In search for speakers of "natural" sound


Hello,
I am using a pair of Harbeth speakers. However, I am not satisfied with the 'naturalness' of the sound (it could be that I am so demanding). I am looking for a pair of speakers that can produce the more natural and organic sound than Harbeth if there is any.

I know that it depends on the amp, cables, and other variables. However, let's assume that with the appropriate gears, which speakers do you think can produce the "most natural sound"? By "natural", I mean the sound that we hear directly from musical instruments, from the singer without going through any amplification.

There is a user mentioning that speakers from the past used that 'natural sound' as a reference when designed speakers. In contrast, the sound today (even the hi-end one) is to "hi-fi". He guessed it could be less people have chance to listen to live / acoustic music than before.  

Is it right?

Thank you for your experience and recommendation!
Best,
Huy.

P.S: I know that my questions are silly and dumb, please bear with me.


Ag insider logo xs@2xquanghuy147

OP   I am looking for a pair of speakers that can produce the more natural and organic sound 

There are natural sounds (human voice, dog barking, baby crying, water flowing, etc.) and unnatural sounds. Human can’t hear a natural and unnatural sounds together simultaneously. If they are presented at the same time, the human ears must choose one of them. Audiophiles can switch back and forth (extremely fast) between natural and unnatural sounds due to years of practice with their audio systems. However, most people (non-audiophiles) ears are almost in natural sound mode.

In below video, if I didn’t say "hello", you could hear both (L & R) speakers fine with automatic audiophile’s ear adjustment. But saying "hello" (natural sound) holds your ears to stay in a natural sound mode and you are hearing what non-audiophiles hear.

The both speakers in videos were same sounding speakers. The right speaker is converted to a natural sound speaker by me. The left speaker is untouched. Almost all speakers (include $million speakers) in the world sound/behave like the left speaker.

Piano (Natural vs. Unnatural sound)

Orchestra (Natural vs. Un-natural sound)

Alex/Wavetouch

....look into Verity Audio if you want a musical natural sound. Just my take.  

The natural sound? In a live band cafe, we hear and comprehend people's voices and band music at the same time. However, in reproduction audio, we can’t comprehend the audio music and friends’ voice at the same time because all reproduction audio sounds unnatural. One exception. The true natural sound. https://youtu.be/rIozE36zTvc?t=300

Alex/Wavetouch

When I had Harbeth M30's I found they sounded much better after I added a REL subwoofer and properly dialed it in.  
Since then I've moved up to Monitor 40.1's and that was the magic I was after for the natural sound I was after.  
I've also gone through several amplifiers and still like to hear others that I haven't heard yet.  I wouldn't give up on the 30.1's until you heard them with other amps first.  
I heard the Gato floorstanders recently. V natural sound, with their amps. Big fan of that brand.
I think if I didn’t need to occasionally blow the windows out I would probably pick Maggie’s.
I like Vandersteen speakers. I will say though I have not heard as many speakers others here on AG have heard. But so far, these speakers sound the most organic and natural to me. It does take some effort to set them up correctly and they need space around them. I used a tube integrated amp and keep the stereo setup very simple.
So I'm reading a review on stereophile and the writer begins by stating that his neighbor told him he probably wouldn't like the speakers because they were music lovers speakers not 'audiophile' speakers! they were the Vienna acoustics Beethovens. 
The model has gone through a few iterations, but VA speakers do have a really musical presentation to them. I just went thru several well regarded speakers because after a few months of being amazed with all the detail and 3d presentation I noticed i wasn't really enjoying the music as much as analyzing it. 

I don't know what your budget is but there's several dsp8000's selling for peanuts right now that are musical, have no cabinet resonances whatsoever and an open soundstage.

