About The Harbeth SHL5plus XD Speakers
The model line that launched the Harbeth company is universally revered for its big, beautiful sound. The SHL5plus XD loudspeaker version takes the Harbeth tradition of stunning musical involvement to another performance level.
The Ultimate British Domestic Monitor - A Loudspeaker That Is Both Explicit & Truthfully Beautiful: The definitive Harbeth loudspeaker delivers the ultimate high-end audio experience. The SHL5plus XD gets the very best from the Harbeth-made 200mm RADIAL2™ bass/mid driver in a cabinet that is skilfully designed according to the pioneering research undertaken by the BBC. The system sound is large, powerful and transparent with an astonishing freshness.
There are music experiences in life so epic that you wish they never end, with the SHL5plus XD you can relive that moment again, and again.
Beautiful Sound At Home: Crafted by one designer to convey the recording not to reinterpret it, there is consistent musicality right across the Harbeth loudspeaker range. Deciding on the best Harbeth for your system will come down to three things: what size speaker you're comfortable with, what power handling and frequency range you need, and what your budget can stretch to. No matter which model you choose you can be sure your speakers will have the natural, realistic, engaging sound Harbeth's are renowned for.
The fantastic tonality, the selection and use of the finest materials throughout and sourced from the best suppliers around the world all combine to a lifetime of listening satisfaction and pride of ownership. Customers regularly comment that their Harbeths are the best investment money can make.
Radial Cone Technology: In 1990 Harbeth embarked on an ambitious three year research programme, supported by the Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) to develop a new speaker cone material.
Alan Shaw: "We had three graduate engineers here, half funded by the government and half funded by us, who looked at the whole mysterious business of the acoustical properties of loudspeaker cones. It was an enormous project, and part of the ongoing process was to invent a material, make a number of samples of it and then from that, calculate its density and acoustic properties and so on.
We plotted the mechanical properties of the materials versus frequency, and started to understand what was going on acoustically inside the plastics. Eventually we realised that what we wanted was something that was very stiff in one frequency band and had certain characteristics, and yet had different characteristics in another band and yet other characteristics in yet another frequency band! So we got into the business of blending different materials whereby we could optimise the frequency response and the acoustic quality according to the ratio of different materials we had combined in the blend.
At the end of it we came up with an injection-moulded material which we called RADIAL (from Research and Development In Advanced Loudspeakers). It would have been very hard to get a supplier to make suitably small quantities of this custom-blend as sheet material for vacuum forming. Fortunately, injection-moulding overcame this problem and gave a huge performance benefit as well."
RADIAL™, now in Mk 2 form, is still unbeatable for clarity and resolution and is used in all Harbeth speakers.
Linfield Factory: Lindfield production is the hub of the Harbeth operation, where batches of loudspeakers are assembled every day. One day you'll see P3ESR's alongside and dwarfed by the mighty Monitor 40.3s under assembly, the next day the SHL5plus alongside the C7ES-3. Harbeth only builds to order, and with 95% of production in-bulk and destined for export customers, the factory has a full order book for months ahead.
Loudspeaker design and manufacture, rather like the crafting of musical instruments, is a particular combination of art and science. Aside from the natural variations in veneers — which make for variety on the production line — art hands over to science as the only way to control consistency. There are a hundred or so piece parts that combine onto a finished loudspeaker, and all of these are hand-assembled by experts who have worked together at Harbeth for a combined 60 years. Harbeth know their products inside out!
"Visitors are amazed at how efficient Harbeth is at production." Alan Shaw – Designer, Harbeth Audio Ltd
Harbeth In Society: Harbeth Audio has been hand-making high-quality loudspeakers for over thirty years. The products are exported to Hi-Fi enthusiasts around the world, and the brand is also popular with broadcasters.
Unlike modern, snap-together boxes Harbeth speakers give many decades of service, often outliving their users. Since they have a virtually indefinite life there's no need for any Harbeth speakers to be thrown away.
Every Harbeth is made in an environmentally-friendly way, using long-established methods. They can therefore be rejuvenated because of the expensive, but traditional, way they are designed and built. Further, Harbeth work closely with their suppliers to encourage the most sustainable approach possible.
