Are Harbeth S HL5's As Good As Reviewers Claim?

There is no doubt there are many owners of the HL5s that love them. I glad you found you cup of tea.

You know, there is a lot of people worldwide that can claim the shl5s as one of their final speakers & I couldn't blame them.
Are they perfect, no. But for some, it is as good as it gets especially at this price point.
I myself have not upgraded to other speakers in the last 3-4 years.
Each day of playing time it gets better and better.
Would I welcome other speakers in the future ? probably ? but for now, the shl5s will stay in my room.

Are the Harbeth's tube friendly, or is SS preferable with them?

I appreciate that there are many that love the Harbeth sound? I myself have never been blessed with the opportunity to hear them. I'm wondering if any of you have compared the Harbeth sound with that of say Tannoy dual concentric speakers, especially that of the vintage 12" gold variety?

What would be the differences in sound that I could expect, or for that matter, what are the similarities in sound that I could expect?

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

I'm a big fan of the Tannoys. have heard three different tannoy systems recently, and could live with them. But i would not sell my SHL5s to make the move to them. (as i am sure the Tannoy owners would rather keep what they have)
The SHL5 are very much tube friendly.
Mine are now just over a year old. I have compared them to many speakers and it came down to the SHL5/REL system, and the vandersteen Quatro Wood when i bought these. i prefer the SHL5.
If I can ever afford (and feel the need) i would make the move to the 40.1s.
The only speakers I have heard in recent years that I thought were better were the Wilson Sashas and Vandersteen 5As. And even these were not better throughout the freq. range.
Depending on room size, IMO the only speaker i have heard in the SHL5 price range that I think is equal would be the maggie 3.6. However they will need much more $$$$ to get them to there best.
Anyway, that my take on the SHL5 and Harbeths in general.