When a budget speaker is preferred to a high end one...

I think that the crux of what I am trying to say about the Harbeth sound is that the way the speakers are designed excludes the possibility of neutrality and "natural" sound.

I dont dislike Harbeth speakers I just object to the adjectives often used to describe their sound. With respect, I think that this extra sauce is what Harbeth owners like but I dont think that it is as true to the source as other speaker designs.

I was listening to two different floorstanders, I forgot which models. One retailed under $3000, the other $1000,  both used. The former had detail, frequency extension, etc., but sounded buttoned up, almost inert. The latter didn't have the precision, but it sounded more generous, more engaging. I preferred the latter. 

i just moved & downsized from my Acoustic Research AR-92 to a speaker i bought based solely on a review by Andrew Robinson, XTZ Spirit 4 - since i'm in a new listening room, i don't really know how they should sound - my experience so far is that vocals (M & F) sound superb, as do piano & acoustic guitar - however, when there are too many 'sources', it sounds muddled to me, like it can't reproduce too many voices or instruments at the same time - i would love to have someone test them for me on his/her own system (yes, i realize everything matters - but, i just want to know if the speakers are ok) and then i can make adjustments as needed - i live in Foley, AL and i have not found a hi-fi shop or anything like it - i would appreciate any input or comments - thanks, Mark

@analogj 

You reminded me of the time I was at a show where the same manufacturer was exhibiting 2 large floorstanding models.

The cheaper model was about £3k and it's bigger brother was nearer £10k.

The bigger speakers clearly had more weight, authority and scale but somehow something essential had been lost in translation.

The larger speaker just sounded monochrome in comparison - and for me, nothing else could compensate for that.

No amount of scale, power handling, image size can make up for a dilution of instrument timbre.

Nothing.

The cheaper model sounded like music and the larger one sounded like a demonstration.