In Reply to: Well, one sounds more like itself than it does like the other posted by PabloP on June 22, 2014 at 14:38:45:
I know you as a long-time Harbeth lover or at least admirer and I understand that, having lived with 7's, 30's, and 40's myself for quite a while and visited with P3's. And it is interesting to know that you also like Spendors. When I had both SP 1/2's here alongside the Harbeths, I found their differences significant. I had trouble imagining that one could be equally fond of both.
I thought the Spendors strove for an overtly appealing midrange and got that extremely well. I felt their bass was essentially absent, which surprised me given the size of the enclosure and that they were three-way speakers. The Spendors were instantly recognizable on subsequent hearings, sounding, as you say, like themselves. They had a sonic personality, which I have too often called 'charming,' though it is.'
I felt the Harbeths, especially the 30's and 40's were far more transparent, far less conspicuously appealing. I found them by a considerable margin the more objective speakers. But they too sound like themselves in the way that speakers which strive as mightily as they do for neutrality do. They ultimately sounded a bit pedagogical, academic. I often felt they were trying to make an academic point, arguing urgently for the importance of neutrality, somewhat at the expense of other things that came to matter to me more.
There was no need for me to criticize Spendors and Harbeths here to such an extent but I felt I had to be a bit specific about how I hear their differences to make my point. I have enjoyed both from time to time for what they do. And as we know, nobody does everything.
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Follow Ups
- RE: Well, one sounds more like itself than it does like the other - Bob Neill 06/22/1418:44:24 06/22/14 (14)
- RE: Well, one sounds more like itself than it does like the other - PabloP 08:47:53 06/24/14 (1)
- RE: Well, one sounds more like itself than it does like the other - Bob Neill 09:28:34 06/24/14 (0)
- I wonder if mounting the drivers from inside is a precise design choice - beppe61 22:58:56 06/23/14 (11)
- They do it both ways - PabloP 09:23:19 06/24/14 (5)
- RE: They do it both ways ... to achieve the best relative time alignment between the drivers - beppe61 11:18:23 06/24/14 (4)
- You sound like a troll instead of someone sincerely interested in info - PabloP 19:07:59 06/24/14 (3)
- RE: You sound like a troll instead of someone sincerely interested in info - morricab 14:03:24 07/20/14 (0)
- " relative alignment " sorry i did not know about that honestly - beppe61 12:35:23 07/1/14 (0)
- RE: You sound like a troll instead of someone sincerely interested in info - Crazy Dave 10:54:32 07/1/14 (0)
- RE: I wonder if mounting the drivers from inside is a precise design choice - Bob Neill 06:49:41 06/24/14 (4)
- RE: I wonder if mounting the drivers from inside is a precise design choice - beppe61 11:12:45 06/24/14 (2)
- RE: I wonder if mounting the drivers from inside is a precise design choice - Bob Neill 11:26:22 06/24/14 (1)
- RE: I wonder if mounting the drivers from inside is a precise design choice - beppe61 11:38:21 06/24/14 (0)
- RE: I wonder if mounting the drivers from inside is a precise design choice - PabloP 09:09:00 06/24/14 (0)