What many of us remember are not the speakers per se but the memories of our younger years... :) Going back to the speakers, KEF 104's belonged to the British family of sound, mainly "2 cubic feet" boxes. Directly or idirectly they all benefited from the research at BBC labs. IMHO the best representative of this group was Spendor BC1. Its direct successor Spendor SP1/2r was recently introduced.
However, at some point Harbeth overtook Spendor as the inheritor of that heritage, the extent of which is symbolized by the fact the that the son of Spendor founders moved to Harbeth. New companies like Proac also came along.
Another important point in this context is that when dollar was strong, the best speaker values often came from Britain, at least in this budget range. Now, with much weaker dollar, the best value may well lie with American speakers.
However, at some point Harbeth overtook Spendor as the inheritor of that heritage, the extent of which is symbolized by the fact the that the son of Spendor founders moved to Harbeth. New companies like Proac also came along.
Another important point in this context is that when dollar was strong, the best speaker values often came from Britain, at least in this budget range. Now, with much weaker dollar, the best value may well lie with American speakers.