J.M. Reynaud Trente vs. Harbeth Compact 7es3

Bob Neill reviewed the Trentes for Positive Feedback magazine a few years back. His personal speakers that he used for comparison were Harbeth Monitor 40's. Hopefully the review can give you some useful insights.

Reynauds and Harbeths

You can also contact Bob via his small audio dealership Amherst Audio that only carries 4 brands of equipment. But, he loves to talk audio and has extensive experience with every Reynaud model and Harbeth speakers.

BTW, Bob still writes audio reviews, just not of products that he carries or that compete with his lines.

The reynauds are seductive while the harbeths are a gentleman's speaker. Reynaud's are like paris and harbeths are like london. I'd go with the reynaud.

You really have to audition both speakers.
I had the Trente before & the Compact 7es2s.
The Trentes takes a super super long time to break in.
But the time it was singing to high heavens it was already sold to a friend of mine.
Both speakers are really good, and i think it boils down to personal preference.
I personally prefer the Harbeth sound in the end, but YMMV.

I appreciate the responses. I have heard over the last few months from people that really, really love their speakers. Some of them have Reynaud's and some have Harbeth's and some have Spendors. All different sounding speakers, but their owners seem to have one thing in common....an undying love and devotion to their speaker. I believe that they both deserve a serious audition, but unfortunately there are no dealers within about an 8hour or more car drive from me. Being as that I'm in Wisconsin, I'll need to wait until spring when the weather is more accomodating to do some fun roadtripping and check these out.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me.
Don