Harbeth Loudspeakers

English maker founded in 1977 by a former head of BBC loudspeaker research, still hand-building thin-wall BBC-lineage monitors in Sussex.

Founded: 1977
Founder: Dudley Harwood
Headquarters: Lindfield, West Sussex, United Kingdom
Manufacturing: Hand-built in Lindfield, England
How to buy: Sold through specialist hi-fi dealers
Known for: BBC monitor lineage, thin-wall lossy cabinets, the in-house RADIAL polymer cone

Currently, we have 5 Harbeth loudspeakers in our database. Below you can find the list of these speakers with their main specs and links to their review pages.

Harbeth Passive Bookshelf(5)

Harbeth Passive Bookshelf Speakers

Model	Frequency	Sensitivity	Impedance	Woofer
Harbeth C7ES-3 XD2	45-20k Hz	86 dB	6Ω	1 x 8"
Harbeth M30.3 XD2	50-20k Hz	85 dB	6Ω	1 x 8"
Harbeth M40.5 XD2	35-20k Hz	86 dB	6Ω	1 x 12"
Harbeth P3ESR XD2	75-20k Hz	83 dB	6Ω	1 x 4.5"
Harbeth SHL5plus XD2	40-20k Hz	86 dB	6Ω	1 x 8"

About Harbeth

Dudley Harwood left the BBC research department in 1977 and founded Harbeth to continue the work outside it. The BBC design philosophy Harbeth still follows runs against modern orthodoxy: instead of a heavy inert cabinet, a deliberately thin, damped wall that stores less energy and releases what it does store quickly and low in the band. Alan Shaw took over in 1986 and developed RADIAL, the polymer cone material that replaced the BBC-era polypropylene.

Harwood had been head of the BBC loudspeaker research department; the company name joins HARwood and his wife ElizaBETH.

Harbeth sits at the centre of the BBC monitor tradition that also produced Spendor, Rogers and the LS3/5A - a distinctly British line of thinking about speakers that prioritises the midrange and the human voice over bass extension.

Alan Shaw bought the company from Harwood in 1986 and has designed every model since.

Notable models: Monitor 30.2, Compact 7ES-3, P3ESR, Super HL5plus.

Official Harbeth website

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