Hello all,
I need to blow off a little steam if you don't mind. I bought some new Harbeth speakers. Why? Because they sound great! However, some minor other issues have come up that have left me feeling a bit upset with the brand.
1) I bought a pair of P3ESR a week ago. I was very excited to get them and wanted to marvel at the beautiful rosewood finish. I took them out of the box and inspected them under light and what do I find? I find these whitish marks/fingerprints on the speakers. They did not rub off with a cotton cloth. They weren't from me as I used cotton gloves. They were actually embedded in the varnish itself. Okay, perhaps they are faint but they are there. Enough to bother someone knowing they were there. One speaker has 4 of these marks/prints on the side. The other speaker has about 6 marks/prints on the back of it. One clearly looks just like a thumb print. Also, one of the speakers binding posts has an unfinished machined mark across it. I don't think any of this is acceptable. I expected higher standards over at Harbeth. Now, who picks speakers up while they are still wet from being varnished? Furthermore, who signs off on them as being a good enough pair to sell? Well, I know, I have his intials, but I won't say it here. Frankly, you would have to be blind to sign off on those. Maybe my stadards are too high? Maybe I should be a Harbeth inspector? LOL... Anyway, my dealer was very helpful so he swaped them with another pair. This time in the cherry finish. Now these are in the correct condition. No problems at all. The same guy signed off on them so perhaps he was just having an off day in regards to the rosewood pair? Or perhaps it's not him at all but the person packing them up? Using wet or sweaty hands? Who knows. Nothing is perfect all of the time so life goes on... Until a few other smaller problems arise that you find irksome.
2) The Harbeth packing box. The worst time I've ever had opeing up a speaker box or any hi-fi box. Plus, I had to do it twice. Taking my time and doing it methodically so not to tear anything. Harbeth likes to use thick staples across the top of the box and they are inbedded into the carboard so you can't see them. Then they tape across the top seam and the staple holes. Plus they put an official seal on top of that. When you try to cut the tape and the seal using a box cutter you run into these staples making it harder to cut through it all. The worst part is, upon prying it open, one staple broke in half and almost hit me right in the eye. Another staple broke into three places. Wow, whats up with that? Are these staples really necessary? Then there is the plastic bag over the speakers. Harbeth sticks a long sticky sticker right over the bag to seal it. Try to open that bag up without tearing it. Good luck. Who doesn't want to keep their boxes and bags in good condition in case they sell the speakers later on?
3) I bought some nice new Cardas speaker cables from another store to go with the P3's. I chose spades for the connection ends. Big mistake. Regular sized spades apparently don't fit on Harbeth binding posts. Who knew? How am I supposed to know this? I just figured they were like other speakers I have bought and used before that accept normal spades. So now I have to either get them reterminated or buy new cables. Lots of fun.
I'm left scratching my head over this. I guess my expectations were too high. I wanted a pair of Harbeth's for many years and didn't expect to have these problems once I got them. I guess things don't always go smoothly as planned.
OK, rant is now over... Thanks for reading. I'm not a Happy Listener tonight but I'll be more happy in my future posts. Cheers.
I need to blow off a little steam if you don't mind. I bought some new Harbeth speakers. Why? Because they sound great! However, some minor other issues have come up that have left me feeling a bit upset with the brand.
1) I bought a pair of P3ESR a week ago. I was very excited to get them and wanted to marvel at the beautiful rosewood finish. I took them out of the box and inspected them under light and what do I find? I find these whitish marks/fingerprints on the speakers. They did not rub off with a cotton cloth. They weren't from me as I used cotton gloves. They were actually embedded in the varnish itself. Okay, perhaps they are faint but they are there. Enough to bother someone knowing they were there. One speaker has 4 of these marks/prints on the side. The other speaker has about 6 marks/prints on the back of it. One clearly looks just like a thumb print. Also, one of the speakers binding posts has an unfinished machined mark across it. I don't think any of this is acceptable. I expected higher standards over at Harbeth. Now, who picks speakers up while they are still wet from being varnished? Furthermore, who signs off on them as being a good enough pair to sell? Well, I know, I have his intials, but I won't say it here. Frankly, you would have to be blind to sign off on those. Maybe my stadards are too high? Maybe I should be a Harbeth inspector? LOL... Anyway, my dealer was very helpful so he swaped them with another pair. This time in the cherry finish. Now these are in the correct condition. No problems at all. The same guy signed off on them so perhaps he was just having an off day in regards to the rosewood pair? Or perhaps it's not him at all but the person packing them up? Using wet or sweaty hands? Who knows. Nothing is perfect all of the time so life goes on... Until a few other smaller problems arise that you find irksome.
2) The Harbeth packing box. The worst time I've ever had opeing up a speaker box or any hi-fi box. Plus, I had to do it twice. Taking my time and doing it methodically so not to tear anything. Harbeth likes to use thick staples across the top of the box and they are inbedded into the carboard so you can't see them. Then they tape across the top seam and the staple holes. Plus they put an official seal on top of that. When you try to cut the tape and the seal using a box cutter you run into these staples making it harder to cut through it all. The worst part is, upon prying it open, one staple broke in half and almost hit me right in the eye. Another staple broke into three places. Wow, whats up with that? Are these staples really necessary? Then there is the plastic bag over the speakers. Harbeth sticks a long sticky sticker right over the bag to seal it. Try to open that bag up without tearing it. Good luck. Who doesn't want to keep their boxes and bags in good condition in case they sell the speakers later on?
3) I bought some nice new Cardas speaker cables from another store to go with the P3's. I chose spades for the connection ends. Big mistake. Regular sized spades apparently don't fit on Harbeth binding posts. Who knew? How am I supposed to know this? I just figured they were like other speakers I have bought and used before that accept normal spades. So now I have to either get them reterminated or buy new cables. Lots of fun.
I'm left scratching my head over this. I guess my expectations were too high. I wanted a pair of Harbeth's for many years and didn't expect to have these problems once I got them. I guess things don't always go smoothly as planned.
OK, rant is now over... Thanks for reading. I'm not a Happy Listener tonight but I'll be more happy in my future posts. Cheers.
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