Harbeth vs Graham audio

I have owned the Harbeth P3ESR, M30.1 and M30.2, and the Graham LS3/5, LS5/9 and LS6.
The only ones I still have are the Graham LS3/5 and LS6. The LS6 are my primary speakers.

All of these are good speakers, but I felt that the Grahams are a bit more dynamic and a bit more neutral. The Harbeths always sound pleasant, but add their unique sound to all types of music. The Grahams better reflect what is on the recording, while retaining the classic BBC sound emphasising the midrange, with extremely natural vocals, but a more forward, more dynamic sound.

@rossb when you keep the ls6, does it mean you prefer it better than all the others that you’ve owned, including the harbeth 30.2? I heard it is much more neutral than the overly rich and even nasal 30.1.

And your preference of ls6 over ls5/9 is because of the tweeter is it?

Apologies, I have only just noticed your post.

I do prefer the LS6 to all of the other speakers I mentioned.

When I owned the LS5/9s and the 30.2s at the same time I went back and forth between the two and ultimately decided to keep the Harbeths over the Grahams, although it was very close. The Harbeths were more coloured, the Grahams more neutral and more dynamic. But I just couldn’t get over the tweeter in the LS5/9, which made the treble too "big" and too prominent.

But then I got the LS6, which were just perfect. They are at least as dynamic as the LS5/9, tonally rich while still being (relatively) neutral, and with a more natural treble presentation. The Harbeths were dull and obviously coloured by comparison. The LS6 are the most musical and engaging speakers I have heard. (Note: they do take quite a while to run in and for the first month or two sound very uneven, with a slightly dry sound and a boomy bass. It is really essential to hear a well run in pair in order to assess them.)

I still rate the Graham LS3/5 very highly and have no plans to sell these. They are slightly sweeter, and produce sharper images (although a little more two dimensional) and very engaging. But the lack of any real bass - and some lower midrange - rules them out as main speakers for me, although I still keep them to listen to from time to time. The LS6 sound virtually identical, just with a more satisfying amount of bass and scale, but a touch less sweet sounding and with slightly less precise imaging.