Hmm. If a had to pick one speaker to own for the next 10-20 years it would have to be the Harbeth's. I've been trying to find a pair to attractive floorstanding speakers in the 6-8K range for over a year now (something my wife will find more attractive than my C7's) and have been thoroughly unsuccessful. Every time I audition something I come home to the Compact 7s and realize that there really isn't anything better anywhere near the price. They are so incredibly enjoyable and musical. I listen to a lot of rock and never feel that I am missing something except the impact of deep and powerful bass. Mostly I listen to jazz, classical and singer songwriter stuff--for this music the Harbeths are a dream. You will never get tired of listening and the emotional content of the music is wonderfully communicated. If you are open to a slightly higher price the Super HL5's are, and this is hard to believe, significantly better than the Compact 7s. I have compared them head to head for over an hour each and can thus speak from experience. The HL5 has got more power, drive and tunefulness in the bass, a larger soundstage, a slightly better midrange (less glare, more pure) and will certainly rock better than the C7. I have seriously auditioned over 15 speakers in the sub 10K range over the past year or so and I can say that the Super HL5 is the best one I have heard--and that for 4K! Read the Stereotimes review by Paul Szazby (sp?) he has them pegged. I would own them in a minute but my wife won't go for even big boxes in the living room. Best of luck.
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