Setup
"Overall response is optimized for use away from walls," states a document on the Harbeth website. I followed that direction, assisting Swanbon, who visited for setup. We ultimately positioned the speakers roughly 3' from the front wall, 5' apart, and 4' from sidewalls.
I began my evaluation with vinyl but soon jumped to digital, including the over-performing HoloAudio May DAC fed data from a Roon Nucleus+ powered by Andrew Gillis's excellent Small Green Computer power supply, via a Sonore OpticalRendu and a TRENDnet switch. I controlled Roon with my Apple iPad mini. A PrimaLuna EVO 400 integrated amplifier (70Wpc into 8 ohms, Ultralinear) powered the Harbeths.
Listening
"Il semble que la perfection soit atteinte non quand il n'y a plus rien à ajouter, mais quand il n'y a plus rien à retrancher," wrote Antoine de Saint-Exupéry; he is best known as the author of The Little Prince, but the quote comes from Terre des Hommes. In its earliest English translation, by Lewis Galantiere, the passage reads, "In anything at all, perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away, when a body has been stripped down to its nakedness." This quote comes close to summing up my observations of the SHL5plus XD.
The Super HL5plus XD succeeded at being exceptionally refined, robust, and fun, in roughly equal parts. It was ultradetailed but never surgical. Its immaculate resolution never sounded less than natural, smooth, never processed. The seamlessness the SHL5plus XD bestowed on music, in both tone and dynamics, coupled to its ability to disappear completely, startled me first, then soothed me.
Writing about an earlier version of this speaker, Art Dudley noted its "beauty." Indeed, this may be the most beautiful-sounding speaker ever to grace my West Village crib. But it also conjured a mysterious, beyond-its-specs, inscrutable magic.
I found the SHL5plus XD transparent, in the sense of faithfulness to the recorded event. It didn't turn bad recordings into good ones, but it made listening to well-recorded sounds a special, consuming experience. The SHL5plus XD played with more ease, fluidity, and seamless dynamics than most speakers. Not to sound daft, but at the same time, they seemed to exude a spiritual quality, a life force beyond that of conjoined wood, paper, metal, and polypropylene. They practically gleam from the inside out. This speaker was at once literal—natural—and something more. Magical. Luminous. To the sense of a piece of music recorded in a specific time and place, they added something more, as if those (cabinet?) resonances were not just physical but emotional—as if the speaker tapped memories buried in the music.
By this point, you must think I've snorted fairy dust. I am not suggesting magic in any literal way. I'm trying to find ways to communicate the faultless musicality, exquisite voicing, tone, articulation, lyricism, and mojo I heard from the SHL5plus XDs, which seem to add up to something more than those individual elements. My Spendor BC1s sound sweeter, warmer, soggier. They have a rounder, less dynamic low end. But they lacked that spiritual quality the Harbeths exuded.
My audio running buddy Dr. Cohen noted, while listening to Hermeto Pascoal's Zabumbê-bum-á (LP, Polysom 33368-1): "While the speakers do the basic chores of having excellent frequency balance and soundstage cohesion, it's their liquidity and lack of upper midrange and lower treble grit that is perhaps the most intoxicating element to the sound." While visiting and enjoying John Coltrane's Crescent (LP, Impulse! AS-66), Stereophile colleague Alex Halberstadt said, "Though they are smaller speakers in a smaller space, the Harbeths have a life force and openness similar to the Klipsch La Scalas. They are unambiguously amazing."
If anything, you'd expect an intentionally resonant box to get in the way of decay tails, interfering with themselves and making them shorter; instead, they were off the charts. You might also expect such a design to collapse the stereo image, attaching it to the box. Didn't happen. Imaging and soundstage were similarly profound: an enveloping 3D soundfield, at least with recordings with that potential.
Turning to the HoloAudio May DAC, I streamed music from Qobuz and Tidal via Roon, beginning with UK-centric pop and jazz. If you've read my previous reviews and music features, you know I love the British jazz scene, which is overflowing with talented young musicians who are busy reworking American jazz, adding influences from Caribbean calypso, African highlife, Afrobeat, UK drum and bass, and other musical styles.
