Harbeth 40.3's. Should I buy them?

mbmi

re: Buy more speakers! OK—send more money! I approve of choices in booze too. Sad that in my older age (65) I'm now a lightweight...2 drinks and i'm ready for bed. D'oh!

I may give those Vandersteen Quatro CT's a try.

Volti. I have Razz that replaced Harbeth 30.2s. In your price range, the Rivals are amazing. Both check all your boxes:  full range, efficient and sounds great with all types of music.  Love Harbeth’s liquor midrange, but they don’t rock. 

The Coherent 15s with the max upgrade are $13k and will sound excellent 

with your tubes.  

Ask about Radian's Beryllium tweeter upgrade.

+1 @bfleetwood - better midrange vs more neutral linear dynamic lows highs

Harbeths can certainly play anything you want to hear, as do any well designed full range speakers. 

With the allnic which is an thing of perfection look at Tannoy or Fyne audio .... Or over your side of pond Klipschorn might be a leftfield charm

if i had your cash.......the giant Tannoys would be high on my list to audition.

Why doesn't your wife doesn't like the Spatial X3s?

Harbeths can certainly play anything you want to hear, as do any well designed full range speakers.

agree with this comment 100%

often folks who want to ’rock out’ are seeking a degree of sizzle, rasp and other forms of sonic distortion that very refined transducers simply do not add to the sound they play... unless of course, said distortion is in the music signal itself...

lots of fish in the ocean... these listeners are for whom klipsch jbl and their ilk (often with horn loaded, or otherwise underdamped drivers) are built to please

I’m surprised that the X3s work in that room at all. When I had my pair they needed to be about five feet from the front wall. I don’t think you have that luxury.

@desalvo55 saw these and thought of your requirements, amp, room size, budget.

No affiliation, as a hobby builder myself, appreciate the design, parameters, in your case. Something else to throw another hat in the ring, next to Vandersteen. Many people with my amps run Vandersteen. Nice unique boutique design, craftsmanship, different. Stuff like this can be worth a flight and day trip imo. Kinda cool.

95.5 db sensitivity

8ohm +/- 1 ohm, tube amp friendly

small room capable, can place against back wall

Nice looking, imo

$11,850/pair

Ferndale, WA USA 98248

info@daedalusaudio.com, (01) 360.312.3604

Daedalus Audio Muse

Wolf Von Langa Sons - spectacular.

Some nice suggestions. Thank you all.

First, I'm not flush with cash. The Harbeths are $13.6K. But they won't work in my room.

My audio buddy told me the Vandersteen Quatro's CT's sounded lifeless and dull. I for one think he just had one of those at-a-show listening experiences.

I respect horns but doubt I could live with them. Well, there was one...

I like my X3's. They were 4 to 5ft from the front wall. Somehow though, my wife didn't. But she likes them upstairs in the big room. Those Buchardt's really through a monkey wrench at our system.

The X3 is not our first open baffle speaker. I built a pair of GR-Research Super V's. We really liked them! But after a while, the bass irritated me. The woofers sounded one note to me. I think we prefer a sealed cabinet' for all their warts.

Daedalus Audio makes some great speakers. Beautiful too. I'll check them out. Fyne Audio too but I can't hear all these speakers. I mean, there's a picture of a speaker. There are specifications. I just spent $1000 dollars listening to "great" speakers that sucked. At the end of the day, I'm haunted by line arrays. Lots of speaker drivers moving in unison but barely moving.

I was reading some reviews on the Legacy Audio Focus and Signature speakers. I mean, very complimentary reviews from what seemed to me anyway, legitimate audiophiles. Big speakers, lots of drivers, extremely well engineered, soundstage and transparency, bass to die for, and very efficient. Totally customizable to fit any room. What am I missing? 

@desalvo55 by chance did you try your X3s paired up with really fast subwoofers?

While we understand you currently have subs, wondering if positioning of the X3 must be closer to the wall, curious to know what experimentation you did with different/separate subs. Sub pairing could be tricky there if they don’t keep up with the X3s. Also curious to know what there was not to like about the X3 with and without really good subwoofers. Might help us to read some details from you about what you did not like about each of these other speakers too, fwiw.

