"I could not believe how warm and rich this system sounded. Soprano Kate Royal sounded amazingly rich on her new EMI recital, and my Channel Classics Revueltas SACD exhibited marvelous solidity. All I could manage to write in my notes was that the system's "very neutral, full sound" was "pretty damn amazing." To be perfectly honest, if I had bucks to spare, I'd be listening to the Harbeths in the large living room of our 80 year-old Oakland carriage house tomorrow. I loved, loved, loved the sound of this system. I hope everyone attending RMAF 2008 gets the opportunity to hear how full and rich the Harbeth Monitor 40.1 can sound." Stereophile, October 2007, Jason Victor Serinus
"Paired with Resolution Audio’s exceptional-sounding components, it again made my mouth water.....the full-range 40.1 monitors have an immensely detailed, beautifully
layered, extremely controlled midrange whose harmonic richness is hard
to resist. Toed-in toward the listener, the speakers' high end was
equally compelling.....the drum thwacks on Karina Gauvin’s chamber ensemble arrangement of one of Canteloube's Songs of the Auvergne
were among the most realistic I've heard from this frequently played
CD, as was the decay of room resonance. I also enjoyed the beautiful
harmonic richness of orchestra and piano on Martha Argerich's live
recording of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto 2 with Claudia Albano"Stereophile, January2008, Jason Victor Serinus Every speaker line has a no-compromise flagship, and in the Harbeth family this is the highly respected Monitor 40. The inspiration of the design can be traced right back to the 1960's and the LS5/5, the ground breaking world's first plastic-coned three way monitor. Although originally developed for professional use in BBC control rooms - where many pairs are in use - the Monitor 40 has been taken-up as a domestic reference system, and where space permits brings the ultimate in natural sound to the serious home listener.
Whilst the professional version is finished in hard wearing textured paint (and fitted with a Speakon connector) this domestic version is crafted in real wood cherry or eucalyptus veneer and is fitted with tri-wirng binding post terminals for maximum flexibility. To get the best possible performance in a domestic room the Monitor 40 should be used on a tall stand and the room should be well furnished and acoustically damped - just like a traditional BBC control room.
Specification of Monitor 40 domestic
Transducer system
Vented 3 way professional monitor loudspeaker
Frequency response
40Hz - 20kHz ± 3dB free space, 1m with grille on, smooth off axis response
Impedance
4 ohms
Amplifier suggestion
100W+
Power handling
200W programme
Connector
Six 4mm gold-plated binding posts (triwireable)
Dimensions (h x w x d)
750 x 432 x 400mm
Finish
Cherry (std.), Eucalyptus, Tiger Ebony (extra cost) real wood veneers.
Weight
34kg each
Packing
Single speaker per carton
It's not easy to ascribe a sonic characteristic to the Monitor 40: nor should it have one. Perhaps the concept "three dimensional curtain of sound" says it all. And that is surely what a great monitor is all about.
“The real punch line, here, though, is something quite beside the audiophile categories and descriptions. The Monitor 40 sounds beautiful, and with the beauty of music, the beauty of reality. They are accurate, as befits a would-be ultimate monitor speaker. But their uncoloured, ultra-pure, balanced sound actually makes a great many recordings sound wonderful."
