Or is it time for a quick paddle with the pink fishes ?
Sold my Compact 7ES-2s a few months back. It was a sad day but they were just too bulky for the lounge. Matt.
Morning Matt, could you give me a quick compare and contrast on GB1 v 7 ? I have DB1's but have also had a listen to GB's on a couple of occasions so have a fair idea of the sound. Anything particular you miss about the Harbeth's, anything the pmc's do that they didn't ? My guess would be how bass is handled, but would be interested in the long term 'living with' view. And what size is your lounge ? Thanks, Coda
My lounge is a reasonable size – around 16x14. The speakers fire across the short length and have to be placed pretty close (a few cm) to the rear wall. The comparison is slightly complicated in that in the switchover the flooring was changed from fitted carpet to laminate but I do have a large rug that covers most of the floor between the speakers and the listening position. The Harbeth’s strengths are undoubtedly the mid range and the stereo imaging. Pin point voices produced quite beautifully. Reminded me very much of the Spendor BC1s in this respect and imaging was very close to my old KEF Ref 2-2s (which were outstanding IMO). Bass was good and full (being close to the rear wall probably emphasised this a bit but it was pleasant effect nonetheless and not boomy at all). They went fairly deep, certainly deep enough to reproduce the lowest notes of a bass guitar authentically i.e. low enough for most people save pipe organ fans. Enter the GB1s which, although ex dem, were not fully run in. First impression was bloody hell they do deep – amazingly deep for 14cm bass drivers and small, slim cabinets. Their bass really is rather fine and has a lovely flow to it – really gets the foot tapping more then the Harbeths. The mid range isn’t as good as the Harbeths but they still produce realistic vocals and they are very open and detailed without being bright. My biggest initial disappointment with them was the imaging – I had real trouble getting the vocals to appear central and focused – there was a lot of messing around with positioning and toe in. I settled on a fair amount of toe in – you can barely see the inside sides of the speakers from the listening position. I’m fairly satisfied with the imaging now but they do seem to be one of those speakers where you can’t be far off the sweet spot if you want good imaging. I guess it also depends how important pin point imaging is to you – to me if the vocals aren’t central and beautifully focussed then it really annoys me whereas people looking more for PRAT rather than focus would be delighted. I do also wonder how much say the room is having with the imaging. I did discuss this with a chap at Audio Excellence and he said they had problems getting the imaging right with the bigger OB1s and suggested that the sheer amount of deep bass they put out doesn’t help the imaging. I’m afraid I don’t know enough about room acoustics and the interaction between frequencies to know whether there is anything is what he said. So, in conclusion, yes there are things I miss about the Harbeths and I could see myself going back to them in a few years if I have the room for them – and then maybe the bigger Super HL5s (or whatever they are called). However, the GB1s are groovy little speakers, have fantastic bass for their size, and really let the music flow into the room. They are beautifully made, look great and have incredibly lounge friendly dimensions (only 165mm wide). Matt.
Thanks Matt, that pulls a few thoughts together for me. Have never had a problem with imaging with DB1's, in fact I've got them near straight as this seems best for the bass (what there is). My impression of the GB had been, yes the bass is good fun, but the DB though (because?) it lacks a bit in comparison comes across as more focused. (And the GB didn't exist when I bought mine). The bit that stood out for me with the Harbeth Monitor 30 was the lovely mid range and yes, voices. So if I'm not missing bass at the moment then the Harbeth route looks promising - except that they are twice the price of the GB1's.