Sometimes it's the amplifier itself - not helping some speakers to realize their full potential. 

The X3's have built-in 15" powered subwoofers.

often folks who want to ’rock out’ are seeking a degree of sizzle, rasp and other forms of sonic distortion that very refined transducers simply do not add to the sound they play... unless of course, said distortion is in the music signal itself...

lots of fish in the ocean... these listeners are for whom klipsch jbl and their ilk (often with horn loaded, or otherwise underdamped drivers) are built to please

I personally don't see why wanting to experience the speed, detail, and excitement of live (amplified) music is bad thing to want in a speaker, or why it is a form of sonic distortion that should be avoided.    I highlight 'amplified' as I know many Harbeth fans point out they are the 'best' for non-amplified music.   They also like to state they are 'good enough' for amplified music, and if you don't like their ability to rock out,  there must be something wrong with your ears or system...

My last visit to my local Harbeth dealer had a used pair of 40.2 Anniversary that the original owner had traded in for Fleetwood Devilles.   The same dealer also sell Vivid and Fyne, yet two other fine options for those looking for a more exciting listen.  If those brands are adding distortion and using underdamped drivers, then so be it.  The Vivid Kaya 45s and Fyne F1-10 where a blast to listen to and present music in a way that registers with what I enjoy from listening to music. 

@desalvo55 The X3’s have built-in 15" powered subwoofers.

Let me re-phrase it. That wasn’t the point of the question.

It was about whether or you tried the X3s with "different/separate subwoofers", or not. If I’m understanding your reply, the answer is "no". Good to know, and I always wanted to try/test this myself with the X3s. Sticking with my own, and simply admiring these speakers.I’ve always wanted to design/build my own AMT panel in an MTM configuration with larger faster drivers (like the X3 has), and pairing with my own separate stereo subs. 

Having studied the X3s a bit, and I run similar AMT/Bass driver configurations in my own custom design speakers, however, with separate 12" purpose built Scanspeak subwoofers - two added subs, very musical. A different approach.

Personally I don’t consider those drive units in the X3 to be subwoofers in the regular sense. Those are classified by spatial as "bass drivers", powered by a Hypex Fusion NCore plate amp powering a 15" custom made driver for frequencies 90 Hz and below. Nice and fast, yes, beautiful. Something more to be achieved, yes, maybe. And could it change the overall sound and presentation, possibly. Others here run sub arrays and may chime in. It’s quite an art, good fun too.

Was referring to something different, and it appears you ran your X3s standalone, with no added subs, if If I’m understanding correctly. Just another test, that’s all. Best of Luck on the search.

Before these 40.2 Anniversaries I have now, I had two different pairs of Daedalus Audio speakers (Ulysses, then Argos) Lou is the best! They are natural and organic sounding and not to just a percentage degree like some speakers. They truly are that. As well as incredible tonal realism. And boy can they ‘rock’ but with total clarity and incredible realism. I’d still have them but my mentioned sensitivities couldnt jive with the second angled tweeter that my weird sensitive ears couldn’t escape. I bet your wife would love the Daedalus sound. 
 

@decooney’s question and commentary points out an enduring quandary with integral floorstanders that are meant to run truly full range, versus using outboard subwoofers

we know how truly deep bass sound waves work within a listening room... our rooms have bass nodes/nulls, depending on their specific nature, and while a full range speaker like a spatial x3, a big harbeth, a big vandy, a big legacy, and so on... is designed to deliver real bass response down to 20-25 hz, say... well, that response will necessarily emanate from where the stereo speakers are placed in room ... this in effect forces the hand of the listener in setting up... where said speakers may image the best (based on their treble/midrange/midbass dispersion) may not be where the deep bass should best be delivered into the room to overcome bass nodes and nulls

such is the additional benefit of separately placed subs or sub ’swarms’, and why even ’full range’ speakers can benefit from being coupled with one or more subwoofers

Regarding the X3's, I shouldn't be running subs according to the manufacturer of my integrated. I currently use RCA's spades at one end and resistors on the other inside the RCA jacks. I do not have preouts on my integrated.  But I'm told that's a bad idea for many reasons. I need to stop that practice.

