Harbeth HL Compact (1980s)

[Ben2001]

I’m buying a pair of Harbeth HL Compact speakers (the ones from the 1980s) for $600 CAD. What should I expect?

 

[Dswankey]

Can you inspect & demo them before purchase?

 

[Ben2001]

Can you inspect & demo them before purchase?

Yes. I was just trying to gauge other peoples thoughts.

 

[Dswankey]

I'd bring along some music that you're familiar with to demo them and then let your ears be the final arbiter, fwiw Harbeths are highly considered here on AK and elsewhere so I'm guessing other peoples thoughts will be mostly positive.

Hopefully some current & past Harbeth owners will stop by and share their thoughts, opinions etc.

 

[sax6]

Harbeth any day for me.

Make shure every driver works properly... at that price.

 

[Tom Brennan]

As cone and dome box speakers go Harbeths are among the best. I had C7s recently and they had excellent tone and imaging but suffered from poor dynamics and also from poor clarity at low levels but that's typical of that kind of speaker.