Differences between Harbeth, Spendor, Graham, etc. ?

All of these brands make nice sounding speakers and one would have to hear specific models to make the right choice. There are also other similar lines of speakers that deserve consideration.  For example, for the extremely small monitors, the Falcon LS3/5A model and ProAc Tablette 10s should also be on the audition list.  There are other models in the ProAc lineup that should also be liked by the crowd looking at this type of speaker. 

A local dealer carries Graham, ProAc and use to carry Harbeth.  By far, the line most people shopping for speakers were interested in was Harbeth.  But, those interested in hearing more than just the Harbeth that they were primarily interested in often ended up switching to Audio Note speakers.  There were very few who came in to look at Audio Note that switched to Harbeth, but quite a few that switched from Harbeth to Audio Note.  Those that owned Audio Note or who were interested in Audio Note that went with something else most often ended up with custom built horn speakers that the dealership also makes/sells.

This dealer only sells tube electronics, so, the Harbeths were not run with the recommended high-powered solid state amps.  Still, Harbeth acquitted itself quite well.  I particularly liked the 30.2 model for its lively, yet not lean or harsh sound.  The HL5+ model was also nice, but, it was a bit more sensitive to placement and electronic choice and could sound not as pleasant as the 30.2 when its more demanding needs were not met.  The 40.3 was particularly demanding of the right amplifier, and while it is a nice speaker, at its price it was a bit disappointing--it was too dynamically polite for my taste.  

I don't know the model numbers, but the Graham that is about the size of the Harbeth 30.2 is a nice sounding speaker.  It does not have the slight tendency to have a sharp edge or sibilance in the upper midrange that the Harbeth has, but, it sounded a bit drier than the Harbeth, so tradeoffs are involved.  For a standmount in that size range, the ProAc D2 is also a decent alternative.  

But, if I had to place a speaker near the corner of the room, my choice would be an Audio Note AN-J or AN-E.  They might be a bit expensive, but, they are extremely muscal sounding speakers that sound great with the lower powered tube amps that I favor.

Stuartk,

The Audio Note line is quite efficient, but not like horns or other very efficient speakers.  But, they are also easy to drive which makes them suitable for use with most low-powered tube amps.  My local dealer frequently uses a 6 warr/channel Audio Note amp on the AN-E speakers.  For the smaller models, he most often uses cheaper tube amps that put out 20-40 watts.  The Audio Note speakers also tend to be quite full and satisfying at low volume levels so less power is needed.  Because they are meant to be placed near the back wall, and in the corner (i.e., near the side walls as well), they do not deliver a great sense of depth to the stereo image, but the do image well side-to-side and can deliver good center fill.  Audio Note speakers may not sound extremely detailed and “fast” but they are musically satisfying, lively and engaging when coupled to my favorite kind of amps (low-powered tube amps).

I hear that slight edge with some very good and smooth tube amplification.  It is NOT in the least a disqualifying property; I like very much most of the Harbeth line.  I don’t know of any speaker that is perfect in every way, so I mentioned what I heard as a mild weak point.  It may be a matter of a tradeoff—if that slight peak is tamed, something might be lost in terms of sense of speed and dynamics, for example; I don’t really know.  For conventional box speakers, Harbeths, Spendors, Grahams, ProAc, and Audio Notes are among my favorites.  

Perhaps, "sibilance" was not the right term to use.  At certain upper midrange frequencies there is a slight edge or hardness that will be most pronounced in recordings that have a tendency to be sibilant.  That slight edge also can make recordings sound more detailed and lively, so it is not necessarily a fault.  I hear this with many speakers I like because they are lively sounding speakers, such as Fyne speakers, for example.  As I said before, I like Harbeth speakers, and in particular, I like the 30.2 model.  

All of the speakers we are talking about are "warm" (they are tipped up a bit from about 60 to 200 hz), but, warm speakers can also have a peak much further up or some other characteristic not necessarily associated with frequency response to can be associated with hardness or an edge to the sound.  I hesitate to ascribe this to frequency response because measured frequency response often does not correlate with what I hear--I cannot reliably say what a speaker or any component will sound like from most measurements.  

Harbeth speakers are both warm and reasonably lively.  They are not in the same class of lively as horn-based systems, but they are good as far as box speakers go.  Most horn systems are much more peaky than other types of speakers and those that pull off being smooth, lively and reasonably free of harsh peaks are often very expensive and large (I heard a good custom made example this weekend that was about 30" wide by 30" deep by more than 60" tall that I am guessing will sell for around $70k).