Leeds-based ambient trio Mabgate relayed slippery drum rhythms and woozy guitar scrawl on "I Asked" (16/44.1 download, Bandcamp); their humming organ tones and dreamscape reveries recall defunct English band Broadcast. The Harbeths mined Mabgate's ringing, watery reverb and midrange warmth to maximum effect. In "Pigeon," the first single from the album Secret Measure (24/96 FLAC, Rock Action Records) by Glasgow-based duo Cloth, the twin siblings whispered vocals and angular beats that sounded like a somnambulant version of PJ Harvey's "Man-Size." The Harbeths drew a massive soundstage with booming, snapping drumbeats and streaking guitar. "Sunrise Bang Ur Head Against Tha Wall" (24/48 EP, FLAC) from English producer/DJ Nia Archives is a nervous amalgam of vocals, computer-regulated electric bass, and projectile-against-the-skull drum and bass rhythmic tomfoolery. The Harbeths presented those banging sounds with clarity, acuity, and deep-bass thickness. The Harbeths didn't just get the details right; they connected the dots into a musical and irresistible whole.
The SHL5plus XDs did a fine job with female jazz vocals, staying true to their vocal tone and rhythmic phrasing and presenting them on a soundstage that's wide and deep. On "I Walk a Little Faster" from Born to Blue (Decca, FLAC 44.1kHz/16bit), Beverly Kenney's creamy vocal was intimate and (dare I write it?) kissable; this recording places Hal Mooney's large ensemble of brass, piano, strings, and acoustic bass far behind her. Kenney committed suicide in 1960 at the age of 28, but her legacy lives on in six terrific albums, each a singular take on jazz standards. These records are very popular both in Japan and with some record collectors, particularly her Roost recordings.
By contrast, vocalist June Christy is an upbeat life force regardless of material or accompaniment. Her 1954 debut 10", Something Cool (16/44.1 FLAC, Capitol Records), is often credited with kicking off the cool-jazz vocal movement, but Christy's singular strengths transcend any such genre limitations. Her soulful style shines on this debut, which includes a relaxed take on "It Could Happen to You," a resolute version of "The Night We Called It a Day," and a take-charge reading of "A Stranger Called the Blues." Christy's vocal set is large and centered; the Harbeths draped Pete Rugolo's subtle orchestrations around in a way that transforms us into engrossed listeners at a small local bar. The Harbeths' knack for creating a sense of intimacy and closeness within a large soundstage was uncanny and, again, practically spiritual.
Conclusions
The SHL5plus XD may, as Shaw said, be tuned to modern tastes interested in a wider range of music, but I found it less than ideal for rock. It's hard to explain. They worked extremely well with electronic music (like Fuse, the new album by Everything But the Girl) and the rowdier tracks listed in my listening notes above. They're tailor-made for well-recorded classical with its grandeur, spaciousness, and separation, and I very much enjoyed jazz through these Harbeths, especially female vocals. But when I played anything that required major boogie factor—ZZ Top, Led Zeppelin, Mastodon—I found I wasn't satisfied. They seemed to lack the drive needed to fill my small room with convincing rebel sounds.
Yet the Harbeth Super HL5plus XD is easily the finest standmount speaker I've heard, and it challenges most floorstanders for pure musicality and enjoyment. It manages to combine high definition, warmth, soundstage dimensionality, intimacy, lyricism, gracefulness, refinement, insight, and clarity, and to weave those elements into a beautiful, sensuous, fulfilling whole.
 | |||||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||
COMMENTS
Would be interested to read your take on the Graham LS8/1, their updated version of the Spendor BC1, as designed by Derek Hughes. I have found contentment with those (famous last words). I have owned other speakers that do this or that thing better, but when I listen to the LS8/1, I am grateful for the music and don't want anything else.
