Navy Guy
Active Member
I understand how musical instruments work. I have been a musician most of my life. That doesn't mean that is what they are doing. They do not say the cabinets operate like musical instruments, only that they use the same construction techniques. That could mean a myriad of things and is really used as a marketing piece.
A speaker is not a musical instrument and striving to vibrate like one doesn't make any sense. It is designed to reproduce the recording of an instrument and vocals as accurately as possible. Any cabinet vibrations only server to color the sound being reproduced by the drivers themselves. Alan Shaw writes in and interview about Harbeth speakers, "I certainly don't see this as an extension of an 'art form' - I'm not trying to enhance reality. Some loud speaker designers, quite legitimately, say that they are trying to express a certain kind of sound, in the same way that an instrument maker would want a certain sound. But that's not what I'm about."
Also from Harbeth's site:
CABINET SYSTEM: Harbeth cabinets are crafted from thin (typically 12mm) panels which, by virtue of their profile, lend themselves to being internally acoustically damped in a way that is impossible with conventional 'thick wall' panels such as 18mm (3/4 inch) chipboard or MDF. We work harmoniously with the knowledge that the human ear is intolerant of buried resonance in the middle frequencies to steer panel resonances out of the critical band and into the Region of inaudibility.
The 'thin-wall' box concept was thoroughly researched by Harbeth's founder at the BBC and we've stuck with it because it works despite the high cost and difficulty of assembly from individual wood panels - and the cabinetmaker's insistence that we should abandon the removable front and back and go for an 'all-in-one' locked solid cabinet. We could - but it would then NOT sound like a Harbeth.
Again, Harbeth never once mentions that their speakers are supposed to vibrate like a musical instrument. I understand the concept of pushing cabinet vibrations out of the midrange where the ear is more sensitive, but this has led to people creating this cult around the cabinet design and the everyone saying of them "vibrating like a musical instrument." This is simply not the case.
A speaker is not a musical instrument and striving to vibrate like one doesn't make any sense. It is designed to reproduce the recording of an instrument and vocals as accurately as possible. Any cabinet vibrations only server to color the sound being reproduced by the drivers themselves. Alan Shaw writes in and interview about Harbeth speakers, "I certainly don't see this as an extension of an 'art form' - I'm not trying to enhance reality. Some loud speaker designers, quite legitimately, say that they are trying to express a certain kind of sound, in the same way that an instrument maker would want a certain sound. But that's not what I'm about."
Also from Harbeth's site:
CABINET SYSTEM: Harbeth cabinets are crafted from thin (typically 12mm) panels which, by virtue of their profile, lend themselves to being internally acoustically damped in a way that is impossible with conventional 'thick wall' panels such as 18mm (3/4 inch) chipboard or MDF. We work harmoniously with the knowledge that the human ear is intolerant of buried resonance in the middle frequencies to steer panel resonances out of the critical band and into the Region of inaudibility.
The 'thin-wall' box concept was thoroughly researched by Harbeth's founder at the BBC and we've stuck with it because it works despite the high cost and difficulty of assembly from individual wood panels - and the cabinetmaker's insistence that we should abandon the removable front and back and go for an 'all-in-one' locked solid cabinet. We could - but it would then NOT sound like a Harbeth.
Again, Harbeth never once mentions that their speakers are supposed to vibrate like a musical instrument. I understand the concept of pushing cabinet vibrations out of the midrange where the ear is more sensitive, but this has led to people creating this cult around the cabinet design and the everyone saying of them "vibrating like a musical instrument." This is simply not the case.
Last edited: