Castle Howard S3

Yes - it's another 'have you heard these speakers' thread from me and I know the ultimate answer is listen to them yourself but I've seen a brand new pair available at around 60% of list price (plus they'd definitely pass on the WAF).

They're clearly a little unusual in that they have an upward firing driver but all I've read suggests they are pretty decent loudspeakers.

Any views?

Thanks,

Matt.

 

MattF,

I'm a big fan of Castle gear, started out with Severn 2se's , but having gone to dem the Howards ended up buying the Sterling 3 instead. The upward firing drivers for me did not work, the level of general sound was nice but in my room did nothing for image precision, perhaps this may not be the case in your house, but you may find the Sterling generally less room dependant than the Howard. No point telling you to listen at home before you decide, you know that makes sense already!

 

If you have a large room, consider the Conway 3 too. They are superb.

 

Oh yes, forgot the Conway's, they are really nice too.

 

Matt,

I've been doing a bit of research on Castle speakers myself as I know of ex-display Stirling and Harlechs going for £500 (which is pretty good value esp. for the Harlechs). It's worth emailing Castle themselves from the link on their website. The info I got back was that the Howard/Harlech are better with classical music and the Stirling/Conway better all-rounders.

I've heard a lot of people raving about the old Castle Chesters - in the current lineup this matches up to the Castle Conways which have had rave reviews in the mags. The Castle Stirlings are very similar to the Conways except slightly smaller and with a thinner cabinet.

As you say they have a high WAF, they are very well built and the real wood finishes are beautiful.

Mike

 

Matt, have a real good listen to a pair mate.

I remember demo'ing Castle Harlechs following mad-frenzied reviews about 8 years ago.

I found the presentation muddy and slow. The sound of them had split the shop staff in two. Half the staff thought they were amazing and one guy was getting a pair, the other two thought the same as me. They really are a different sounding speaker.

To my listening preferences a pair of Ruark Talismans tore them apart.. but thats subjective to the way I like music to sound, and you may love them.

Chris

 

Okay guys - I'm not actually going to have to investigate Castle now because.....

I've managed to secure a pair of Harbeth Compact 7ES-2 in the cherry finish I was after. These are the same as the ones I missed out on via ebay (in the last few seconds!) a week or so ago so I am delighted to have found an another pair.

The Howard S3's in question are still available incidentally on ebay for £899 buy-it-now which ain't bad for a brand new pair in the more expensive yew veneer.

I'm just looking forward to getting the Harbeths now - all I need to do is to get some suitable stands - I'm thinking Atacama SL300/SL400 - the Something Solid custom made jobbies are supposed to be really good but I just know the wife won't want them in the lounge - she's already said the Harbeth's look like the '70's style speakers they used to have at school!

I'd like to say thanks to all the help received from you guys in my quest for speakers.

Matt.

 

Hope you like them Matt!

 

Cheers mate - I'm sure I will like them.

Funnily enough I showed the wife a picture of the Something Solid stands - she reckoned they look like someone's 5th year school metalwork project! I can't halp but agree with her on that one. She also made me admit that the Atacama SL's are not things of beauty.

I'm checking out the prices/design of the HNE cableway stands but only if they can do them in a matt granite finish otherwise - in her words - "Polished black granite with a cherry cabinet on top - god that will look like a kitchen!"

Plan B is to get some custom made in real cherry veneer to match the speaker cabs and as it happens I'm playing golf on Friday in the same group as a chap who owns/runs his own top quality cabinet making business up in Gloucester so I might take him a sketch and ask him to price it up.

Matt.

 

Matt,

I got some Tallis stands - utterly gorgeous, bespoke but not cheap but they do cheaper but still good looking stands. Try here

They also "sound " superb.

Cheers
Jeff

 

Matt,
Now you are "in the fold" so to speak, it is time to initiate you into the deeper mysteries of the Harbethian cult.
Repeat after me:
The purpose of stands is to bring the tweeter up to ear height.
This mantra must be repeated 100 times a day. More when you feel any urge to spend money on wanky non-orange non-B&Q wire.

 

What's the penalty for leaving the cult Joel? certain death?

 

That's really weird because 5 minuts ago I was looking at the ifdesigns site - nice looking but I'd have to ask it if they can do them in lower heights (they only quote down to 500mm) and if they can do cherry.

The only question on those is whether the Compact 7's would look a little large atop stands that have a fairly slim single column. The wider the column the better with wide speakers like the 273mm Compact 7's. It's the same with the Kudos stands - nice and good performers but I'm sure the C7's would look like they were teetering up there.

If it were down to me only I'd have probably ordered the Atacama SL's already as they are specifically made for larger speakers and aren't that expensive.

Matt.

 

In most rooms the C7s are going to be, shall we say, imposing. A certain amount of spousal re-orientation may be required before actual placement begins...
I've found that three or four small columns are easier to get accepted than a single massive column.
Whatever you do, these look like large 1970s style speakers. Just accept that and enjoy them, they really are rather good.

Data:
As I believe you have discovered, once an initiate always an initiate. There is no escape.

 

Well, I've got them and they look very nice - a fair old size but not too big in my room. Can't fire them up yet though as I don't have any stands or, crucially, a CD player yet. Also I need to build the shelves for the amp and CD player.

On the stand front, those HNE cableway's are the nicest I've seen: £400 though

Matt.

 

Here's a page that recommends suitable stands for the Compact 7:

http://www.signals.demon.co.uk/harbethatsignals.html

 

Been there me old mate:

I'm sure they work well but they are god-damn ugly. It's either the HNE Cableways or I get some custom made.

For the latter I was thinking of using maybe 30mm MDF for the top and base plates with a single large central pillar which would be 'mass-fillable'. I'd then get the whole thing (apart from the top plate and underside) veneered in real cherry wood.

As I said, if it were down to me alone I would have ordered a pair of Atacama SL400's already.

Matt.

 

Avoid top plates as much as possible. The resulting Allison effect "bounce" will have the hounds of REG after you.

 

Could you get something like those and then build a wooden box to cover up the vertical columns, veneered as needed? Wilmslow Audio sell iron on veneer you could probably use.

 

Congratulations on the new purchase. A fine choice.

I'm using a pair of Custom Designs 4 pillar welded stands for my Harbeth K6s - they're no longer in the Custom Designs product range but they still make them to order, with whatever height and top plate you like. Don't cost that much either, £150 tops. REG would hate them, as they're made of metal rather than wood, and don't have a cloth on top of them. (If anyone wonders what the hell that's all about they'll need to join the Harbeth User Group mailing list.)

If I was at home I could post a picture. But I'm not so I can't, will take a picture later when I get home.

-- Ian