The foundation is really important to the music genres we enjoy. The reality starts to set in when I look at the 'big picture'. I picture a speaker with adjustable bass, woofers, preferably, almost certainly self-powered so that my tube integrated only see's the mids and tweets. I know by experience too that my wife likes a very dynamic picture. I do too. The speaker has to play Radiohead, Porcupine Tree, Shiny Toy guns, as well as female vocals, electronica, jazz, blues, and classical if it can pull it off. My experience with classical is that only big speakers with lots of drivers can pull off the scale of classical. Well, maybe horns too. I know most will disagree but that's been my experience. 

My room is pretty good. 15' x 19' dedicated with GIK bass traps and acoustic panels at the front, 1st order reflections taken care of, Cement slab, thick carpet, rockwool on one wall,  LCR panelboard but a dead back wall as it's nothing but shelving holding vinyl. So no 'live end - dead end'. I don't hear bass issues with any of the speakers in that room not that they don't exist of course.

Swarms are the best way to get a good bass response, fully agree, but I don't have that option. Another reason why I keep thinking that the Legacy Audio Focus XD's seems to check a lot of boxes.

Regarding the X3's, I shouldn't be running subs according to the manufacturer of my integrated.

Start with speakers, then the amplifier. If this is the truly the case according to your amp manufacturer, imo the amplifier is a limiting factor - given all lf the different speakers you've tried and still plan to. Same issue, you'll want to hear the Legacy with your integrated.  Not their amps.

A close colleague went and demo'd them, he walked out being led to believe he needed to buy much higher power SS amps to get the most out of the Focus XDs and a few others. Was told his 60w mono tube amps wouldn't cut it. Bailed out.  

With a really good preamp, with two sets of pre-outs, the right mono amps, the right subs, guarantee without a doubt those X3s could be made to sing. :) my .02 cents. 

You must be talking about adding additional subs to the onboard subs of the x3? Not sure why that would be needed, the bass performance of this speaker is the best thing about it. 

We're not selling our Allnic gear. Not an option.

Our Buchardts are a 4ohm 88db efficient speaker. The Allnics 60wpc in triode drives them without complaint. The 150wpc in pentode drives mode them louder still. 

The Alta Audio Alec's are 93db efficient. They were driven to thunderous levels with the Allnic. 

The Legacy Audio Focus XD is 95.4db efficient and has built-in amplification for the woofers.

I can't believe even 60wpc in any tube amp wouldn't drive those speakers well.

The X3's were not a problem in our room with 60wpc in triode mode nor were they a problem of course with 150wpc pentode mode. I really like them. I've written glowingly about them. One of my dear friends and audio guru, without me knowing, bought the same speaker! I've even got caps for a planned X3 upgrade. My wife never warmed to the X3's and is willing to work for another speaker, even if it costs more. God Bless her. At least she shares my audiophile spirit.

The strength of my tube integrated does not lie with driving 4 x 12" built-in woofers but it probably would. In Legacy form, a built-in 750watt ice module would perform that function just fine, actually, much better and the digital control it would have on top of that in terms of dialing it into one's room may be icing on the cake. There are many options with those particular speakers. I think of it in a way of having very fast subwoofers that were/are already well-integrated a speaker and not having additional subs I can't use with our integrated.

The problem is, there are so damn many nice speakers out there. (like it's a real problem)

It took me 10 years to find the right speakers. Finally got Harbeth 30.2 40th anniversary - My room is not big enough for the 40.2. 

Awesome, was worth the wait. Harbeths are unassuming at first but as others mentioned, you get to appreciate it more and more over time. So natural and clear. Very versatile, except may be for hard rock.

