The Hermes has a beautiful sound and wonderful feel. I am an adult player and wanted a larger lever harp for comfortable playing and I'm extremely happy with this harp.
The sound quality, especially in the middle 3+ octaves is superb. The biocarbon strings are much brighter and clearer than gut ones (I played a gut-string Hermes also), and the harp has a clear and resonant voice which projects quite nicely. This makes it a great harp for playing covers of pop music, soundtracks, and modern pieces.
The lower strings are quite long and create wonderful harmonics but will need to be periodically dampened when playing vigorously, or the sound can get a bit muddy. This is typical of pedal harps and most large harps, but if you're moving from a smaller nylon harp, it is good to keep in mind. You won't have the same kind of sustain with the Mia or Drake.
Everything about this harp feels like it was precisely engineered for the best results. The materials are not astounding, the neck and knee are single-piece piano plywood, which is very strong, and well machined to sit on my shoulder very comfortably (I'm 174cm).
The harp is the highest price of Salvi's student lever range, and it is well worth it. I love the biocarbon sounds and don't intend to move beyond this harp for a long while. The voice does well with a large variety of music, but I really enjoy it for soundtrack pieces, especially Hisaishi and similar.
While considering I also tried the Una, which is in the professional range. It has a brighter and slightly more precise sound. I preferred the more sonorous and syrupy Hermes, and found it also easier to play as it was larger.
However, there are some instances I would advise against it:
-- You will want to move to a pedal harp (better to practice on gut strings like a Gaia)
-- You want to move it around a lot (get something smaller and lighter like a Drake)
-- You want to play a lot of Celtic music (get the Una or a non-Salvi like Dusty Strings, or the Drake on a budget)
-- You don't have the budget (the Drake is a lot of harp for the money)
However, if you want a well-rounded harp that will look and sound magnificent, I recommend this to any player that can reach all the strings. :)
