Sound Anchor stands for Harbeths
Posted by: ClaudeP on 14 May 2003
The Sound Anchor four-post monitor stands I had ordered for my brand-new Harbeth Compact 7’s a four months ago were finally delivered today. 
(Apparently Sound Anchor can’t build custom-made stands quick enough to satisfy demand).
Since it was a rather busy day, I have had but 2-3 hours to test them. However that’s more than I needed to conclude that the impact is hard to believe.
On Gene Harris’ Alley Cats (Concord Jazz CDD-4859-2), the bass was much tighter, getting the sort of physical dimension I had been missing since I switched to the Harbeths from PEL Concepts M3’s a few months ago. (More present bass is also why I had switched from Harbeth to PEL Concept 15 years ago – not the best “upgrade” I’ve ever made) Yet the more physical bass of the Harbeth / Sound Anchor set-up didn’t “hide” the rest of the music. You hear more bass, but it is not thrown in your face, so to speak. Highs were also much more subtle: all the details could be heard easily, without any aggressiveness or listening fatigue. And the Harbeth’s legendary midrange quality was still there – almost the mids you get from an electrostatic.
Patricia Barber’s Modern Cool LP on the Planar 3 confirmed those findings, but then the most spectacular impact was the medium – I have heard PB live twice and tonight I could retrieve the peculiarities of her voice like never before in my listening room. Even my wife couldn’t believe the difference it made. (I’m talking about the music, not the bank account!)
Back to CD, with Angela Hewitt’s remarkable “Francois Couperin - Keyboard Music vol. 1” record (Hyperion CDA67440). The 25 short tracks were a pure delight – I could hear all the small differences in her play, the way her fingers were touching the keyboard on each note. Surprisingly enough, though, the most striking effect was PR&T – I got so immersed in the tempi that I kept forgetting that I was supposed to listen to the sound, not only the music. Francois Couperin liked to mix feelings in his “Ordres” – melancholic music alternates with joyful pieces all along. With the Anchor stands I could actually feel the mood swings – what a performance from Angela Hewitt!
Last but not least, a very special Middle Age music record from Canadian ensemble Constantinople, with soprano Anne Azéma (eponym album – “Constantinople” ATMA ACD 2 2290). This CD features a rare combination of middle-age instruments from Europe (lute, harp, fiddle, recorder, mute cornett) and from Orient, especially Persia (‘ud, def, tombak, dayereh, vase). (To be frank I don’t have a clue what most of the latter are, but they make very good music indeed). What makes this record very difficult for a system to play right is that melodic lines can easily be lost amongst the vast array of sonorities. The Harbeths were already very good at it; on the Sound Anchors, everything became even clearer, with sounds from oriental instruments adding new textures to the music without disrupting it. Again, it was so enthralling that when the record ended I was tempted to press the “play” button to hear it all again.
Summary of this long posting (for which I apologize): What an amazing difference speaker stands can make.
(Sistem is Planar 3 / RB 300 / Nagaoka MP 50 / CD 3.5 / Flat / 102 / High / 140).
(Apparently Sound Anchor can’t build custom-made stands quick enough to satisfy demand).Since it was a rather busy day, I have had but 2-3 hours to test them. However that’s more than I needed to conclude that the impact is hard to believe.
On Gene Harris’ Alley Cats (Concord Jazz CDD-4859-2), the bass was much tighter, getting the sort of physical dimension I had been missing since I switched to the Harbeths from PEL Concepts M3’s a few months ago. (More present bass is also why I had switched from Harbeth to PEL Concept 15 years ago – not the best “upgrade” I’ve ever made) Yet the more physical bass of the Harbeth / Sound Anchor set-up didn’t “hide” the rest of the music. You hear more bass, but it is not thrown in your face, so to speak. Highs were also much more subtle: all the details could be heard easily, without any aggressiveness or listening fatigue. And the Harbeth’s legendary midrange quality was still there – almost the mids you get from an electrostatic.
Patricia Barber’s Modern Cool LP on the Planar 3 confirmed those findings, but then the most spectacular impact was the medium – I have heard PB live twice and tonight I could retrieve the peculiarities of her voice like never before in my listening room. Even my wife couldn’t believe the difference it made. (I’m talking about the music, not the bank account!)
Back to CD, with Angela Hewitt’s remarkable “Francois Couperin - Keyboard Music vol. 1” record (Hyperion CDA67440). The 25 short tracks were a pure delight – I could hear all the small differences in her play, the way her fingers were touching the keyboard on each note. Surprisingly enough, though, the most striking effect was PR&T – I got so immersed in the tempi that I kept forgetting that I was supposed to listen to the sound, not only the music. Francois Couperin liked to mix feelings in his “Ordres” – melancholic music alternates with joyful pieces all along. With the Anchor stands I could actually feel the mood swings – what a performance from Angela Hewitt!
Last but not least, a very special Middle Age music record from Canadian ensemble Constantinople, with soprano Anne Azéma (eponym album – “Constantinople” ATMA ACD 2 2290). This CD features a rare combination of middle-age instruments from Europe (lute, harp, fiddle, recorder, mute cornett) and from Orient, especially Persia (‘ud, def, tombak, dayereh, vase). (To be frank I don’t have a clue what most of the latter are, but they make very good music indeed). What makes this record very difficult for a system to play right is that melodic lines can easily be lost amongst the vast array of sonorities. The Harbeths were already very good at it; on the Sound Anchors, everything became even clearer, with sounds from oriental instruments adding new textures to the music without disrupting it. Again, it was so enthralling that when the record ended I was tempted to press the “play” button to hear it all again.
Summary of this long posting (for which I apologize): What an amazing difference speaker stands can make.
(Sistem is Planar 3 / RB 300 / Nagaoka MP 50 / CD 3.5 / Flat / 102 / High / 140).