This review page is supported in part by the sponsors whose ad banners are displayed below
I haven't yet mentioned soundstaging and it's very interesting – not particularly selective but amazingly resolved. The soundstage here is one rich and dense continuum. Bodies are not particularly three-dimensional at least relative to how they are delivered by some other high-end speakers. Yet these phantom images are amazingly natural.
There are very few speakers I could compare the M40.1 to. First would be the already mentioned Magnepans, second the Hansen Audio Prince v2. These offer similar tonal qualities and the same general presentation. Magnepan's treble resolution is slightly better but the Harbeth bass goes deeper and is richer. To get comparable bass out of a 20.1 or 3.7 relies on the support of a REL class subwoofer. The three times more expensive Hansen delivered an even deeper wider soundstage but in their case I had to get used to their specific presentation and once I did no other speakers sounded quite right anymore.
The M40.1 Domestic are monitors that don't sound like monitors. They sport plastic drivers but you can't tell. I think that only in such a mature and sophisticated design the downsides of polypropylene cones are covered up by their upsides so well that they subjectively turn into more advantages. These are dynamic loudspeakers that don't sound like it but rather more like magnetostats. But one thing is certain – these are true monitors. They are not that easy to drive and require quite a lot of amplifier current but many tube amps should be happy driving them. Output power of at least 25-30wpc is a must especially in larger rooms however.
Description. The Harbeth M40.1 Domestic are three-way bass reflex monitors. Their enormous dimensions are surely far from modern. Some similarities might be found in Audio Note UK speakers. The front panel is very wide to exceed what the woofer would require. And that woofer is a really big 300mm polypropylene affair. For the M40 predecessor Harbeth used a Vifa that according to some was a bit boomy. Once Vifa stopped making it Alan Shaw decided to make a better one himself. So now Harbeth manufactures its own woofer with a large cast basket and double magnet. The midrange is another big 200mm unit likewise manufactured in-house and loaded into a separate chamber. Its diaphragm is made of some form of polypropylene called Radial 2.
Its development was possible due to a grant from the British government. Here we already have version ‘2’. Both drivers are fixed to the front panel from behind. The only outsourced driver is the 25mm fabric dome tweeter manufactured by Norway’s SEAS from their Excel line with a small Harbeth modification called HexGrille. This tweeter looks like a T25C003 - double magnet, separate chamber for eliminating unwanted resonances, no ferrofluid. The tweeter affixes to the front panel from the front. There are two BR ports just above the woofer.
The cabinet is made of relatively thin MDF panels, a trademark of all Harbeth loudspeakers. There is not much bracing inside so it's built more like an instrument. All walls are covered with bituminous mats however and inside some areas are filled with quite stiff foam and some tight rolls of natural wool.
The PCB with the crossover circuit bolts to the back panel. Some parts are outsourced but hand-picked, others are made in-house. There are single speaker posts (the M40 sported triple posts as studios often multi-amp). These posts are solid but not fancy. I know them from many budget products so Harbeth surely chose them for a reason. The front and back panels are not glued but fixed with 16 screws each. There is a grill on a metal frame that may be fixed to the front of each speaker but if you do the whole charm of these beautiful boxes evaporates so I suggest leaving the grills off. Each driver has its serial number including left/right channel markers. All measurements for each box are kept in Harbeth's database in case of future replacement needs.
These speakers have a 6Ω nominal impedance which makes them good partners for tube amplifiers. Their real sensitivity is very low though. John Atkinson’s measurements for the earlier referenced October 2008 review by Art Dudley gave it as 84.5dB/2.83V/m. I tried driving the Harbeths with my modified Leben CS-300 [Custom Version] that offers 2 x 7wpc but clearly more power was necessary to control these speakers properly. The manufacturer suggests a minimum of 50 watts which surely is a good idea but in smaller rooms 20-25wpc might be sufficient.
Technical data according to the manufacturer:
Type: Three-way reflex
Frequency response: 35Hz–20kHz (±3dB, free space, 1m with grille on, smooth off-axis response)
Nominal impedance: 6Ω
Sensitivity: 84dB/1W/1m
Recommended power amp: optimum around 50W
Power handling: 200W
Dimensions: 750 x 432 x 400mm (HxWxD) with grills and binding posts
Weight: 34kg each
Finish: natural Cherry veneer; Eucalyptus or Rosewood for additional fee
