FS - Harbeth SHL5's plus matching stands, 2mths old, AS NEW
NOW SOLD
Very regrettable sale of my almost brand spanking new Eucalyptus finished Harbeth SHL5’s which were made to order for me by the Harbeth factory. If you know about Harbeths, you’ll know just how good (and sought after) these are.
Almost electrostatic-like midrange with one of the most tonally accurate drivers in the business. This one has the latest 8 inch (200mm) RADIAL unit with a tweeter and super-tweeter (augmenting frequencies above 10Khz). As with most Harbeth speakers, these throw a huge sound-stage and being the largest of the domestic monitors (only the massive M40.1s are bigger) provide the lowest bass response too.
They do all this but contradictorily they are designed for small as well as large spaces and will work well in room sizes of just 3m by 4m upwards. They do like to be pulled out from rear and side walls but if playing at lower volumes I’ve found that they can be left surprisingly close to rear walls without impacting on sound quality.
Sound wise, they are on just the warm side of neutral, they provide resolution which isn’t audiophile-like clinical (or equally fatiguing) in detail but does retain the ability to separate instruments from the mix and clearly define them. The woody notes of a Cello are startlingly real with the best tonal accuracy I’ve yet come across in any loudspeaker. Ditto, human voices are uncannily portrayed to give that “in-room experience”, again like few others I’ve heard. They play rock (loudly) as well as being (IMHO) the loudspeaker for classical and major on simple acoustic material and jazz too. Years of BBC funding and research by Harbeth with Alan Shaw’s expertise have resulted in one of the all time classic loudspeaker designs which I think will remain timeless and suitable for a wide range of genres.
The cabinets in quality are second to none. Fit and finish are up there with the very best (and I mean the very best). These are thin wall construction, very difficult to make properly, yet very strong and solid. They are designed to reverberate to augment bass performance and are responsible for the slight tonally rich but well defined sub 50Hz bass. These things drop cleanly with no roll off to 40 Hz (most speakers are specified with either -3 or -6dB roll off but Harbeth specify their speakers for zero roll off) which means that in-room you still get bass to almost 20Hz, albeit rolled off. Big sound from medium sized cabinets! The beauty is that due to their design which has been optimised for 80 to 85dB or so, these will play quietly very well without sacrificing bass performance but turn up the wick and they don’t harden or become fatiguing, they just play LOUD.
Amplifier matching, quite uncommonly, isn’t a problem. These will run plenty loud enough and very cleanly with just a handful of watts. 25 watts of decent valve power is great. They work well with Quad amps (which is no surprise given Alan Shaw uses older quad amps), Croft and Naim are very popular with them too, but even very modest budget integrateds will work well. The load is very benign despite the pessimistic 86dB sensitivity rating, they have actually been tested at 91dB/1w/1m. Unless you want ear splitting levels from a 2A3 SET amp, just about anything will run them.
The Eucalyptus finish is gorgeous in the flesh. It’s a pale golden colour, streaked with whiter shades which randomly curve their way through the grain pattern with the occasional dark, almost black thin grain boundary lines. The veneer quality is top drawer. I think that these would fit in well and suit all living room spaces from the contemporary minimalist to the more traditional.
Supplied with the speakers are the custom built “something solid” stands which on their own retail for £250 to £300 per pair. These were designed to work in tandem with Harbeth loudspeakers allowing fullness of bass performance. They are fairly heavy and very well finished in a power-coated satin black and come with adjustable ground spikes. The speakers sit on carbon-fibre discs glues to the corners of the stand tops.
Reason for selling? I have an itch that needs to be scratched regarding one of my personal “try before you die” loudspeakers and cannot throw up the opportunity so need to raise funds towards them. I must be mad, since the SHL5s are about as close to the “perfect” loudspeaker that many would aspire to and I could well regret this.
New cost just a few months back was £2988 including the stands for these (All receipt available). As stated, they are just a few months old and come with factory certificates and original boxes. Looking for a very reasonable £2300 all-in for speakers and stands. Both are absolutely MINT and AS NEW. Save yourself £688 on the new cost!!! I'll even throw in some new Talk3 terminated speaker cable if the asking price is met, to the length you need.
Update: If bought within a week of this ad going live for the asking price, I'll also throw in £125 worth of (upgradeded) Reference Pluto cable (1m interconnect set)
Collection in person preferred or can meet half way for fuel costs. Willing to courier but ONLY AT THE RISK OF THE BUYER. If these arrive smashed to pieces, please do not come looking for a refund, as it will be strictly the buyer’s risk to courier. They will be in their original shipping boxes so it is up to the new owner on how delivery is met.
These very rarely come up, especially this new and with matching custom built stands, so grab your chance to invest in what might be the last loudspeaker you’ll ever want to own!
