Harbeth Review

At last, our demonstration sets of the P3ESR 40th Anniversary Edition loudspeakers are here. As Scotland's expert retailer for Harbeth loudspeakers, and two of our five Edinburgh-based team members using their speakers at home, we feel more than qualified to review the upgraded, limited edition standmount beauties.

In 1997 Alan Shaw and his team at Harbeth decided to launch a speaker based off the BBC LS5/9 for use in the BBC studios, the Monitor 30 (or “M30”) – fifteen years later, the year of the company’s 35th anniversary, Shaw and his team would launch one of the most well received speakers Harbeth has ever produced, the Monitor 30.1.

There is a reason why Harbeth’s P3ESR speaker has won multiple awards from hi-fi critics around the world. This shoebox size speaker has the amazing ability to sound like a much larger speaker. It also works incredibly well in many rooms as its sealed cabinet design makes this one of the less fussy speakers that Harbeth produces

When Harbeth decided to update their flagship monitor, the M40.2 (£10,595+), it was the talk of the town among hi-fi enthusiasts. Recently, I've the ultimate pleasure of listening to the M40.2 with an exceptionally good Naim system, which consisted of the NAP 300 (£7,295) and the NAC-N 272 (£3,400). Utilizing the streamer in the 272 made for a clean and tidy system. The Naim had no difficulty in driving the Harbeth speakers and was at ease moving their 300mm bass driver.

Last week a customer called up asking to listen to our set of Harbeth Compact 7ES-3 speakers. I happily arranged the demonstration for him. Truth be told, I often overlook the C7ES-3 speakers, but for good reason and at the same time, to my discredit.

Why fix something that isn't broken? This is a question that can be universally transmitted and asked in many industries. It is a question that every hi-fi manufacturer should be asking themselves on a regular basis without concerns to increasing sales of a certain product or product range. It seems as though Alan Shaw questions himself with this regularly and it could explain why it has taken almost a decade and a half to bring out the seventh generation of the Super HL5 - turning into the Super HL5 Plus.