Why doesn Harbeth make slim tower speakers (that my wife likes)?
Harbeth have a reputation for sound quality underpinned by the BBC engineering legacy. All Harbeth speakers are first and foremost designed to be used (and are used) as serious professional instruments. There are many beautifully styled skimpy tower speakers (mainly for AV use) but none of them could or would be used by a professional sound engineer demanding the best in sound quality. Physics dictate that where sound quality is paramount, the drive units need to be of certain size to move sufficient air that the listening experience is life-like. This then sets the minimum dimensions of the cabinet, especially the cabinet width. Harbeth’s skills with thin-wall cabinet panels then work with and controls cabinet resonances (everything in the universe has a natural resonance frequency) making a big, warm, low-coluration natural sound. Other construction techniques give other sound characteristics.