Salksound at axpona blew me away with the natural sound in the little hotel room, not sure what model, and being mail order you probably get a pretty good value per dollar.
@mafra...Now, that seems interesting, a box with pipes....that, in itself, likely doomed it from the start.  Regards of how well it performed, a 'not normal' appearance would make WAF likely nil....even in the pre-EU era...pity, that....
It would be interesting if you ever remember the name of those units; please PM me if you do....*S*

@stringreen , agreed...and holds true for speakers as well.  It's music Reproduction at the end of the day...
Even if the tech extends itself to a VR version of 'audio only', it'll still get sieved through instrumentation.  Nothing will replace a pair of organic ears affixed to the sides of one's head...despite the clutter betwixt them.  It's that wetware in there that has to determine if it's Real...or 'Real Enough'.

'Ambiance', 'air', 'dimension', 'depth', and all the other descriptive terms we apply to our listening environments and the devices we employ to recreate the music we enjoy...are still artificial.  They depend on the 'suspension of disbelief', the same as a 3D movie, a VR program, or any other means to the desired end.

Spend 1K$ or 1M$...

You're still 'not there'.

@audiokinesis  is right...Even with 'ancient ears', used/abused over my lifespan....even I can discern a 'live instrument'....or voice....over reproduction.

Nirvana is still a mental construct....that we take to our graves....*shrug*

(Yes, I know that you know all of the above 'MHO'....preaching to the choir, that's already shuffling out the door, those who haven't died of boredom or worse (put that gun Down).....all we can do is play 'musical equipment' (literally) in search of the artifacts that resolve the illusion to our satisfaction....)
There is no such thing as natural sound.  I'm a pro musician...every venue sounds different with the same instruments. 

Hi quanghuy147

I came across your post about how you’re looking for “natural” sound speakers, and I just had to share this with you and any other forum participants sharing the same concerns. I believe I’ve just found the closest “natural” sound you can get to coming from a pair of speakers in a small local shop in Northern Spain, in the form of a pair of legendary speakers which where only sold locally in the seventies, in very limited numbers. They were the result of years of research and experimenting from a local engineer, who explored the application of tubes (as in organ tubes) technology to reproduce musical frequencies in a natural sounding way. He passed away in the eighties, and his heirs kept the family business running. In their shop there is one pair of each of these strange speakers (three or four different models were produced altogether) in display.

These speakers are nothing like the conventional floor standing speakers I was used to. They have a medium sized boxed lower base, from which up to 30 vertical tubes rise up. The tubes vary in length, and are disposed in a very particular way. The longest tubes from the largest model can measure up to two meters. The other two models are significantly smaller, and suitable for medium sized rooms, looking slightly larger than a good high quality floor standing speaker.

 I do not have any technological details about these speakers, but I heard about their existence and their amazing sound. Well, this week I visited this shop, looking for a stylus for an old turntable, and I mentioned my curiosity about these legendary speakers to the owner, who was very friendly and offered to give me a demonstration on the spot of two of their models.

We tried a very eclectic mix of tracks, from Pink Floyd to jazz and classical instrumental and choral works. To tell you the truth, I simply could not believe my ears! Every little musical detail and every single instrument and vocals became alive – literally - has if the music was being performed in front of me.

 I walked around the room, and the staging of the sound was perfect from any angle. Piano tracks sounded so natural you could close your eyes and feel the presence of the instrument. I can only say I never heard anything like it. There was no distortion and no loss of details at very low and very high volumes. The sound of bass and drums flowed freely and uncompressed (hard to get used to, if you’re accustomed to the somewhat restrained sound of conventional speakers). When I approached the speakers, it seemed the sound was being produced in the room itself, and not coming from the actual speakers, as it does with conventional floor standing models!

I was also told they perform well with any kind of source and amplifier. The heirs of the inventor are now restoring some old speakers pairs they managed to recover, and are considering producing them in limited numbers. After this amazing listening experience, music will never sound the same again for me coming from any standard speakers, regardless of their size, or price! This was truly a revelation, and I just wanted to share it with you and all the other participants with the same concerns!

Hope you end up finding the sound you’re looking for. As for me, I truly believe my search is over. Now all I have to do is to find a way of becoming the proud owner of one of these rare and exclusive beauties.