My Pass Lab x25 is a match made for heaven for this speaker and I also agree that an amp with some power depth, like this class A will bring the Harbeths to life as their db  sensitivity level are low compared to other speakers.

Let us know how they sound in your room. Good luck!

@desalvo55 

You must have missed my question. See above.

I am partial to efficient full range speakers that do not have to be pulled away from the rear wall into the room. My listening tastes are similar to yours although my space is much larger. Currently, I have Zu Def 4s. I also like Living Voice, Audio Note, and Volti Rival or Razz. Zu and Volti are sold direct. Zu gives a 4 week in-home audition period.

Great post, thanks. Having owned and enjoyed the 40.3XD and giving up on them, maybe I can offer an opinion. The 40.3’s are “good” at many things, to my ear they weren’t great at anything, though the upper mids are a standout. That said, I’m not sure if the mids were outstanding because the rest was more average. I also found the bass response lacklustre, especially at low and mid level volumes.
For context I am running Allnic A6000’s w/ an A4000 pre  

A whiffed attempt at something off the grid, I paired the aforementioned gear with Sabrina X’s, different, perhaps better but not captivating  

In walked Audio Note AN E-D - again, to my ears they smoked the 40.3’s and Sabrina’s, they were less than half the price of the others no less! Plus the added real estate they provided due to placement  

in my humblest of opinions, I would give the AN’s another serious audition  

listen well and enjoy the ride  

Great post, thanks. Having owned and enjoyed the 40.3XD and giving up on them, maybe I can offer an opinion. The 40.3’s are “good” at many things, to my ear they weren’t great at anything, though the upper mids are a standout. That said, I’m not sure if the mids were outstanding because the rest was more average. I also found the bass response lacklustre, especially at low and mid level volumes.
For context I am running Allnic A6000’s w/ an A4000 pre  

A whiffed attempt at something off the grid, I paired the aforementioned gear with Sabrina X’s, different, perhaps better but not captivating  

In walked Audio Note AN E-D - again, to my ears they smoked the 40.3’s and Sabrina’s, they were less than half the price of the others no less! Plus the added real estate they provided due to placement  

in my humblest of opinions, I would give the AN’s another serious audition  

listen well and enjoy the ride  

Never sell those allnics they are end game .... Fyne audio and Tannoys do classical jazz and can rock out too ...

ozzy62. The Spatial's X3's do not need subs. I did feel like they could be improved with a more powerful plate amp, however, and a few X3 owners have done that. I cannot use separate subs in my system due to the lack of pre-outs (although I'm cheating at the moment).

I've listened to Audio Note many times and know their capabilities. I don't believe they are the best option for us. For a second system, heck yeah. I WILL build one of their kits one day. Then I'll get an AN E-D.

I've never liked the Zu sound. But I get their allure.

Allnic A6000's w / an A4000 pre? Damn. That would make my early 60's Zenith clock radio get up and perform 3D music. I might pay just to hear that combo!  That combo might even smoke my former best, the Joule Electra VZN100's. I may have to revisit the AN E-D.

I know a former X3 owner that went the Fyne route.

If you like Harbeth an ANE's but wanna be able to rock out more I'd through Devore O-96's into the mix.

You should have enough power to drive most of what has been suggested here.  I drive my Wilson Yvettes, 86 efficient, with a 36WPC c-j class A amplifier.  Jazz and classical. I do use a JS Audio F113 sub.

If you want to get your money out of them later, the well respected brands like Harbeth, Wilson and Vandersteen are best.  Look at resales for reference.

Only you can determine what speakers appeal to you.  You have to listen to them in person for an extended session.  Some nice suggestions here but they are all different presentations.  I don't care for Magico, a personal thing.  They seem only to match with big solid state. 

All speakers need to have the front baffle at least 48 inches out from the back wall if you want image depth.  

Nobody mentioned B&W... that's odd.

Definitely risky with your room and amp. Your amp is very nice but has a 120 watt rating at 8 ohms 1Khz. Full bandwidth is more like 70 watts and probably no more than that at lower impedances.