Very regrettable sale of my almost brand spanking new Eucalyptus finished Harbeth SHL5’s which were made to order for me by the Harbeth factory. If you know about Harbeths, you’ll know just how good (and sought after) these are.
Almost electrostatic-like midrange with one of the most tonally accurate drivers in the business. This one has the latest 8 inch (200mm) RADIAL unit with a tweeter and super-tweeter (augmenting frequencies above 10Khz). As with most Harbeth speakers, these throw a huge sound-stage and being the largest of the domestic monitors (only the massive M40.1s are bigger) provide the lowest bass response too.
They do all this but contradictorily they are designed for small as well as large spaces and will work well in room sizes of just 3m by 4m upwards. They do like to be pulled out from rear and side walls but if playing at lower volumes I’ve found that they can be left surprisingly close to rear walls without impacting on sound quality.
Sound wise, they are on just the warm side of neutral, they provide resolution which isn’t audiophile-like clinical (or equally fatiguing) in detail but does retain the ability to separate instruments from the mix and clearly define them. The woody notes of a Cello are startlingly real with the best tonal accuracy I’ve yet come across in any loudspeaker. Ditto, human voices are uncannily portrayed to give that “in-room experience”, again like few others I’ve heard. They play rock (loudly) as well as being (IMHO) the loudspeaker for classical and major on simple acoustic material and jazz too. Years of BBC funding and research by Harbeth with Alan Shaw’s expertise have resulted in one of the all time classic loudspeaker designs which I think will remain timeless and suitable for a wide range of genres.
The cabinets in quality are second to none. Fit and finish are up there with the very best (and I mean the very best). These are thin wall construction, very difficult to make properly, yet very strong and solid. They are designed to reverberate to augment bass performance and are responsible for the slight tonally rich but well defined sub 50Hz bass. These things drop cleanly with no roll off to 40 Hz (most speakers are specified with either -3 or -6dB roll off but Harbeth specify their speakers for zero roll off) which means that in-room you still get bass to almost 20Hz, albeit rolled off. Big sound from medium sized cabinets! The beauty is that due to their design which has been optimised for 80 to 85dB or so, these will play quietly very well without sacrificing bass performance but turn up the wick and they don’t harden or become fatiguing, they just play LOUD.
Amplifier matching, quite uncommonly, isn’t a problem. These will run plenty loud enough and very cleanly with just a handful of watts. 25 watts of decent valve power is great. They work well with Quad amps (which is no surprise given Alan Shaw uses older quad amps), Croft and Naim are very popular with them too, but even very modest budget integrateds will work well. The load is very benign despite the pessimistic 86dB sensitivity rating, they have actually been tested at 91dB/1w/1m. Unless you want ear splitting levels from a 2A3 SET amp, just about anything will run them.
The Eucalyptus finish is gorgeous in the flesh. It’s a pale golden colour, streaked with whiter shades which randomly curve their way through the grain pattern with the occasional dark, almost black thin grain boundary lines. The veneer quality is top drawer. I think that these would fit in well and suit all living room spaces from the contemporary minimalist to the more traditional.
Supplied with the speakers are the custom built “something solid” stands which on their own retail for £250 to £300 per pair. These were designed to work in tandem with Harbeth loudspeakers allowing fullness of bass performance. They are fairly heavy and very well finished in a power-coated satin black and come with adjustable ground spikes. The speakers sit on carbon-fibre discs glues to the corners of the stand tops.
Reason for selling? I have an itch that needs to be scratched regarding one of my personal “try before you die” loudspeakers and cannot throw up the opportunity so need to raise funds towards them. I must be mad, since the SHL5s are about as close to the “perfect” loudspeaker that many would aspire to and I could well regret this.
New cost just a few months back was £2988 including the stands for these (All receipt available). As stated, they are just a few months old and come with factory certificates and original boxes. Looking for a very reasonable £2300 all-in for speakers and stands. Both are absolutely MINT and AS NEW. Save yourself £688 on the new cost!!! I'll even throw in some new Talk3 terminated speaker cable if the asking price is met, to the length you need.
Update: If bought within a week of this ad going live for the asking price, I'll also throw in £125 worth of (upgradeded) Reference Pluto cable (1m interconnect set)
Collection in person preferred or can meet half way for fuel costs. Willing to courier but ONLY AT THE RISK OF THE BUYER. If these arrive smashed to pieces, please do not come looking for a refund, as it will be strictly the buyer’s risk to courier. They will be in their original shipping boxes so it is up to the new owner on how delivery is met.
These very rarely come up, especially this new and with matching custom built stands, so grab your chance to invest in what might be the last loudspeaker you’ll ever want to own!
Comments
They do look very pretty.
I look forward to see what the replacements are Paul...!
Best of luck with the sale Paul. They are a bargain even without the generous sweeteners.
Royd & Harbeth: I never said they sounded similar, just that (discerning) Royd owners seemed to gravitate toward Harbs.