Hi everyone,
I have searched quite extensively recently, some names that come up are:- Josheph Audio Pulsars
- JMR Offrande Suppreme V2- Spendor SP100 or SP100R2
The seller are not in my area so I can’t demo them.
I haven’t heard the R2 version, but I do think the SP100s would fit the bill. They might not play as loud as Klispch Chorus’, but they’re certainly better in every other regard. Their Scanspeak tweeter is exceptional - very detailed with zero harshness or grain. Their imaging is such that most modern designs pale in comparison. Every bit of their bandwidth is coherent, with nothing that stands out in contrast. They are a no -compromise type of speaker, one’s for which no excuses need be made. When fed through high quality gear, it’s hard to imagine someone needing anything more. That’s just my honest opinion.
Hi everyone,
Just an update.
As mentioned, I tried look for Audio Note AN/E but couldn’t find a good used pair. I accidentally stumble upon Devore O/93. Which share very similar design with AN/E and was chosen to be the speakers of the year in Japan (don’t remember which year).

So I switched to look for Devore O/93s and again, an ex-owner of O/93s (currently the owner of Nines) shared that he prefers his Devore Nines, because as he said: " O/93s have too much sound going on, not as articulate and refined as the Nines (in my opinion). "
Luckily for me, there is a guy who wanted to sell his Devore Nines since he said his Shindo 12W couldn’t drive the Nines to their best. He is about 2 hours away from my place. I decided to give them an audition.

In his big living room, he played Norah Jones then some other vocals, at the beginning, I found that the sound is as much organic and smooth as my Harbeth 30.1. The bass is better (but not considerably better). However, since I believe in the comments of the ex-owner of O/93s, I pulled the trigger without after only about 15 mins and brought them home.

Another 2 hours of driving back home, I hooked them to Quad 909 power and Quad preamp 99, play my favorite songs to test. The mid was quite harsh in high notes. I tried to position the speakers further away from corners and played the songs again.

I played from vocals to classicals and here is my experience. In general, the sound of Devore Nines is not as warm as Harbeth 30.1. 30.1 tends to make the sound round and smooth so there is no hint of grain in it. I guess this is a reason why it’s very relaxing and zero-fatiguing when listening to 30.1.

However, in my opinion, because 30.1 ’softens’ spikes and edges in the sound which could be due to bad recording, noise,etc. but also could be the character of the voice of the singer or the sound of the music instrument. That’s why all singers voice are so smooth and this makes various singers have a kind of ’uniform’ sound, which leads to boring listening session.

On the contrary, on Nines, some singers sound silky smooth ( like Ayako Hosokawa, Lara Fabian) but some other singers sound quite edgy (like Adele). The voice is less warm and very much similar to what you hear when someone talking in a room with you. I hope I could call this "neutral" and "natural".

In addition, what makes a significant contribution to this "natural-ness" character of Nines is the ability to create the *dead* silent background. I hope you can believe me that this is true since I think only who has experienced this can understand, I’m sorry that my words are limited, I don’t know how to explain further.

As for the bass of Nines, according to specs, they can reach 32Hz (some other reviewers said they can measure Nines can reach 25Hz at some volume). This ability makes Nines a clear winner over 30.1 in bass area. When listening to Je t’aime by Lara Fabian (live version), everytime the pianist hit the notes in the last octave of the piano, I feel extremely satisfied - "YES, this is how it should be". The bass is tight and round (not as round as 30.1) and absolutely not boxy or boom.

Another strength that Nines possess over 30.1 is the speed, like in the "Keith don’t go", the guitar is much less confusing on ’strumming parts’ ( I don’t know if it’s the term). Nines give me a different (positive) ’image’ of the record compared to 30.1.