It is interesting that Ken did not find the cabinet resonances to disturb/alter the sound profile, though it is somewhat unclear from the review ("decay tails were ... off the charts"). I read that to mean the box sound did not deteriorate performance from this subjective perspective. The measurements section implies the resonances may alter this speaker's sound, as does the quote of the the manufacturer himself - "you've got this extremely clean midband and this sort of warm, involving low end, which is ideal for some music.""
I wonder why the reviewer measured the frequency output from the supertweeter, and whether it interfered with the output of the 'regular' tweeter, to create the dip from 10-15kHz? If it was measured on axis, would the response be flat? It seems like it has to be an anomaly considering Harbeth's focus on even frequency response, and not a deliberate design choice, to utilize a tweeter system that would create a significant dip in an area where many users can still hear (10-15kHz), but then a high amount of energy above that, where most buyers of this speaker will not be able to hear... I wonder if Ken noticed this.*
Take it for what it is worth, this review lacks comparison to other speakers, outside of "magical, life force, beauty." Such comparisons are usually in other reviews and are very helpful to the reader who might not have the opportunity to audition this speaker in person against competitors. It also gives no hints at what the sound of the speaker actually is. How does a speaker have "life force"? Maybe that means it does not exhibit dynamic compression. But compared to what? Respectfully this could be more helpful to the reader.
*P.s. is this academic for most readers of this magazine, who will likely experience some hearing loss in this region?
These speakers with an EPDR of 3.02ohms in the bass were a far better speakers to use to review the Audio Research I/50 integrated tube amplifier with last week, than 2 x pairs that had an EPDR's less than 2ohms.
Cheers George
Thanks for great review. The retail price of $7995 is 50% premium over U.K retail price of $5335 in current exchange rate. Please note I deducted the VAT in the calculation because the consumer in U.S. is not subject to it. Just because U.S. consumers are not aware of the facts a U.K. price already includes 20% of VAT (sales tax) importers always charge more to U.S. consumers. Ex) a typical U.S consumer will think this speaker’s U.K. price is $6700 in USD just because the tax system are different between two countries. With shipping and import process, a U.S. consumer is fooled as if they are paying a reasonable price. But, the importer knows about this very well and takes advantages of it. Call it what you think, but I personally am disgusted by it. It’s your money so please spend it however you want. Also, bringing a pair of loudspeakers overseas isn’t easy. So, if you like this brand, you really don’t have a choice. Now you read this, I hope you can get over the fact you paid 50% more just because you live in U.S. and the same importer may charge only 20% premium in other part of Europe. Depending on the exchange rate, sometimes you can pay as much as 80% premium over U.K for this brand for no reason really. So, at least now you can feel happy you are only paying 50% more as of now.
This is very true in regards to BBC or BBC inspired speakers, and also European gear generally -- unfortunately. American retail mark-ups are often absurd, even after accounting for shipping cost, currency fluctuation cushion, customs, etc. It's not uncommon to see a mark-up approaching 100% (over suggested retail abroad) . It appears that in the U.S., distributors/dealers charge what they think they can get away with, whereas in Europe, they charge what they think is fair (there are exceptions of course -- some U.S. dealers are not trying to make a living off hifi, and charge more reasonable prices).
This is true as well when roles are reversed (check out what American gear costs in the UK/Europe...yes it needs to be marked-up, but the spread isn't as absurd as it is in the other direction, when UK/European gear is imported into the U.S.)
People have to decide for themselves if it is worth it to pay the premium. For me, there are plenty of US speaker companies that make great speakers for which I don't have to pay import fees etc..
I agree with both of you. I think it's important to discuss things like this in public when a distributor profits 2x or 3x compared to other distributors over Europe hurting both consumers and manufactures from the lost sale due to the higher price. Like we all said, consumers will decide for themselves. At the end of the day, I wish more people know about it to help making a right decision, and I wish this kind of practice will diminish as time goes.
Do you have some examples of 100% mark-ups? I have seen some price differences but not with those values. It's also the other way around: Apple products are more expensive in Europe but in those cases it's mainly rounded up to the next "logical" price point. E.g. 999 USD vs. 999 EUR.
An 8” mid-woofer crossovered to tweeter at 3500 Hz invites some problems.
