers for my small room and in the end prefered Spendor 2/3 by a large margin. Spendors are of the same size and even look very similair (with the grills on especially) but they are much more open and easy on the ears than Harbeths. Unfortunately I didn't have the chance to compare them in the same rooma and on the same set up (Harbeths played with Naim, Densen and Accuphase IIRC while Spendors played with some chinese tube amp at the dealer and now play with McIntosh 2200/275 in my home) but I would advice anyone interested in the quality BBC monitor sound to check Spendors as well (not to mention they are cheaper). Harbeths probably have more hype on the net but it's your ears that you trust, don't you?

 

I auditioned Spendor 8's prior to purchasing Harbeth's, for a floorstander they projected a small image in comparison to the Harbeth. and I auditioned all of them in my system at home, to each his own.

 

sab, did you hear a significant difference between the original Compact 7 and the latest one?

 

Well, that's entirely different line of Spendors (not to mention it's a floorstander) - 2/3e is from the CLASSIC line and by all aspects can be viewed as a direct competitor to Harbeth Compact 7.

 

They're too expensive...but that goes for most British made speakers sold here in the US.

 

It is the exchange rate. Until recently, one British Pound could buy 2 USD. There is no doubt the Canadian speakers will go up in price as well since the Canadian Dollar reached parity with the US Dollar last week.

 

Exactly. I didn't know about the Canadian dollar. Thanks.

Now I know why Bryston products just went up in price. I'm glad I got my 4BSST (and BP6P preamp) before this happened.

 

The new version has better off-axis response and was designed more for shorter stands likely to be used in a home environment (in my case these factors would not matter as I always sit in the "sweet spot" and use 24 inch tall stands, as opposed to 17-19 inch stands; the shorter stands seem to give a bit more mid-bass).

Tonally, the new version is perhaps a bit more neutral- the old version has a slight recession in in the presence range but sounds a tad sharper in the treble. (This is assuming of course that my C7 which was the basis for the comparison for the review in The Absolute Sound- which can be read for free at www.avguide.com- is not "out of spec").

Which version one would prefer would most likely depend on the recording and one's personal preference.

Hope this helps.