Can the Harbeth 40.1's boggie ?????

I suggest attending CES/T.H.E Show in January. Yes, it can be a pain: to get the time off work, to pay the cost of a plane ticket, to pay for lunch and dinner, and to possible have to pay for a hotel if you can't make it a day trip.

However, the opportunity to hear a vast number of speakers (bring your own music...non-audiophile approved is even better) is worth the expense and the time. The cost is considerably less than the potential hit taken upon resale of less-than-satisfactory speakers.

When shopping for speakers, considering the severe limitation of hearing them locally, the value of attending an audio show cannot be overstated.

IMO.

Garebear... sorry the 40.1's are not working out for you. I've had mine for about 20 months and I love them. Suggest you experiment a bit more before giving up on them. I like them best with Mac tube gear... McIntosh MC 275 MKV with NOS Telefunken 12AX & AT7's to be specific. Seems that this is a speaker that some love and some hate... really boils down to personal preference I suppose.

Garebear, let me extrapolate on what I said above.

We're the same age and I suspect we have been audiophiles for most of our adult lives. I've come to the conclusion that for all practical purposes a single system cannot really do justice to all types of music. Specifically, I came to this conclusion after years of trying to get the classic Motown recordings to sound good. It was further reinforced when I started to get into 1920-30s recordings of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Patton and others. Rather than keep pouring money into a single system and trying to perfect the sound, I decided that I would get better results if I went with multiple systems. In practice I've been able to get better musical enjoyment and spend substantially less dollars by pursuing this strategy.

If you look at my system page compare the Upstairs Loft to the Basement system. The Basement system was my first attempt at going for a different sound. The Spendors are very similar to your Harbeth. It's a more relaxed sound than the Rowland/Gradient combo Upstairs. The third system is what really opened my eyes. It's a pair of EPIs (similar to Advents) and Sony electronics. They cost next to nothing, but on classic rock they are simply more enjoyable than either of the other two systems. Of the three systems one can make me get up and dance (well at least try) while the other two systems sound really good when I'm sitting in the sweet spot.

Maybe it's possible to spend some ungodly amount of money and time to put together a single system that does it all. My experience doesn't bear that out.

BTW, my 1920-30 recordings sound best on the higher resolution Rowland/Gradient system. Some of them are actually very good recordings.

IME the soft dome tweeters sound easy on the ears, but they don't boogie. The metal dome tweeters have come a long way, and the newest Beryllium tweeters don't sound harsh like older Aluminum and Titanium tweeters. They completely get out of their way in the music while providing fast and articulate sound. IMHO.

Garbear: it's really a matter of system synergy. You system was setup to sound good with the equipment you have. The harbeths are not optimized to the rest of the room and gear. The purists are great cables bit not with the harbeths. You proved that. Want to try a cheap experiment... buy some radio shack 14 gauge speaker wire try it.. I think you'll be surprised. .