The Harbeth 40s really need authoritative control of their large woofer or the bass will lag and be tubby sounding.

To get the best out of them requires a robust solid state amp stable at low impedances. Not that the Harbeths have low electrical impedance but the 12" woofer demands a solid reign.

Last time I heard them they were driven by Vinnie Rossie L2 signature MOSFET monoblocks and they sounded fantastic.

Time before that they were driven by a Parasound a21 and sounded bloated as heck.  

coppy777 - I’d never mention B&W for speakers that Rock.

I’ve owned several B&W’s over the years, and have had my Matrix 801’s for 25 years! I love them, and they do many great things, but they just barely rock. Dire Straits & Pink Floyd sound amazing, but compressed pop & rock is not the best. My Tannoys are fun speakers. I’ve got 15" System 15 studio monitors, and they do ROCK, but LF drops off at 45Hz. They need a sub. My 3rd pair of mains are Martin Logan SL3’s (w/new panels). For 20 years i’ve been swapping these 3 pairs in & out of my living room every few months, and they each do something special for me. And all sound very different from each other.

I’ve always admired the Harbeths, but when I hear them at shows, I am underwhelmed. As with any good speaker, I think they’d do many things really well, and some things not so well. I highly recommend having 2 very different pairs of speakers that you can rotate into your system, if you have the storage space. I’d rather own two very different $5k pairs than one $10k pair.

@avanti1960

... is correct - the Harbeth 30 and 40 series require a good SS amp to bring out all their capabilities and sound their best - just as Harbeth "suggests" - they typically show them driven by Hegel SS amps. As I noted before, mine didn’t sound great, until I got the H590 to drive them properly. Now they do!

Though, I like their sound with "all things acoustic" - I don’t listen to rock much. As I noted, with the "all things acoustic" they are superb and sound very much like Quad ESL 57’s - which are the best there is with that type of sound (when set up and driven properly).

Though... as I noted previously... if... I had the right room for them (and could manage them physically)... I would have the Legacy Audio Aeris, or Focus SE / XD’s - which do it all as well as it can be done - Superb! They may not sound as much like the ESL 57’s with the 57’s "rich, liquid sound"... but... the Legacy’s are the next best thing for a wide range of music, bass, percussion and dynamics... when you want that!

I’d recommend big ProAc’s D48R sound amazing big and fast and visually not weird or ugly. You have the perfect amp for them ProAc’s love tubes! I’ve owned lots of speakers and I’ve always come back to ProAc’s! The D48R is the top of the response line. There’s also the K series much more $$ but better. 
 

I also like the Dynaudio. I think that the Dynaudio have the best Soft Dome tweeters. If I had the cash the Dynaudio Confidence 30 would be a real contender. But I really love the ProAc Ribbon tweeter. 
 

The Vandersteen Quattro Wood CT are a Fabulous speaker. A must Listen!

I think the Magico’s are also Wonderful even the smaller A series are awesome the A3 . Get a listen!!

HTH

@bassdude ...As I noted before, mine didn’t sound great, until I got the H590 to drive them properly. Now they do!

+1 what @avanti1960 said too.

Harbeth, Spatial, Legacy, Quad 57s - all can sound good when paired up with robust amplification combined with good room setup. Having tried building pseudo replica ProAc floor standers years ago, how they can pair up so well [as @axeis1] suggested, with some lower power tube amps - is still quite interesting to me.

I am always surprised when folks say that Harbeth speakers don't rock. I have 30.1s driven by a Luxman integrated. They rock. 100 watts of Luxman power drive the 30.1s extremely well, and when I pull out some classic rock (The Who, Rod Stewart/Yes) they sound great. They do not have ear piercing treble shrillness, but they sound great, and I have worked hard to minimize tremble hardness.  Also using the Luxman amp allowed me to stop using a sealed sub in the system. I get very nice bass in my room without going through the painful process of matching and tuning a sub to the room and speakers. The sound is more cohesive without a sub (for me, in my room, with my system and ears). Good luck on the search. There are a ton of nice speakers out there.