Understanding The XD Series – An Interview with Alan Shaw
With the success of the previous series, why did Harbeth need to change it? As you know, we have been running the Standard series alongside the Anniversary series on our production line for a few years. You would be surprised at how few components are common to these two series. The cabinets are different (veneer choices and cut-out for the terminals), all the capacitors are of a different style, shape and size on the crossover boards and there is an adaptor board in the Anniversary speaker to convert the connection of the WBT terminals into a long-term 'Harbeth standard' for internal wiring.
Taken together, this has expanded the number of unique products that we offer to over forty-five, and that has proved to be a complex logistical matter for a small company. So the core rationale behind the planned phase-out of the Anniversary series has been 'simplification and standardisation' – the new XD series has reduced forty-five product lines into sixteen, with efficiency gains throughout production.
How did you first approach the challenge of improving the new XD series? Interesting question. My first desire was to eliminate all the cosmetic features of the Anniversary series as that moment of celebration has now passed. That means, any elements which added complexity (such as the WBT connectors), even though they looked impressive, had to be removed. Of course, the customers had become accustomed to the Anniversary sonic performance and we had to at least match that in the XD series, but in a simplified package. The art was to know what features added complexity without justified sonic advantage and remove only those.
What are the main innovations that have made the difference to the sound of the new XD series? My test and measurement facilities give me a sonic 'microscope' into the performance of the speaker. Over the years I have invested in a more and more powerful analytical 'microscope', and small deviations from perfection that I could not observe years ago are now very obvious. So I have flattened-out small 'lumps and bumps' in the frequency response by using custom made resistors, coils and capacitors. So the overall sound is better integrated bass/mid/top.
In particular, which speaker are you most proud of in the new range? I've always had a particular fondness for the Compact 7. I like the form factor. When I heard the Compact 7ES-3 I could hardly believe that it was the product of my own creation! Of course, the completely redesigned P3ESR-XD is also very special.
If you had to summarise the effect of all these changes? I have, coincidentally, been reading over the last year about Japanese management practice, and in particular the influence of Honda in LEAN manufacturing philosophy. It seems that business efficiency is really the secret of great success, and the XD series is not just another Harbeth family, but the encapsulation of a shift in Harbeth's approach to production.
Harbeth SHL5 Plus XD Review
"More than one audiophile has found hi-fi contentment in a pair of Harbeth loudspeakers. Founded by former BBC engineer Dudley Harwood, in West Sussex, England, Harbeth Audio Ltd. has sold thousands of loudspeakers to people who cherish clean musical expression, luminous tone, and exceptional midrange lucidity, achieved with the company's unusual thin-walled cabinetry. Though generally requiring more than flea watts to drive, Harbeths work well with a wide range of amplification: solid state, reasonably powerful, push-pull tubes—even, probably, high performance class-D. Harbeths have this reputation: That they can put an end to audiophilia nervosa, becoming one's final loudspeaker purchase.
Harbeth's finishes are almost as revered as their sound. Everyone visiting my Manhattan listening den during the review period was knocked out by the review pair's rosewood boxes even before they started making music. Equally lovely were the German-made TonTräger stands, built especially for the SHL5plus XD.
The Super HL5plus XD succeeded at being exceptionally refined, robust, and fun, in roughly equal parts. It was ultradetailed but never surgical. Its immaculate resolution never sounded less than natural, smooth, never processed. The seamlessness the SHL5plus XD bestowed on music, in both tone and dynamics, coupled to its ability to disappear completely, startled me first, then soothed me.
Writing about an earlier version of this speaker, Art Dudley noted its "beauty." Indeed, this may be the most beautiful-sounding speaker ever to grace my West Village crib. But it also conjured a mysterious, beyond-its-specs, inscrutable magic.
I found the SHL5plus XD transparent, in the sense of faithfulness to the recorded event. It didn't turn bad recordings into good ones, but it made listening to well recorded sounds a special, consuming experience. The SHL5plus XD played with more ease, fluidity, and seamless dynamics than most speakers. Not to sound daft, but at the same time, they seemed to exude a spiritual quality, a life force beyond that of conjoined wood, paper, metal, and polypropylene. They practically gleam from the inside out. This speaker was at once literal—natural—and something more. Magical. Luminous. To the sense of a piece of music recorded in a specific time and place, they added something more, as if those (cabinet?) resonances were not just physical but emotional—as if the speaker tapped memories buried in the music.