Mid-woofer diaphragm diameter is almost twice the wavelength of sound at 3500 Hz.
This results in beaming, starting just below 2000 Hz up to the crossover frequency.
This is clearly seen on polar response graphics.
No loudspeaker design engineer would probably start with a design like this.
But does it sound good? Probably yes. (But can’t do Led Zeppelin, or Yes :)
I have crossed this speaker off my list over this woofer beaming. Thank you for mentioning the crossover points of this speaker. It seems like Allan Shaw wants to keep this a big secret; which is something that I refuse to accept for that kind of money. Andrew Jones used crossover points under 2 kHz with his latest creations (the MoFi SourcePoint speakers), so I don't understand why there are so many speakers that have big woofers crossed over at 2.5 kHz. Seems like Harbeth had made some odd choices with this three way. Their cheaper speakers with 8 inch woofers probably aren't crossed over any lower, either. The super tweeter in the SHL5, is largely a waste of money to me. I don't think I can hear above 13 kHz anymore due to my age, and even if I could, there's only percussion overtones over 10 kHz in most music. I am back to looking at Wharfedale speakers. Mr. Comeau always says their speakers are designed to sound good with every type of music. I would still pick JBL, Zu, or Klipsch speaker, if I wanted the best dynamics when listening to rock music, but those sound too forward and shouty for some people.
SHL5 Plus version (tested in Stereophile May, 2015 and that I owned and enjoyed for several years) has more to do with an incredible reduction in cabinet resonance than new crossover components.
The non XD Plus has an abundance of cabinet resonance while the new HD has cabinet resonance that is much lower in amplitude, has a huge decrease bandwidth and decays much more quickly.
Not a bad thing but definitely not text book Harbeth lossy design either.
Herb has been noted to describe speaker sound by noting that drivers sound like the material they are made of. (Pardon me if I paraphrased poorly.)
In my experience with Harbeth speakers I have found that to be stone cold true, but it doesn't seem to get mentioned much.
Thanks for a great read, by the way!
___
I like this part: "Good stuff, it makes me happy, but satisfaction is fleeting and soon I—we—need another new fix. You find yourself exploring again..."
In matters of romance and Hi Fi... ;-D
I am never surprised when I meet someone listening to vintage gear and hear them say, "I had those. Man, I wish I hadn't sold them." There is a season for each speaker, under Heaven...but we know seasons are cyclic. Hi Fi works that way, too.
I have found a great way to stay fresh: I keep all my old stuff and when I get that "New is better" urge, I rotate something I already own and get 99% as much joy, on the cheap.
Harbeth says its drivers are made of a "bespoke plastic compound"(https://harbeth.co.uk/harbeth-about-us-harbeth-technology/). So these speakers sound like bespoke plastic compound? Even if yes, I have no concept of what bespoke plastic compound sounds like. Again with respect to the reviewers, this is not helpful to those reading to understand the sound of these or any speakers. My constructive criticism with this review is it doesn't really answer the question of what the speaker sounds like.
Imagine whacking the material in question, or bending and quickly releasing it, or the sound of mylar snapping in air. I think Herb makes a great point to think about.
Thump a plastic cone versus paper or metal....different materials seem to have an intrinsic sound.
Herb could audiophile-splain it better. Check his columns and reviews, this pops up from time to time.
I think the concept of "speaker drivers, when playing music, sound like what they are made of" is based more on a sort of intuition, a folk notion of "how things would work" more than actual engineering principles.
First, it wouldn't make sense that speaker drivers could produce the vast array of sounds they could, if you were likely to hear the sound of the driver materials overlayed. And I'm not sure there are good engineering/psycho-acoustic reasons to expect it either. Yes in principle you can get audible break up or cone resonances, but they can be controlled to below audibility.
I used to have that intuition, e.g. "metal dome tweeters sound like metal..they do cymbals great, but add a metallic bite to other sounds." But even anecdotally I've heard speakers with metal drivers sound organic, and speakers with paper drivers sound more metallic (which I think has more to do with dispersion/frequency response characteristics).
