In Appreciation of the Harbeth Compact 7 ES-3

I owned the Denton's for a couple of months. Took me a few weeks to warm up to them. They are raggedy on all frequencies compared to the Harbeth's which are far more refined. It's hard to explain but once you hear the difference it's immediately apparent. If you like the Denton's you will love the Harbeth's.

 

You nailed it!! If any audiophiles are looking for bragging rights or engineering proof of concepts, they will need to look elsewhere,

No "inert" enclosures here and no sizzling tweeters.

If one wants a one ton bank vault of a cabinet with drivers made of "magic " materials..lol ...one knows where to look!

 

But the Harbeths are expensive for the materials involved and definitely have audiophile cache or snob appeal.

 

I've owned both; and while I haven't heard them in side-by-side comparison, I'd say they both have sufficient low end. Two radically different price points; and while I'm fairly certain the C7 is the more sophisticated transducer (it should be at $4k), my time with the Dentons was extremely satisfying, musically. If budget is an issue, staying with the Wharfedales (at $500!?!) is an easy choice. (I'm actually planning on getting another set, just for a rainy day and grins.) They benefit from a "lively" amp; I'd avoid a laid-back setup.

But if you have, say, $10k or more to assemble a system, the C7ES3 is an easy decision.

 

Last I looked, the line tops out at about $14K for the 40.2. Hate to say, but that is chump change to a LOT of a'phile speaker manufacturer's. I don't think Wilson or Magico even offer a speaker
at that low a price! As to the construction involved, one could argue that for all loud speakers...pretty much regardless of price. I read somewhere that the retail price of audio gear is something on the
order of 5X the actual price of the construction cost. That is for most gear except the ridiculous cable area...which can be many multiples of that. So, if we take that into consideration, we begin to see
the pricing structure of the Harbeth's. BTW, you do realize that these speakers have to come from the UK to wherever you are....that means shipping cost, customs etc., before they even get to the
distributor ( who also needs to make money on the transaction). Since they are made in the UK, they are made by UK workers who are NOT getting paid peanuts money. Hopefully you are now getting my point!

 

So if I move to England are they cheaper there?

 

What do you think?

 

You don't have to go that far. Just come to Canada.

 

That's super helpful. I'm powering mine with a Rogue Sphinx. I don't know if I'd consider it a "lively" amp (not laid back either), but it's got more than enough power to make the Denton's sing. Was a nice upgrade over the PM6005 I was initially powering them with.

 

Love the Harbeth 7es3in my small/medium sized dedicated room. Matched with a luxman 505u plenty of power. Can listen for hours without fatique. Had for about 2 years and no desire to change. Since i listen to alt rock/metal sometimes I have a REL sub which adds just the right amount of punch <40hz

 

Well, I would but the bacon is round and you sell gas by the liter...

 

Oh yeah, you've got a great-looking setup!

If I hadn't just put together a fairly involved Naim rig, I might well be trying out a Sphinx>Dentons system. Pretty great combo, for well under $2k! If you do ever decide to get Harbeths though, the Sphinx would still be a keeper.

 

Listening to mine right now, powered by Naim. No desire for change.

 

I paired my C7s with Naim for 3 years until I went all tube and music server. Great combo...you must really enjoy it.

 

I do. I am curious how they would sound with tubes? Previously I had a Mastersound integrated amp which I liked a whole lot. Often wonder how my Harbeths would have sounded with it

 

I used mine with ARC for three years...lucious. I now use a McIntosh solid state integrated with them, and the ARC with Thiels.

 

No

 

The Harbeth speakers are a small fortune for most of us, be it UK , Japan or US etc.
I'm not a sub user and don't find these speakers need that addition to work with any music.
I was happy to pay the price for my 30.1's, it was the first step off of looking at continual upgrades. I have now matched the speakers with an LFD amp with an upgraded Gyro and quite frankly I have no reason to look at much else. For the price of the set up I can't believe just how good music sounds. Sure I could improve the whole set up but to attain anything like a substantial improvement in sound would require 2 to 3 times the cost.

The last things I'm looking at outside of the digital side of things are the stands and cables. Currently using cheap end Chord inter connect and LFD Spiroflex [20 years old]. Planning on putting in place all LFD cabling and only upgrading the speaker cable because it is too short for where the speaker placement should be.

If I get any spare cash in the future I have room with the TT for upgrades but nothing really planned as of now.

Do I feel like a HiFi snob with Harbeth's, oh yeah Do all the Harbeth line work as well as the 30.1's? Not heard the 40's in any guise but the rest sure do, and I know I'm repeating myself from elsewhere on this forum but just match the speaker to your room [any speaker come to that] and not try and force an over large unit into a small room or expect a small speaker to fill a large room and all's good.

 

Great post. Harbeth and LFD are such a gorgeous match..heard it paired at shows many times in Gene Rubin's room.

"...it was the first step off of looking at continual upgrades."

Yes sir.

 

I'm really interested in these speakers for my home office, which is around 13ft by 12ft. For those that own these or have heard the Compact C7es-3, do you feel like they would be a good match for a room that size with an Audio Research VSi60 integrated amplifier or Odyssey Khartago/Tempest?

Also, I would have to use them about 12-15 inches from the front wall, am I likely to have issues with them being that close to the wall?

 

Yes, too close to the wall. But they'll still sound great
If this is an office, what is your listening position. Up close?
If so the P3 's will work better than the 7's. Try both and have a run of the 30.1's while your at it.

 

Thanks for your response. I have a small glass top desk which holds my PC and the speakers would go a foot or two away from either side of that. Typically when I'm listening, I sit in a recliner centered and about 2 feet out from the back wall/window.

 

My set up is almost IDENTICAL. It WILL work. I used the VS55. Invest in good stands, the Sound Anchors, are superb.

 

You know, I left a pretty blatant hint for someone to offer to loan me a pair and yet...

 

Well...I've gone and done it. I've got a pair of these on order in the cherry finish.