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When we start listening to this presentation it is overwhelming for a minute because we get so much sound at once. It's very rich, rather warm and has a powerful but slightly soft bass. Before I start analysing these speakers let me first say that the M40.1 belongs to those devices which benefit from a holistic rather than analytical approach. Their performance is significantly better than what might be suggested from analysing particular sonic elements. When you start listening you quickly realize that this is the outcome of a long painstaking process of fine-tuning. Each detail has its proper place and importance. Try to change just one and the impact on the overall performance will be far more significant that such a small change might justify or warrant. For example I tried to reduce the bass volume a little not because I didn't like it or because it was booming but because I wanted to see how it would react. So I experimented as I often do with partially or completely closing off one or both of the bass reflex ports. In most other such experiments this brought some improvement to the sound but not with the Harbeths. Less bass each time equalled some degradation of the midrange quality. There was no improvement to the sound to be had by changing anything, just the opposite.

The M40.1 have their own distinct character which is completely different from what seems to be the norm for most modern high-end designs. Even so they are one of the best loudspeakers I ever listened to in my room. It came as a kind of surprise or even shock because they represent everything I hate about other designs – plastic cones, soft domes, lively cabinets that actively contribute to the sound. Based on all my prior experience there was just no bloody way a speaker like the Harbeth should sound any good. Yet it sounds fantastic!

They are almost perfectly coherent. You can’t hear individual drivers, a bass reflex or the cabinet. The sound is whole and shamelessly warm. The tweeter doesn't have the resolution of the best metal or ceramic cones not to mention the best ribbons. But it's quite good by itself and blends so well with the other two drivers that I perceived it as being much better than it really was.

To be honest the upper treble seemed a bit rolled off which I realized from the very beginning. So imagine my surprise when I started to listen to familiar recording in which the treble plays a very important role. Regardless of this roll-off I could hear it all; all the details and shadings, all the changes of timbre and recordings quality - clearly and at once. The only difference was that all these items were not central parts of the presentation. They were present but rather in the background instead of dominating the main action.

What a relief! Thanks to these Harbeth speakers listening to the music regardless of other components in my system has become a wonderful pleasure again. Whilst they will clearly reveal weaknesses of other elements in the chain, the sound won't become unlistenable because of it. Just take two amplifiers from a similar price range where one is the clearly better performer. With the M40.1 the sound will be enjoyable in either case but you will know within seconds which one is the better amp. Their backsides feature a ‘Professional Monitor Loudspeaker’ sticker. That's what they are. They are a true window that allows listeners to take a sneak peek at the recording studio (but only for the positive impressions, not to find out what went wrong).

At least for me the midrange is the most ‘controversial’ element here. It's rich, deep, multidimensional and colorful. These are features I missed in my Harpia Acoustics Dobermann, the Avalon Transcendant I reviewed and to a lesser extent also Franco Serblin's Ktêma. They deliver large phantom images that perfectly blend into the acoustic environment of the recording studio but also a domestic listening room. As these speakers project sound in all directions at once, voices and instruments sound very life-like and natural.

Yet this midrange is not particularly selective. Here I have to make a distinction between resolution and selectivity. These two terms are related but don't exactly mean the same thing. The former describes how precise a particular sound is, how precisely the timbre of a particular instrument is delivered, its dynamics and so forth. Selectivity on the other hand describes how a particular event relates to others surrounding it, how well it is differentiated within the entire presentation. I would say that the resolution of the Harbeth midrange is remarkable whilst selectivity is not all that good.

The sound is presented as one coherent whole. It's a rare combination and I guess that together with the specific treble character is what’s responsible for their amazing ability to deliver all kinds of music in a truly enjoyable way. Of course I simultaneously realize and acknowledge that other high-end loudspeakers are capable of better separating out what happens onstage and of better delineating subjective depth.