Harbeth Speakers - Need Info Fast.

[ProAc_Fan]

Ignorance is a thrift shoppers best ally. He has a very valuable set of Harbeth's right under his nose and he's more excited about his white van speakers. You are a very lucky camper Dave and I will also gladly refund you your $79 should you care to get rid of them. Hell I'd even spring for Celts gallon of milk too.

Mike

 

[michael w]

Originally posted by Bauhausler
Those look like the woofers I need to fix my Harbeth HL Compact 7 ES speakers. Be careful with the watts into those. The cones appear to be fragile, from my experience.
Oh, and I paid over a grand for mine, against an original price north of $3k. Harbeths are real swell.
Enjoy!

I wouldn't put those in a Compact 7ES'.

The older HL Mk4 used polypropylene bass drivers.
Your newer Compact 7ES uses a Radial (TM) unit.




cheers

 

[Bauhausler]

Originally posted by michael w
I wouldn't put those in a Compact 7ES'.

The older HL Mk4 used polypropylene bass drivers.
Your newer Compact 7ES uses a Radial (TM) unit.




cheers

I'm glad you know something about these things. The woofers were damaged by mysterious forces some time ago and I just put them up. I haven't done any research to see if replacements are available in the US. There appeared not to be a US distributor at the time.
One of my woofers has a distorted edge, almost like the surround was attached improperly. I can probably fix that with the right adhesive and some shims, as the butyl surround peels right off the poly cone. The other woofer has a radial split running 80% of the way from the VC to the outer edge. No idea how that happened. It's probably repairable, but would certainly affect the sound. Any info you could pass along would be appreciated.
Cheers

 

[Bauhausler]

Originally posted by botrytis
Bau,

Go to http://www.harbeth.com and look for information there. They do have some spare parts and rebuild kits.

Dave

Thanks. I just fired off a couple of emails and we'll see what happens. The last time I was at the site, over 2 years ago, they had no email contact for customers and I was too lazy to get up early to make the overseas phone call.
These are really nice speakers and I'm looking forward to getting them working again.

 

[DaveM]

Mike, this town is full of idiots. The ad below was in yesterdays paper:

LAWN equipment, John Deere riding mower, microphones, speakers, tools, bicycles, photo equipment, Sun. Feb. 8, 8-11 a.m. 2109 E. 47th Pl.

So one of my buddies (Dave K. on AK) is waiting at this house this morning before 8:00 am. When the guy opens up he doesn't see any speakers so he asks about them. The guy says, oh I sold those yesterday, some people came by when I was working out here and they bought them. Then he asks what they were and the guy says JBL L100's! Then he asks how much he sold them for, now get this... $20 /pair! The guys says they were old and he didn't like them because they were hard to move around, says he likes the new stuff better because it's lightweight and easy to move.

Dave

 

[michael w]

Hi Bauhauser,

As you may have found out there is a new US importer:

Fidelis AV
303 South Broadway
Route 28
Salem NH03079
USA

Phone: 1-603-894-4426

e-mail: info@fidelisAV.com

web site: http://www.fidelisAV.com


Over the last 18 months Harbeth has gained a much higher profile in the USA thanks to the new importer and some very good press from TAS, Enjoy The Music and Stereophile.

There's also a Yahoo Harbeth group with some very knowlegeable posters, including Dr. Robert E Greene ( who wrote the excellent TAS review of the Monitor 40).

http://www.smartgroups.com/message/listbydiscussion.cfm?GID=742402

Good luck with getting your Compact 7ES running again.
They are really superb speakers.


cheers,

 

[jomina]

Originally posted by Bauhausler
I'm glad you know something about these things. The woofers were damaged by mysterious forces some time ago and I just put them up. I haven't done any research to see if replacements are available in the US. There appeared not to be a US distributor at the time.
One of my woofers has a distorted edge, almost like the surround was attached improperly. I can probably fix that with the right adhesive and some shims, as the butyl surround peels right off the poly cone. The other woofer has a radial split running 80% of the way from the VC to the outer edge. No idea how that happened. It's probably repairable, but would certainly affect the sound. Any info you could pass along would be appreciated.
Cheers

That all sounds pretty unusual to me (I also own a pair of Compact 7s). I think Alan Shaw, the owner of Harbeth, would be interested in hearing about (and probably seeing) the faults you describe here. Be ready with theserial number as each pair is individually tested, measured and video'd before it leaves the factory and Alan might want to take a look at those units' history.

That's a fabulous buy on the Compacts BTW. The only problem will be when you eventually need to replace the drivers which not made any more. Any replacements found are unlikely to match Harbeth's strict matching criteria.

I love my C7s, they are the best best all-round speaker I have heard. They have just the right balance for my tastes - retaining the classic BBC virtues, but adding better clarity and dynamism and with a midrange that is... truthful.