Yet another strength is that Nines throw out a bigger sound stage than 30.1, not much bigger but I think about 70% bigger.
In general, Nines are more accurate, natural, dynamics, emotional, open and faster than 30.1. However, Nines are a little more fatiguing than 30.1 in my small room due to the fact that more bass and edges in some voices/instruments are not ’softened’ as in case of 30.1. As a result, Harbeth 30.1 can be a great choice for those who don’t care much about accuracy and bass but just need beautiful and relaxing sound.

For now, I am satisfied. I will listen for a while until my ears get used to what Nines offer and demand more. When the time comes, I will find a high quality tube amp for them.

Regarding the search for natural sounding speakers, I believe Nines are not the destination, they are just a  'somewhere' near the destination and they are also not the ONLY. But I think I will stay for a very long time in this ’resting area’.

Best,
Huy.







If you like big black and heavy boxes, try to find yourself some old Westlake monitors. Most neutral and beautiful sounding I heard so far. If they were good enough for Mr. Jones and Mr. Jackson then they're good enough for us...

Agree on better to spend your time hunting for fine and well recorded music than speakers. More variance there. Skip all the bad sounding. Just discovered Nancy LaMott - Talk to me baby :-)
" You can lead a horse to water, but you can't fix a wife. That's a WAF joke."

...also known as 'gallows humor', the initial response to the Trojan women's 'strike', or another aside from the current  _resident....
('P' deleted on purpose) ;)....

I'm lucky, I suppose...my spouse generally likes what I make music Sound like....it's what I occasionally choose to Play on it that invokes 'THE LOOK' that made Medusa infamous...

She likes the AMT's, Loves the Maggies' (but can't sit still...*shrug*), and is actually looking forward to when I can make the Walsh's a bit more *ah* LRF (Living Room Friendly) if there's going to be 4 of them....(*...rubbing hands with glee*)....
*chuckle*
Invoke 'natural' and they're off and running.... ;)
Me?  Just an absurder...'scuse, an Observer....*G*

audiokinesis has some good observations on the subject, as does fsonic...mapman (Hi, guy! *G*) and I are Walsh omni fans, although our taste in 'device applied' is somewhat Different (Ohm vs. DIY, respectively), although the basic desire and concept is the same.

All recorded music is subject to all the tech and tricks that I'm sure you're aware of....in short, a construct.  At the end of the day, all we can strive for is what sounds 'correct'...IMHO, YHO, Anyones'...

I've got the usual 'inputs'...TT, CD, tape, digital sources....
i've got direct radiators, ribbons, my Walsh's...even a pair of Maggies....
Working to add a pair or two of DMLs', just to add to the 'reference mix' of having at play just to be able to 'sample' what they sound like.
My 'stack' of equipment can't go into the typical 'living room'; it looks like a Frankenstack of consumer/pro/DIY/'puter 'stuff' that I can apply 4 levels of eq AND xover AND switchgears so that any or ALL can be running at once....so I can either make them sound like themselves, alone...

...or like each other....in a (granted) crappy space

I find more variance in the recordings.

Pick what sounds good to you.  Until you fall out of love with it.

Happy hunting, and good variable factors. *S*
Ohm Walsh with patented CLS (Coherent Line Source) driver would be worth a listen for something totally different and very natural sounding.    I think they have a demo room at upcoming Capital Audifest in DC area.  
Huy; again, I am not in your room. Everything matters. The flatscreen in between the speakers has to go. It is not about being on or off, it is about that highly reflective surface where you need a sound absorbing surface.  If it can’t go, you must find a way to temporarily cover it up with sound absorbing material. Look up GIK Acoustics. Your Harbeths coming out into the room will decrease gross bass but once you get out of the room nodes (look this up), your bass will sound tight and more realistic (less bloated). Tiny changes make a huge difference, most times. The only proper way to do this is to lay down painters tape into grids so that you can keep your changes consistent. Let me say it again because it can not be said enough, everything matters. You must nullify first reflection points at the side walls and ceiling. You must have complimentary cabling. You must have a clean power supply. You must have the right seating position. Pick up Jim Smith’s book "Get Better Sound". Jim has a hundred or more tips and some will apply and some will not. If you take the time to try his tips, most of which are labor intensive but not expensive, you will find the sound you are missing. Please trust me-it is not your speakers and simply looking for some magic speaker to obtain your desired "natural sound" is, uh, not natural.
Hi fsonicsmith,
Thank you for your input. You are correct. There is a flat screen between (but not close to) 2 Harbeth speakers and they are quite close the the wall. How does it badly influence the sound (even when the TV is off?). Please bear with my ignorance.

