New Harbeth Super HL5 Plus

What is the new price? And there is quite a difference in the Canada and U.S. price, yes?

 

Planet of Sound in Canada (Harbeth distributer) lists SHL5 for $5,299 in Cherry, and Doug Brady lists them for £2,829.00 ($5,141 CAD) with the SHL5+ supposedly retailing for £3,279 ($5,959 CAN) that's more than a $800 CAN increase... give or take $100 for exchange rate flux.

 

If you think that's expensive check out the price of the 40.1.

 

It's not that I think it's expensive, I do however, think that's a big price increase.
IMHO, $12,000 CAN for the M40.1s is perfectly reasonable considering their performance – especially when you put their sound in comparison to many $25,000 speakers out there. Or even some $75,000 speakers I've heard.

 

I think the Super HL5 does bass very well indeed for a speaker of its size. It won't be enough for some people, though, and that's why they make the 40.1. Alternatively, you can do what I did and get a sub - but don't tell Alan!!

 

I listened to the Super HL5 a couple of weeks ago, and the plus version tonight. Same system, room, and material. Aural memory isn't reliable over two weeks of course, but I got the strong impression that the plus version offers a noticeably more open and extended treble, while retaining the utter ease and lack of harshness of the 'old' version. The mids, and voices in particular may be even more clear and nuanced with the plus version, but I'm not entirely sure about that. Certainly both versions perform incredibly well in the mids.

I may well buy one of those pairs of speakers. The originals were offered for a great price, but the treble of the plus version is very tempting. This will be a hard decision, I think

 

You mean - the marketing men in the 1990s told us that we wanted tall skinny speakers.

 

Alan Shaw demoed a pair of C7s for me years ago, & I spent about an hour talking to him about a number of topics. I found him to be a pleasant, bright, and engaging guy. He certainly sold me on the C7s, I bought a pair a month later.

 

I've not listened much to th old HL5s but I love my new pair of "Plus" speakers. Have had them about a month now. Stunning upgrade over my old Maggie MG12s. One thing I read that is certainly true -- they dramatically increase the music pulled out of a good recording. Conversely, they also make a bad recording quite noticeable. Gear changes are also dramatic. I demoed a Jadis power amp in my home and almost cried when I had to return it. It really made the HL5s sound like God was being channeled.

 

Wow!

 

I have the SHL5 plus - I listen to a wide cross section of music, but mostly rock.

I actually traded in a pair of Compact 7s for the HL5+, so I can vouch that the new speakers have a more modernized Harbeth sound. Compared to the Compact 7s, the SHL5+ has clearly better high frequency extension - a very sweet, non fatiguing, but detailed and extended treble with the same quality midrange (meaning awesome). The bass is much cleaner and tighter than the c7, which tends to bloom a lot more. The SHL5+ are actually very neutral and super clean.

I haven't heard the original SHL5, but my understanding is that it's sound was more in the vein of the Compact 7s. Alan Shaw has all but said that the new SHL5+ speakers are the best he's made yet.

The only criticism I could give is that the SHL5+ may be a touch on the dry side, specifically with regard to the bass. That said, I just recently paired the Harbeths with a REL s/5 and now it's simply flawless.

 

I wrote about the new 5 Plus here:

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...er-hl5-plus-against-my-harbeth-m30-1s.424089/

 

You think Harbeth's are spendy now. Just wait, within a couple years their prices are most likely to quadruple if not more because of currency changes coming. Should start this fall around Oct, 1.

 

Based on what ? £ t0 $ has never changed that dramatically. £ is likely to weaken making export models more affordable. My gripe about Uk hi-fi is due to the excuse of Globalisation it costs far more than it should on the home market. Some companies don't even bother much with UK sales due to nature of dealers here.

 

Based on we're headed into a sovereign debt crisis. From this fall thru 2020 there will be a lot of turmoil as the UST Bond market finally starts to implode.