I've had two unsatisfactory experiences owning Harbeths, yet they continue to appeal to me every time I hear them at shows or a dealer's. So I'm about to make a third try. (This would be the definition of insanity, right?)Sounds like there is some significant difference between the dealer's listening environment and yours. Or there could be a case of component matching.
Before you repeat the exercise it would be worth finding out why they seem to sound more appealing to you at the dealer's place than they do in your home.
I have a pair of Spendors, a "cousin" of the Harbeths. Neither has the modern, trendy, rather bright sound but they are extremely engaging for extended listening if your primary interest is acoustic instruments and voice. Though I think mine sound just fine with rock, r&b and the like, I can see that some people would prefer more "punch."
Finally, when auditioning equipment out, we often tend to play those "special" recordings that we think will display the attributes we want to hear. Yet when we dive into our more ordinary recordings once we get home, we can find a piece of equipment that sounded great in the store with select recordings is not a good match for what we listen to most at home.