Differences between Harbeth, Spendor, Graham, etc. ?

@helomech

The M40.2s are unquestionably the best Harbeths in my opinion, but for their price, I simply don’t understand the appeal. 

The 40.2s retailed for a smidge under $20k, but I don't think anyone paid that amount for them. Mostly they were selling for around $16-18K. I see that the 40.3s are now touching $25K retail, and I would tend to agree with you that they're definitely not worth that much. Same for P3esr's -- too expensive given the competition nowadays.

However, I would add that Harbeth is one brand that has to be experienced in your own system to understand what it's trying to do. Simply listening to it at an audio show never reveals the special sauce. As I mentioned, I owned the Joseph Audio Perspective2 Graphenes and loved them. But the Harbeth still gives me better timber, tone, and midrange. The Jospeh Audio are certainly a more modern, crisp sounding speaker, and I can completely understand why some people might prefer it.

@arifiq

Thanks for your response.

Emotional and physical engagement are topmost priorities for me.  Have you owned any of the smaller Harbeths?

I'm not Arafiq, but I have the P3ESR SE in a second system and currently have the 30th Anniversary Compact 7's in my main system.  I've had a lot of different small monitors in the small room where I have my second system and the P3ESR's are forever speakers.  I got a great deal on them (I think I paid $1K) and it would be close to impossible to do better for what I spent.  At the reasonable volumes I play them at, they have great tone and timbre and detail, but never have a hint of brightness or edginess.  For a small room, or if you like near field listening and don't ever play music loud, they are amazing.

The Compact 7s are surprisingly good.  I currently have them in my main system.  I say "surprisingly" because my other speakers are KEF Reference 1s. 

In the past I've had Harbeth Super HL5 Plus 40th Anniversary and Stirling LS 3/6 in that system.  I like the Compact 7s better than the Super HL5 Plus and the Stirlings.  They are just slightly less detailed, but are "richer" in the midrange and sound more "real" than either of those speakers as well as the KEF Reference 1s.  The Reference 1s are "better" in a number of ways, more detail, more dynamics, more bass, slightly better imaging and a slightly larger soundstage, but the Compact 7s are more involving and easy to listen to.  I'm really torn about which ones to keep at the moment.

@big_greg

Thanks for your input. The Compact 7’s might be worth checking out. 

I'm curious. How would you rate their bass extension in your room? 

Thanks for your input. The Compact 7’s might be worth checking out. 

I'm curious. How would you rate their bass extension in your room? 

The Compact 7's are not for everyone.  I've seen them described as "boring" or too laid back by some, but for me they are about as close to Goldilocks speakers as anything I've listened to.  I'm fairly sensitive to "bright" or "edgy" speakers, but like detail and imaging and soundstage, so they align well with what I like to hear.

It's hard to say how good the bass extension is.  I have a large listening room, but listen close to near field (about 8' from tweeters to listening position).  I also have 4 subwoofers in the room, and haven't done extensive listening without the subs.  I would describe the bass as being plentiful for their size and having nice texture and timbre.