My new Harbeth SHL5 plus

The SHL5+ are pretty mindblowing! by far the best speakers Ive ever had in my room.

the scale, the imaging, voices sounds angelical. I just couldnt be happier right now.
one issue though, sometimes, the upper mid seem a bit harsh. around 2khz I find it sometimes tiny bright. anyone else noticed this?

I guess its the 2khz peak that we see on my measurements? problem is that I notice the harshness around 2khz in my three rooms so it doesnt seem to be room related...

I also bought a pair of tannoy berkeley which is in the process of being recapped and refoamed! cannot wait to compare. might also recone them altogether with lockwood recone.



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this is the measurement of L and R channel at the listening position at about 7 feet from the speakers.

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Aren't they just a tad close to the back wall? And oh yeah, there's a bed in the way.

 

what you hear is in fact reflected in your measurements. needs a slight eq

 

the bed is not in the way, its almost 30 cm lower then the woofer.

the shl5 are about 40 cm away from the back wall

the speaker placement was the best I could acheive in my room. if I had the speakers too far away from the back wall, I had severe dips.

its recommended to have the speakers either at least 1.5m away from the back wall or very close to it. Genelec recommends this.
many acoustician recommend something similar called pseudo soffit.
genelec speaker placement - Google Search :

"Pseudo Soffit" Monitor Mounting - Gearslutz Pro Audio Community

 

I too, hear a hardness or sibilance in this speaker, as well as all other Harbeths except for the 40.2. This sort of peak is actually somewhat common to speakers, probably because it tends to make them sound more dynamic and "detailed" than they would sound absent the peak. Harbeth's peak is actually milder than must most, and overall, I like their speakers.

 

I also have the P3ESR and they do not exhibit this problem. I do not hear any harshness whatsoever on the p3esr.

maybe all harbeth models who uses the 8 inch up to 3.5khz exhibit the problem?

 

Don't let the measurement Nazis see this, or your speakers might be shunned...unless they also own Harbeth.

 

the 2khz peak on my measurements is only my room creating the peak!

this is not what im refering to when I find the upper mids slightly harsh/bright.

here measurements from 1 M away. as you can see, no peak in sight.
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Allow them some time to burn in

 

bought them used. probably burned in already!

 

I see room treatments so I'm assuming the wall behind your head is amply treated?

Question: With the bed so close and realizing the speakers are 30 cm above the bed, does this emulate a room in which the speakers are 30 cm off the floor?

 

As a measurement Nazi and a Harbeth owner, I'm interested in what you're saying. But you've lost me now. In your OP you said the troublesome frequency was around 2 kHz but now you're saying it's not. So what frequency are you referring to (roughly speaking) when you say the upper mids are slightly harsh/bright?

 

Listening chair on top or behind the bed ?

 

yes, 7inch thick panel on the back wall directly behind my head.

I will get lower stands so the woofer is just in line with the bed and the tweeter at ear level.

yes, I hear slight hardness in the upper midrange around 2-4khz, but its not related to the FR of the speaker since when measured at 1m, we can see that its flat in the upper mid. still subjectively a bit hard in that region...

 

Maybe some curtains?

 

congrats! i love the sound of the shl5+s! world class sound quality.

 

Love these speakers to death. They are a true classic.

 

Genelec? The company makes active studio monitors, powered studio monitors and a handful of accessories. It has no expertise whatsoever in small, crowded bedroom speaker placement.

The problem with your measurements is that you're trying to emulate something that your room is not actually producing at your actual listening position. It is at your listening position that you should be taking measurements.

That bed so close to the front of the speakers is absorbing an enormous amount of energy. The SHL5 and most other speakers are designed to sound their best when they have a proper chance to radiate into a room. In your current setup, the speakers really don't have a chance to do that, which likely means you're going to have a very hard time getting them to sound their best. They're superb speakers, but your setup for them is far from optimal.

 

I have the Harbeth M30, and they are not harsh at all. The bed is absorbing/blocking the low frequencies. Low frequencies are not "beamed" the way a tweeter's frequencies would be, so even with the woofer above the plane of the bed, the LF will still be absorbed to a significantly greater degree than the HF from the tweeter. That's throwing off the tonal balance, by excessively emphasizing the tweeters' output. I agree with previous post from Agitator that the room arrangement will make it very difficult to make these sound right.

 

Genelec? The company makes active studio monitors, powered studio monitors and a handful of accessories. It has no expertise whatsoever in small, crowded bedroom speaker placement.
my room is not really crowded, theres nothing but the bed, a well placed armchair and room treatment.
the rules of acoustic applies to passive and active loudspeakers and genelec did not invent the acoustic laws. it is a well known phenomena. Gik acoustic, real traps, agree with this as well
please read here:Gearslutz Pro Audio Community - View Single Post - need help - which diffusors fit into my studio?
"Usually (but naturally there’s exceptions), it’s preferable to move up against the front wall unless you can move back a considerable amount (> approx. 1,5 - 2 meters) and still sit in front of the center in the room. A close distance to the wall will push the SBIR effects up in frequency and is therefore easier to deal with (absorb)."
Behind monitors--absorption, diffusion? - Gearslutz Pro Audio Community

It is at your listening position that you should be taking measurements.
the first set of measurements I posted are indeed from the listening position, as stated.

That bed so close to the front of the speakers is absorbing an enormous amount of energy. The SHL5 and most other speakers are designed to sound their best when they have a proper chance to radiate into a room.
in term of LF absorption, the bed can only help. however,the bed absorbs also mids and highs secondary reflection. the bed do not absorb a "enormous amount of energy". this may look like this but in reality the bed may slightly, and only very slightly, degrade performance and far from a big deal as far as I understand. but to make sure, ill ask directly GIK acoustic. well see what they have to say. thanks for pointing this out to me, but alas, I cannot do much about the issue

They're superb speakers, but your setup for them is far from optimal.
the shl5+ are suppose to be able to work well even up to 6 feet away from them. im 7.5 feet away.

I wish I could have them slightly more apart, but apart from that, I really dont follow what your talking about here. The measurements also clearly show how well the shl5+ have been integrated into the room.

 

huh?

 

Quite apart from all the techno-gobbledygook, and I do understand that the ideal should never be the enemy of the good, but I think your room is far from being good. Do you have other options in you living quarters that might be better suited ? No point in swimming against the current if you don't have to.

 

'Watch the bass/mid driver cones with your heels please luv'.

 

Nice "stabin cabin"

 

1. Change to a single bed and rotate ninety degrees.

2. Not sure if it would work but use something to move the speakers up half a meter and tilt it down so that the tweeter point towards you. Beware lf sliding speakers though.