having been a lifelong fan and owner of numerous big spendors, harbeths and proacs over the years, i would add that having the right amplification for each is (obviously) important in extracting the best performance from each, and also knowing how each has/had been developed is useful

harbeths are less efficient, proacs typically the most efficient (the outlier response d38 an exception), and usually use multiple smaller woofers in a d'appolito configuration, spendors somewhere in the middle ... stewart tyler has historically optimized/voiced his upper proacs with medium power arc 6550c tube amps - so if you hook up solid state to proacs there is a chance they can sound a little bright

it is well known that modern harbeths have been typically developed and run at shows using hegel solid state (h360/390) and quad before that

spendors (terry miles and derek hughes earlier) use solid state mostly (quad 66 and naim power amps) in their testing and voicing.... that said, spendor classic 100’s and their predecessor s/100/sp100/r2 models are quite tube amp friendly with impedance well above 6 ohms through the range and around 89-90 dbwm efficiency

@desalvo55 

Interesting to see you owned the MBL 126 speakers!

I owned the previous model, the MBL 121s, for many years.

What I liked about the 121s is they are a bit bigger and fuller range compared with the newer 126.    The other thing is, while I enjoyed the MBLs on various amps I tried - from big beefy Bryston to my CJ Premier 12 tube amps (140w/side)...both of which produced energetic sound...my favourite pairing turned out to be the old

Eico HF-81 integrated tube amp - a mere 14W side of cult-classic tube power!

The Eico, across various speakers, exhibited a quality of both that tube richness and fullness, but also an energetic, sparkly presence, with a slightly over-warm (lack of control) bottom in the bass end.   This proved to be magic with the MBLs.  The sound was super rich, organic, sparkling, present, tons of detail, incredible dimensionality, and the slight under-damping on the bass didn't feel "bloated" but instead felt like the speakers had added bottom end.  It felt less like I wanted to add a subwoofer.

One of those pairings you'd never think would work until you try it.

Anyway, as for the Harbeth and needing an all-rounder speaker:  the reactions to Harbeth are interesting.  On one hand they are often depicted as "pipe and slippers" speakers, specializing in the narrow range of acoustic music and vocals but "don't ask anything else of them."  On the other hand, you'll find plenty of Harbeth owners saying they were driven to Harbeth precisely because they were good "all rounder" speakers, good with all genres. 

I find myself more sympathetic with the latter - I found Harbeth very well balanced for all music (I auditioned the full line, and owned the Harbeth SuperHL5plus for a while).  I think the dichotomy arises from this:  I think the Harbeth speakers are very well balanced - full sounding from top to bottom, generally no weird suck-outs or big wiggles in response so as to favor some sounds over others.  And this results to my ears as presenting the mixes in a track in a way that sounds "right" or very authentic, the sense I'm hearing everything as balanced by a mixer, rather than by the speakers.   It was actually hearing how bloody fantastic a pair of Harbeth 30.1 played some prog rock in a store that got me re-interested in the brand.

So I think this sense of "finely balanced" is what give many the sense they seem to sound "right" no matter what recordings you put on them.

However, balance is different from things like "slam" and "impact."   An a Harbeth you'll hear the bass and drums well controlled and situated, but the sound will be a bit softer in terms of sonic impact than say a Wilson speaker or whatever.

I compared the SuperHL5+ with my Thiel 3.7 and Thiel 2.7 speakers.  The Thiels would present instruments like drums and bass with a soldity and a hit-in-the-gut propulsion that was less there with the Harbeths.   Didn't mean that listening to the same tracks on the Harbeths wasn't immensely enjoyable.  Just depends what satisfies an individual listener.

I was trying to downsize from the Thiels.   The reason I didn't keep the Super HL5+ is that in direct comparison with the Thiels, the Thiels did almost all the Harbeth did, but "better" and more real.  With my CJ amps the Thiels weren't thin but lush and organic and tonally beautiful.  But they were also cleaner, more precise, more sonic density to the imaging, just a bit more "real sounding" in every comparison.