I tried to place it further away from the wall, the sound is clearer but the bass is weaker (the weight in the bass decreases).

I have Nakamichi 1000 tape player. Is it counted as a good source of analogue? Sound from Nakamichi is much better than the DAC I use but that analogue sound not close to the 'natural' I am looking for. I know I'm very demanding in sound but I get familiar with any sound although it's good enough and search for more refined.

Thank you.



Digital has a natural sound. It’s the sound of paper mache.
This just goes to show that talk with someone enough, and some commonality can be found 99% of the time. 

To anyone who posts with a specific model or brand of loudspeaker to the OP, you have exhibited your own foolishness. There are only conceptual answers to be given validly to the OP, not specific. His choice of source has already self-limited his experience. 

I don't care which Harbeth he has or whether he has Harbeths at all. He could have 30 year old Realistic by Radio Shack (rip) speakers for all I care. Get a better source, preferably analogue, and position your speakers properly, make sure your room is not causing problems, and you will be on the right course. 

The problem with this Board (well, among lots of others) is that it does not allow posting of photos. I would love to see good photos of the OP's listening room. I bet his Harbeths are up against the front wall with a flat screen in between or close. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't fix a wife. That's a WAF joke. 
Hi everyone,
I have searched quite extensively recently, some names that come up are:- Josheph Audio Pulsars
- JMR Offrande Suppreme V2- Spendor SP100 or SP100R2
The seller are not in my area so I can't demo them.

I used to have Klipsch Chorus 2. I still remember the big sound stage, the weight and mass of the bass. However, the mid and hi-mid is quite harsh and grainy.

Is there anything in the list can offer big sound stage, weighty bass and the organic mid of Harbeth?

Thank you.
Tannoy Prestige. Tobian Sound. Proac. Sonu Faber...Harbeth sounds quite natural usually. Maybe try another amp?
I too was searching for a natural sounding speaker.  I wrote a review of 15 different speakers I home demoed. I ended up with Boenicke speakers.  The designer seems to spend much time recording concerts and as far as I understand it always aims to create a speaker to reproduce the sound of a live acoustic instrument.  The other most natural sounding speaker I came across was the Sonus Faber.  Review here:
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/a-brief-review-of-15-high-end-speakers-on-home-demo-including...
Have you EVER heard "Natural Sound" in your room with any speakers?.... Maybe your room acoustics are the problem?  Different speakers react differently in different rooms and setups.  A very wide dispersion speaker may not sound good in a more reverberant room.  Also.... what is YOUR definition of Natural Sound?.... It may not be the same as MY definition... ie... the sound in my head that I am seeking.  We simply need more information to answer your question intelligently.
Typo that I didn’t catch in time; missed an "R": "SPECTAL CONTENT" should have been "SPECTRAL CONTENT".

One day I was walking down the street in the French Quarter in New Orleans. Through the slightly-open doorway of a shop I heard the sound of a saxophone. Instantly I could tell that it was a live saxophone instead of a good recording through speakers. I had no line-of-sight to the saxophone, not even close as it turned out. All I could hear was the spectral balance of the reflections, and the dynamic contrast.

I have yet to hear a speaker that struck me as "natural sounding" which did not do a good job in the reverberant field. Bonus points for preserving dynamic contrast, but ime that’s a bit less critical.

