Thoughts on Harbeth P3ESR as an upgrade?

Well, yeah... Umm...
It literally took ONE song comparison.
I threw on Dave Brubeck – Time Further Out, an original 1961 six-eye pressing and cued-up Unsquare Dance.
First play on the Harbeth's, then swapped the cables into the CM1's and dropped the needle again... to say I was astonished, would be the understatement of my short audiophile career.
My good mate was with me, and looked over at me and said "You're hooped."
I put a deposit on a pair of Rosewoods.
I'll write more later, but beyond a quantum leap in sound.

 

I think the Compact 7's are quite over priced at four grand, but I love the SHL5's and think they're worth the money.

PS: Has anyone mentioned the LS50 in this thread? I own those and a pair of P3ESR's. If you like one it's worth hearing the other.

 

Welcome to the club!

 

Thank-you my good man!

 

You guys nearly have me talked into some Harbeths

 

This one's a no-brainer. The P3 demands love.

 

Honest to God. You have to hear them.
I listened to other speakers for hours back in the spring when I started to hunt for an upgrade.
Comparing the half-dozen I went through seriously got closer and closer as I narrowed it down to the CM1's and the Venere 1.5's... but I mean, it was CLOSE.
This was ridiculous. It was night and day within seconds.

 

Best thing I ever did was discover Harbeth, to me they sound like music, pure and natural - most other speakers sound like Hi-Fi, etched chrome on plastic. Personal choice I know, but I have never owned a pair of speakers before where I thought "OK, that's me done, you guys ain't going anywhere before I check out". Quite a nice feeling to be honest, I just buy music now instead of sweating about upgrades or chasing my audiophool tale.

I'm smiling as I write this, as I know where you are right now and it makes me feel good

 

harbeth's are my fave speaker too. For everything.

 

I'm always really picky about how quiet my LPs need to be for me to enjoy them, and I'm pretty uptight about making sure they are pristine for playing – often getting really annoyed if there's a bit of crackle or a few pops on a particular album.
When I was demoing the Harbeth's, there was no anti-static brush, the records we're in decent shape at the shop – but nothing like what I'm used to playing – lots of dust, fingerprints, a few greasy streaks, etc. Basically used LPs. But you know what? I actually didn't care.
For the first time in I don't know how long, I just kept putting albums on without even bothering to see if they were clean or dirty.
It didn't matter because it was like hearing music again for the first time: purely for the joy of listening.
It was a revelation for me.
Any pops or crackles were inconsequential and faded into the background – not even registering to my ears – compared to the speaker's ability to absolutely, naturally, reproduce instruments and voices.

 

Imagine too what would occur when the records get cleaned. Getting a system set up that will play the music out of your records - and takes itself 'out of the way' - should get rid of the obsession for theoretical dead quietness. I am pretty fussy about record condition myself but learned that music quality trumps some extraneous noise or noises. I have original pressings with the occasional crackle, ticks, or pops that sonically trump dead quiet near mint 'other' pressings. No contest. Once you hear music presented right theres no going back.

 

Absolutely.
I think having been in "critical-listening mode" for a few months now – and getting my ears "trained" to a point to be able discern pretty subtle changes in timbre, tonality, coloration, imaging, etc. – it was quite startling to just be slammed by such a momentous difference in sound.
Terry at Soundhounds called it "truth" in regards to the Harbeth sound.
He said something close to "Once you've been listening and understanding how the Harbeth's sound, no one can lie to you about a speaker again. You've heard the truth and there's no going back. Your ears don't lie."
Even with the negligible amount of time with the P3ESR's and the 40.1's that I've spent, I have to agree with him.
This is also a man who has spent decades surrounded by, and listening to, some of the best audiophile equipment money can buy, so I also feel pretty strongly that he knows what he's talking about.

 

Just wanted to add (listening at home now to some Sarah Vaughan) that the Harbeth's made a piano sound like a piano was being played right in the room.
Not a reproduction of a piano, or a facsimile of a piano. A real, honest-to-God piano. Like it was right there.
I can't wait to grab them next month.

 

Infectious enthusiasm, raferx! Compelled to listen to them one day now; especially as I listen to a lot of piano-based music and, so far, haven't heard any speakers render it more realistically than mine happen to. Would love to hear some that did.

 

You are welcome, buddy. I'm glad your GF liked the sonic change enough to overlook the big change in room decor.

Having lived with Rogers LS3-5a speakers in several rooms over the years, I've learned how great small speakers can sound given the right stands and placement. Those Harbeths sounded gorgeous once we gave them some breathing room!

 

Listening to some Dylan and I can't help but keep thinking how much better the LP would sound on the Harbeth's.
I think they ruined me. I used to LOVE these speakers, now they sound shrill in comparison. *sigh

 

As much as I like the Harbeth P3ESR, and I owned them, I like the Spendor S3/5r2 as well. Spendor's latest volley in the BBC mini monitor war is very impressive. Try to give them a listen. Michel Camilo's piano has rarely sounded so good!

 

Yeah, Dylan needs all the help he can get.

jeff

 

LOL. The CM1's just can't do voices like those Harbeth's. I guess it's normal, really. Jags are nice, but you drive a Bentley for a while and suddenly...

 

How did the Harbeth's do on the electronic music you like?

 

Didn't listen to any, but it was the jazz (some Coltrane and Brubeck) and the folk (Van Morrison) that blew my mind.
Seriously, I was convinced I had to have the speakers from one Brubeck cut. I knew it was a foregone conclusion after the A/B with the CM1's.
The way the P3's handled timbre, tonalities and rhythm, just the sheer realism of the playback.
Honestly, I've never heard guitar, sax, drums, piano or vocals sound so absolutely lifelike and convincing – never (except for the Harbeth 40.1's at $12,000).
I just can't see them having any problems with the electronic I like to listen to occasionally, some of which is contemporary (The XX, Daft Punk, Chromatics), but is mostly older '70s and '80s stuff (New Order, Kraftwerk, Joy Division, etc.).
The P3's were just outright authoritative. I never sensed any lack of bottom end – when it was turned up you could feel the standup bass riffs as much as hear them.
Like I said, it was just so damn realistic.

 

Bought Harbeth C7s last year from Soundhounds. Excellent speakers. Great audio store.

 

Yeah, they're awesome. I could see a sitcom developing around them, the name is even perfect for TV.

 

Any thoughts on placement for the P3's? Do they like their space?

 

When I had the the P3ES2's, I found that to be the case. I got a huge improvement from them when I bought Sound Anchors stands and got the tweeters at ear level height. The investment in good stands is well worth it.