The Thiels never quite reach the magic of the Harbeth with vocals, so sometimes I miss that.  But the rest was in favor of the Thiels.

If I had the right room for them, though, I would definitely have put more serious consideration in to the 40s, as I heard them sound astonishing (in a big room).

Cheers

@prof

Ditto!

@jjss49 that is super helpful intel. Knowing what amps were used in designs and optimized to operate with certain speakers, sure can save people a lot of time. Was not aware of the design origin of the 6550 amp / Proac combo. Interesting. 

I have the buchardt 400 mk 2 special edition and they are nice and do some things very well.  I enjoy them in my smaller 12x14 bedroom system.  I had them in my big system room and not so much.  I have been through a lot of speakers over the years, some very expensive and I can't imagine based on everything you have said you wouldn't like the Klipsch La Scala especially if you are used to using subs.  the La Scala is a magical communicator and play all kinds of music with life and vitality.  such a big and dynamic sound, they make most all other speakers sound boring including other heritage Klipsch like the Cornwall and Forte.  I've had both.  I've only had small Harbeths and they are magical in their own way but no way can they compare with the spectacle they la scala create.  Read the recent Stereophile review and you get a really good description that I think is spot on.  Your amp would likely be a magical combination as well.  You can run the S400 in a smaller room for those times when you crave the pinpoint imaging that small speakers do so well and when you want to be moved to tears by your fav music the La Scalas can do that.  

Harbeth is no flash in the pan, flavor-of-the-month type of speaker. While other companies have come and gone, Harbeth has been going strong for decades. Not saying other speakers are not as good or better, but it takes real quality to not just reach the top of the totem pole but stay there decade after decade. I have heard the 40.2 and 40.3 on multiple occasions and have always loved the balanced sound. While they might not command your attention during a short demo at a store or audio show, they prove their mettle over the long run in extended listening sessions. There is just something magical about the big Harbeths ... as long as you drive them with proper amplification and give them enough space to breath. 

You really can't compare a smaller Harbeth with the likes of Klipsch Cornwall. You need to go to at least the SHL5+ model if not 40.x for a proper comparison in terms of the size and scale. Many audiophiles I know and respect claim that Harbeth 40.x is the final destination they arrive at after going through many speakers over many years. If I had the money, I would go for the 40.3 in a heartbeat ... as long as I can feed them with good SS amplification.

Thanks for all the great suggestions and comments as well. 

It seems the Harbeths inspire a lot of conversation and rightly so. 
Maybe no speaker can perform at the highest level with every genre. Our long gone line arrays came the closest. When I think back on those speakers, my wife would sit in the sweet spot and become totally absorbed in the music. I too, would relish the sound from those speakers. And to be honest, to me, they only became amazing after I purchased a PS Audio Power Plant Premier. And that after they we’re already sold. Oops. 
Audio buddies tried to recreate the sound in their home. Same speaker, same amplifier. That didn’t work. I’m not going back.

I believe we made a decision. Given our home, our rooms, our gear and our value in what a speaker might bring us, it ultimately came down to one speaker.

The Legacy Audio Aeris.

1. The ability to allow our tube amp to allow its greatness to shine through with a 94.5db efficiency. 
2. The ability to tune the speaker to any room we choose.

3. Will play north of our hearing with great tweeters while playing down to 18hz. 
4. Conversations with Aeris owners rave about the midrange, and well, everything else about these speakers.

5. Bill Duddleson, owner, will fabricate a device that will allow us to tap off of the speaker terminals to send signal to the wavelight processor. 
6. The Allnic allows for a second preamp to be used in line allowing a second path to send signal to the wavelength processor.

7. The wavelength processor stores algorithms in the time and space domain. Too much detail to go into but it seems, if I want to, I could store profiles for rock, vocals, jazz, whatever. 
8. The processor will receive updates via USB. Future proof, I don’t know but this company is constantly testing speaker and room interactions.

9. Is there a more beautiful looking speaker on the market?

10. The choice of finishes is pretty awesome. The problem is choosing one.