Let me try to explain why getting the reverberant field right matters if the goal is "natural sound". First a bit of background: All new incoming sounds go into a short-term memory, and then all sounds are compared with those sounds in the short-term memory. If there is a match, then the sound is a "reflection", and it is largely IGNORED for localization purposes, but INCLUDED for its influence on loudness and timbre and ambience. If there is no match, then it is a NEW SOUND, and the ear/brain system figures out where it’s coming from (localization) and puts it into that short-term memory, so that its subsequent reflections can be correctly classified.

The way that the ear/brain system identifies a reflection is by looking at its SPECTAL CONTENT. If the spectral content of an incoming sound matches that of a sound in the short-term memory, then it’s a reflection. If not, then it’s a new sound. So far, so good.

But what happens when an incoming sound is in between - it kinda matches a sound in that short-term memory, but not very well? This can happen when a speaker’s off-axis response, which is responsible for most of the reflections, has significant glitches. What then? Well, in that case the brain literally has to work harder to correctly classify the incoming sound as a reflection. This extra CPU usage can actually be fatiguing, and can even cause a head-ache. You’ve heard the term "listening fatigue"? This can be one of its causes.

I’m not saying that a spectrally-correct reverberant field is the only thing that matters in the pursuit of natural sound, but imo it is one of the things that matters.  One of the reasons unamplified instruments in a good recital or concert hall sound so delicious and utterly non-fatiguing is that the reverberant field is so well done. 

When auditioning speakers, you may not always have time to find out if listening fatigue sets in. One way to quickly put a spotlight on the spectral balance of the reverberant field is to step outside of the room and listen through the open doorway, with no line-of-sight to the speakers. Does that saxophone still sound real?

Duke

dealer/manufacturer

Take a listen to speakers by Vanderstein  or Thiel (used).  Both built only with first order crossovers which provides phase coherence through the crossover regions.  And since both had "music-loving" rather than "hi-fi" sensibilities they tended to avoid anything that didn't sound like real music.  There may be others as well that meet this criteria, but I (and countless others) can attest to the fact that these two manufacturers delived the goods when it came to "natural".
Another very nice, open baffle speaker is the Spatial, Hologram M3 Turbo S. Incredibly smooth open and very musical, with a large and convincing stage. At just under $3K, a real bargain in today's market.....Jim
For naturalness you need a very dynamic and unforgiving speaker. Preferably a pro studio monitor, active or passive. Great suggestions would be ATC, Westlake, Quested, PSI, Unity the Boulder, Barefoot, dual centric Tannoy and many more. Westlake is a "new" favourite of mine. 

Note - with these your bad recordings will sound bad and the good will sound good sometimes fantastic. They will not all sound mediocre as with most HIFI home speakers. Your Harbeth should be ok although being a home speaker. I found it a bit uninspiring. Harbeth also have studio versions. Don't know if they are different. 

If you with natural sound means concert sound, then visit a live venue. I don't want that sound in my home because it's very seldom enjoyable. You don't go to a concet for the sound. Maybe Roger Waters...

Not sure about the open baffle suggestions. Can't think of a speaker technology that interacts more with the room. But would like to try in the future.

Also, as someone already pointed out, try to find the good recordings and skip the bad. Discover new artists that really try to also present a fine sound. There are lots of them. Also the same artist may hav a big spread between good and bad recordings. Sometimes on the same cd. Listening to John Fogerty when writing this and he is a good example. Tidal is great for this.

Just my ideas and Good luck!

Tough question to answer when you omit the primary style of music you listen to, info on your romm size and treatments if any and your other components and of course your budget. All of this info is required to be able to properly recommend a pair of speakers, As mentioned above your present speakers are from a highly respected company known for producing a natural sound. For this reason I suspect your room and / or other components are in need of examination prior to the speakers. This is assuming you are looking to improve your systems sound. If you are just exploring other peoples idea of what they think a natural sounding speaker is in a general context then this info isn't required.
Consider KEF Blade II loudspeakers with VAC amplification (at any price level).......remarkably natural sound and soundstage! .....near totally removed from the loudspeakers. Some great suggestions above as well. If you prefer a solid state amplifier, Clayton Audio matched with a VAC mk5 Preamplifier is a very close second with the Blade II.  Enjoy!
Hi 
i have owned many high end speakers 
from Avalon,Genesis,Proac 
etc.
i recently saw and read some comments on this website about a 
speaker by the name of Usher Mini
Dancer ll with Diamond tweeters 
i read a lot of great reviews and decided to buy a pair and to my surprise probably the best pair I have owned so far.
very natural and life like.
Give it a try.


