Are Harbeths really "all that?"

hi,

I have the Compact 7ES and find them completely satisfying. They have excellent imaging and are faithful to the sound source. The HL-PES-2 will be somewhat bass shy but the remainder of the "Harbeth sound" will be there and it's glorious.

Larry

Missioncoonery, what I meant by my comment was that you are taking a naive view on audio by insisting Harbeths are inferior due to 'old technology'. People who know music know that natural materials can make wonderful transducers. If you're interested in MUSIC, that is - as in reproducing unamplified acoustic music.

The common modern wisdom on speaker design is mostly nonsense.

Ryder,

I have a pair of Ohm Walsh 100 S3's. About 5 months old and still not totally broken in, but very, very good, indeed. :-)

Shadorne,

Right... I’m thinking of very narrow floorstanders like the Totem Arro or Silverline Prelude, where the drivers take up almost the width of the whole speaker and the very rigid cabinet is supposed to help imaging and soundstage... or so the marketing hype suggests.

LOL! Ha Ha!! Audiophiles arguing what's best! Buy and try! We all have our sound. Some like polite laid back and some like in your face. Ever been to a live show and watched the people run to the front while others sit back. It's all listener preference people.