Are Harbeths really "all that?"

They were principally designed with voice in mind - drama and radio for BBC. They have a great midrange and will help make a bad recording enjoyable. I don't think they are exciting or the last word on a full orchestra, big band or rocking out the neighbours with ACDC.

However, they are great at what they do!

Horses for courses - if you want to hear a funky big band or Mahler at 100 db SPL at the listening position with tight punch in the stomach percussion and clear tangible deep bass riffs then I would recommend something else! (But remember you can listen to Harbeth at more modest levels all day long and enjoy the polite and resolving sound)

The Stereo Times reviewer raves about their "pin point imaging," but when you see those drivers recessed in those wide, shallow cabinets, you can't help thinking "edge diffraction effects" all over the place.

Actually the wide cabinets are preferable to narrow cabinets for edge diffraction ;)

In any case, I heard the Compact 7ES3 (not that compact actually) last week in a friend's system on the new Pass Labs INT-150 and they were extraordinarily detailed and natural with some of the most natural drums I heard in a while. In many regards much better than most Dynaudio's (but also completely different sounding). Not for loud unrealistic bass explosions though...

Actually the wide cabinets are preferable to narrow cabinets for edge diffraction

Not really. Narrow cabinets less than about 5 to 10 inches wide can be very good (smallest is best and this is important in the mids and HF which is why you sometimes see a triangular mid and HF with a woofer box below). 1 to 3 feet is less good (generally manufacturers will place the tweeter off center which helps). A flush wall mount is the best of all as there is no diffraction and ALSO no rear (wall behind speakers) quarter wave cancellation in the bass (below about 400 to 600Hz) Recall that bass radiates omniderectionally whereas MF and HF rediate mostly forwards into a "half-space" - so in order to create the realistic illusion of a point source then you should really try to flushmount in a wall.

Some commented they were way too polite. It depends on the amps that were hooked to them. The Harbeths are good for most material except hard rock or metal. Yes, they may not have the absolute transparency, dynamics or subterranean deep bass for some, but one can listen to these speakers all day long as listening fatigue is very low. Their strengths are extremely low level of coloration with a natural sound, especially with voices and excellent coherency from top to bottom. They made other speakers I've listened to sound processed. As usual, horses for courses as they say.

By the way Rebbi, care to share what speakers have you got?

"listening fatigue is very low"

I always liked Maggies largely for exactly this reason.

I owned them for years and they were fantastic for extended listening sessions with no fatigue.

When they were tuned in, they always sounded better the more you listened and once you started, you didn't want to stop.