Drubin. You will be surprised. In my experience, the Harbeth's resolve detail in an extraordinarily natural fashion. The first time I heard the Compact 7 I thought I was listening to an electrostatic speaker--such was the unboxiness and level of detail. The Radial driver is an extraordinary woofer. It adds ZERO coloration and resolves gobs of inner detail. Beware--not the kind of hifi theatrics that some speakers do. I've heard a number supposedly high resolution designs that SEEM to present lots of information. What they do, I suspect, is emphasize parts of the frequency spectrum to present the illusion of detail. This is why, ultimately, they grow fatiguing and send their owners off to find another pair of speakers that are "more satisfying". What the Harbeth's do is present an extremely rich and musical experience but without tipped up highs or forward mids that throw everything in your lap. Some people seem to like speakers that are aggressively forward because they feel like they are not "missing anything". For me, I like to listen "into" the soundfield and follow the interplay between musicians. I know that this all really boils down to what strikes your fancy but something tells me that folks who like "high resolution" "forward" sounding speakers really are about impressing their friends by playing the same audiophile junk over and over while pointing out the creeking floor at the rear of the stage or whatever. Harbeth's won't impress anyone, really, unless they are a musician or a music lover. (I know I'm gonna catch it for this!) I'm dying to know how things turn out so please return to the thread and share your observations after you have the HL5's up and running. BTW:
1. What gear are you using with them?
2. Check out the Harbeth users group at Smartgroups, lots of Harbeth lovers there swapping tips etc.