Also you could listen to Spendor, be it the Classic line or the new D line. Less pretty than the Harbeth, they are also less expensive.
many on the forum say they sound better... at least fr your quest, they  deserve a listen.
If a "natural" sound is what you are after the Harbeth's are going to be very hard to beat. You will need to take a look at electrostatic or planer speakers but should be prepared for the many trade offs associated with those designs. They may get you closer but at a cost. The only other dynamic speaker that I have found that sounds as "natural" as the Harbeth's are those from Daedalus Audio. I went from Harbeth to Daedalus years ago and have never looked back--super "natural" sounding and damn pretty to look at.
There are two requirements to be met in speakers in order to come close to 'natural' sound: 1)NO crossover, 2)ONE full range driver. Even the best designed and constructed crossovers introduce sound compressions, phase distortions... More than one driver leads to different sound characteristics, different speeds... Single full range drivers are difficult and expensive to make, and speakers with such drivers are difficult and expensive to design - but when you find one the experience is divine. Check out Audience, Teresonic, Zu...
Voxativ 3x driver in a folding horn sounds pretty close for electronic equipment.Good tube 2a3 300b etc don't scrimp on the preamp  the best cords you can afford same with turntable now at lease you can get the music. Arthur 
You don't mention which Harbeth's you have but my Harbeth 40.1's are about as natural and neutral as any on the market....and I have been using Quad 57's for over 30 years(retired after getting the Harbeths). What these speakers need are a rather large room and plenty of power(i'm using Classe CAM 200's). For true realism, one needs to sit at the approximate apex point of an isocoles triangle.....my speakers are about 8 feet apart, 4 feet from the back wall, and sitting position is about 10 feet away. Also Harbeths need to be elevated off the ground so that the tweeter portion is about at ear level.....put on some good vinyl and revel in the lushness and natural timber of a string quartet, symphony orchestra, or whatever else you might enjoy.....
VOXATIV SINGLE DRIVER SPEAKERS
My setupVoxativ Ampeggio Signature with Wyetech labs Ruby 300B amp/preamp/phono
I have Analysis Audio Epsilon that replaced Quad ESL. They are very natural and no box sounding.
quanghuy

This question is perfect. It addresses an important issue. Here we are in 2018. Sixty years after the first quads came out and we have hundreds of speakers available.....for the prices they are asking shouldn't they all have a natural sound......don't these reviewers car about natural sound when they listen to speakers. 

What is wrong with the speaker industry. Why would they even make a speaker that did't have a natural sound...
atc is my vote...it was going to be between harbeth,spendor,atc...non ported cab was what my room was needing
perhaps you need to define what is natural ... each concert venue has it's own characteristics ... so what are you really shooting for?   3rd row center at Carnegie Hall,  first balcony at the Auditorium Theatre, a box at LaScala (old or renovated), the slope at Red Rocks, on the field at an outdoor stadium, the picnic grounds at Ravinia or a college rehearsal hall?  You get the idea ... no one can tell you what is natural in a speaker it is up to you.
Try Yamaha NS1000, NS1000x or NS2000 for Natural Sound. Beryllium mid & high, sound very open. Just add a rel sub and it can compete with most speakers
Did you read Arthur Salvatore's review of his reference speakers "Pure Reference" from Coincident? To my ears these are among the most natural sounding speakers I have ever heard. 

http://www.high-endaudio.com/RC-Speakers.html