I have owned many speakers (and still own a variety), that use paper drivers, plastic, metal, carbon fibre, etc. I currently own Thiel 2.7 speakers, all metal drivers, driven by CJ amps, and I detect no metallic character overlayed at all. Even compared to my Spendor S3/5 speakers, or older speakers I have using paper drivers.
I read those articles to describe the sound of enclosures more than drivers, if I remember right, but maybe I don't. It is one thing to say that it "sounds like a paper driver," or "it sounds like a plastic driver," or even, "it sounds like a thin-walled wooden box enclosure," and another to describe what the sound of a paper driver or thin walled box enclosure sounds like. Rambling off topic.
Anyway I was just wondering about the high frequency response and wanting to understand how/if the cabinet resonances impacted the sound to the listener, if noticed at all. On re-read, I suppose they were not noticed
You wrote that the Harbeths had not played satisfactorily with ZZ Top and Led Zepelin. At this point, I would like to point out that you can never exclusively test a loudspeaker or any component and then evaluate it afterwards. When you test, and this applies equally to all situations, you are always testing one component, within an existing system of other components that have an enormous influence. A loudspeaker can only give out what has been put into it. If one tests, one never tests only one component alone, it is always also the sum of the further devices involved, which lead to the result. Only if one would get to the bottom of this loudspeaker in many other systems, a more complete impression would be achieved. This is not to say that your system would not be able to do this, but rather that the combination of the various elements can lead to this impression. I wouldn't be surprised that these speakers could definitely rock in another system.
... high-power solid-state amplifier with the Harbeths.
At UK hi-fi shows, where Alan Shaw can choose the amp, his speakers are driven by a Hegel amp that can supply over 350W continuous and 400W peak power into a 6 ohm load.
For rock music, consider adding a pair of REL S/812 subwoofers.
A full review should utilize different amplifiers to report how the speakers respond. I appreciate people like tube amplifiers, but there is no disputing that tubes alter the response of the speaker. I think he used PrimaLuna, and the measurements of those amplifiers change the response significantly and more than many of the other tube amplifiers this magazine reviews and measures. Best to have a 'fair fight' with a clean solid state amp to describe how the speaker actually sounds.
I don't know how it's done in the rest of the world but in The Netherlands Hegel seems to be the golden standard for loudspeaker demo's. Which kinda makes sense given their neutrality and extremely high damping factor which means you hear the speaker, not the amp.
It is super annoying that the speakers again were measured on the super tweeter axis, whilst they are are tuned to be listened to and measured on the tweeter axis. This went wrong the first time the speakers were measured and now it happens again. Why?
It is super annoying that the speakers again were measured on the super tweeter axis, whilst they are are tuned to be listened to and measured on the tweeter axis.
As I noted in the measurements, the Harbeth's response 5° below the super-tweeter axis is virtually identical to that on-axis.
John Atkinson
Technical Editor, Stereophile
Based on accounts I have read, which include quotes from Spencer Hughes. the origin story of the LS3/6 is slightly different than the account in this review. The BC1 came first, as Hughes developed that speaker in his own home. He took a prototype to hi-fi dealers to demo and received interest in marketing it. He then went to the BBC, which informed him that as his employer, the Beeb had first right to any speakers he developed. The design was designated as the LS3/6 in the BBC roster, then licensed to Hughes for use in his own enterprise, Spendor. The Rogers LS3/6 was a product of Jim Rogers also licensing the design for production, as BBC designs were available to any manufacturer who paid the BBC's specified fee.
That design, with refinements. took many forms: the Spendor SP1 series, Harbeth's HL series, Stirling Broadcast's LS3/6. An interesting through line is that Derek Hughes, Spencer's son, was primary designer for the Spendor and Stirling speakers, and had done design consulting work on the HL5.
FEATURED VIDEO
| Loudspeakers Amplification Digital Sources | |
Analog Sources Accessories Featured | |
Music Columns Retired Columns | |
Show Reports | |
Features Latest News Community | |
Resources Subscriptions |
© 2025 Stereophile
