The Gearhead

Harbeth 40.1 Speakers / 3-way Monitors w/ Stands I’m finally getting around to writing this blog post, a few months removed from one of the more impressive feats of a speaker that I’ve witnessed. The Music Room is the kind of business that interests everyone in this hobby. We’re not beholden to any brand when it comes to our giant library of used hifi equipment. We try to take the best stuff in hifi audio’s past, so there is an element of curation to the offerings. It’s a great thing to be a part of. And likewise, we love this role and our industry and we try to stay connected and lend a hand where we can. The quickly growing vinyl subscription service and record club called Vinyl Me Please — you may have heard of them from their recent partnership with Classic Album Sundays — is based nearby here, and it’s got franchises popping up all across the country. One of the community-focused things Vinyl Me Please does is host listening and lecture parties called “The Spins” (c...

Harbeth Compact 7ES-2 Bookshelf Speakers Year after year, high end show after high end show, hordes of audiophile attendees murmur amongst themselves and and in my experience, ubiquitously express attraction to one brand of loudspeaker above all, quietly. Sure, there are dozens of high end speaker brands to talk about and hundreds of rooms to visit, and the chatter about this Wilson or that Tidal speaker fills the noisy halls of the high end show host hotels. “Did you see those freaking MBLs?!”, etc. But what I’m talking about is the quieter, between-friends chatter. Within those murmurations, year after year I’ve heard near constant mention of one specific British speaker maker: Harbeth. You know what I’m talking about. The VAC room was cool, the Scaena speakers were eye-popping, etc. But did you hear those Harbeths in the Vinnie Rossi room? Holy @#$%! Now, Harbeth is not free from direct praise, by the way. It is quite often mentioned in best-of-show roundups by reviewers...