By this point, you must think I've snorted fairy dust. I am not suggesting magic in any literal way. I'm trying to find ways to communicate the faultless musicality, exquisite voicing, tone, articulation, lyricism, and mojo I heard from the SHL5plus XDs, which seem to add up to something more than those individual elements. My Spendor BC1s sound sweeter, warmer, soggier. They have a rounder, less dynamic low end. But they lacked that spiritual quality the Harbeths exuded.
My audio running buddy Dr. Cohen noted, while listening to Hermeto Pascoal's Zabumbê-bum-á (LP, Polysom 33368-1): "While the speakers do the basic chores of having excellent frequency balance and soundstage cohesion, it's their liquidity and lack of upper midrange and lower treble grit that is perhaps the most intoxicating element to the sound." While visiting and enjoying John Coltrane's Crescent (LP, Impulse! AS-66), Stereophile colleague Alex Halberstadt said, "Though they are smaller speakers in a smaller space, the Harbeths have a life force and openness similar to the Klipsch La Scalas. They are unambiguously amazing."
If anything, you'd expect an intentionally resonant box to get in the way of decay tails, interfering with themselves and making them shorter; instead, they were off the charts. You might also expect such a design to collapse the stereo image, attaching it to the box. Didn't happen. Imaging and soundstage were similarly profound: an enveloping 3D soundfield, at least with recordings with that potential.
… the Harbeth Super HL5plus XD is easily the finest standmount speaker I've heard, and it challenges most floorstanders for pure musicality and enjoyment. It manages to combine high definition, warmth, soundstage dimensionality, intimacy, lyricism, gracefulness, refinement, insight, and clarity, and to weave those elements into a beautiful, sensuous, fulfilling whole." Stereophile
Our Take
This is the one. If you're saving up your shekels and wondering which Harbeth is the best one for you, this is it. Obviously there are a few provisos. You'll need an amplifier of at least 25 Watts but they can handle a lot more and they truly come alive when there's a bit of power on tap. Obviously if your listening room is the size of a cathedral then you should go for the M40.3 XD and if you're restricted to listening in a small bedroom then the P3ESR XD or at a stretch the M30.2 XD would be better choices. But for the vast majority of rooms from medium to larger ones, with all sorts of acoustic properties and with almost any music, the Harbeth SHL5plus XD are the best speakers in the world at anywhere near their price point.
You could extoll their virtues for days, there's just so much to love, but ultimately it comes down to one thing – when you hear these speakers, you just want to keep listening to music. And that, dear listeners, is music to our ears. Save up, buy them, and never think about changing your speakers again.
Main Features & Specifications
- Design: Front Ported Bass Reflex 3-Way Stand Mount Speaker
- 20mm (0.8") Dome Super Tweeter
- 25mm (1") Ferrofluid-Cooled Tweeter
- 200mm (8") Harbeth RADIAL2™ Mid/Bass Driver
- Frequency Response: 40Hz – 20kHz, ±3dB free-space, grille on, smooth off-axis response
- Impedance: 6 Ohms, easy to drive
- Sensitivity: 86dB/2.83V/1m axial
- Amplifier Suggestion: Works with a wide range of amplifiers – suggested from 25 Watts/channel
- Power Handling: 150 Watts programme
- Connectors: Two 4mm Harbeth branded binding posts
- Space Requirements: Overall response optimised for use away from walls
- Stands
- Optimally to bring ears level with tweeters (Tweeter: 475mm up from cabinet base)
- We recommend TonTräger Speaker Stands
- Packing: Single speaker per protective carton
- Available Finishes: Cherry, Rosewood, Walnut
- Grille Colour: Black
- Dimensions (WxHxD): 322 x 635 x 300mm (+12mm for grille and binding posts)
- Weight: 15.8 kg each
- Manufacturer's Warranty: 5 Years
Note: Features & Specifications Subject To Change Without Notice. E&OE.