The "right" speaker

The Harbeth Compact 7ES and slightly smaller but more expensive Monitor 30 are world-class mid-field monitors (stand mounts) with the clearest least colored midrange around. Ive heard a lot of speakers, including many mentioned above, and wouldn't buy anything else.

But, speaker preferences vary and there are hundreds of different high quality speakers out there. Spend some time and enjoy the search.

Hiflyer, the HL Compact 7ES is a rather large box, 520mm h, 273 w and 315 d. That's about 20 inches high by 11 wide by almost 13 deep. The Monitor 30 is a bit smaller, 460-277-285, about 17-11-11.5. To find the dimensions of their speakers you need to download the brochures from their "data archive."

I use a 16 inch Target metal stand, the height dictated by the height of my sofa. Tweeters at ear level. Harbeth and Professor Greene of TAS, who has reviewed the Compact 7 and Monitor 40 (very large), do not believe that stands have any function other than to get the tweeter up to the correct height.

W/re amplifiers, again Harbeth and Dr. Greene both recommend high current solid state amps. I use a 150 watt Muse 160 mosfet. Some people do use tubes, and I am sure that a high powered tube or hybrid would be just fine. Those little 3 to 8 watt SET's wouldn't do. I have tried my speakers with different solid state amps down to 20 watts, and they always sound good, but they do much better with a lot of power.

I don't know what kind of power you need with the Monitor 30. My similar sized HL-K6's (now discontinued) need a lot of current, more than the C7's.

I was waiting for that Doug. But he hasn't given us enough info. Depends on the attitude of his head in its listening position, left side furnishings versus right side, and, of course, whether his components are on the left or right.