From Harbeth Compact 7es3 to the new XD version, does it make sense?

Too true, The idea of spending hours just to get to a particular brand is not something I would want to do. The disappearing brick and mortar hi-fi makes it far more difficult than ever to listen to speakers. Also dealers for the most part carry smaller inventories and less brands. I had to make a very conscious decision to buy my last 2 pairs of speakers based on numerous reviews and comments, so that I had a pretty good idea on what I was getting (and then also purchased used). Fortunately, I had no surprises with either purchase.

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Out of curiosity, have you made any decisions on this Airdavid?

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Hello JOF,
telling the truth I still haven’t made a final decision: I like the XDs and they are certainly better than the standard version I have. But I’m still not sure if half the price of the XDs plus the trade-in of my standards are worth it.
Therefore I am still in the process of evaluating further brand alternatives (Proac, Spendor, Pmc, Audiovector, Wilson Benesch) and whether standmounters or small floorstanders, for my 26sq metres room…
David

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Good luck.

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David,

a personal impression. I am accustomed to the Harbeth voice because my dealer has them in stock regularly bar the 40. I’ve recently heard the C7 HD with Naim equipment.
A consideration. Time ago I used to visit the Harbeth forum, where Alan Shaw, as is a known fact, frequently posts with very clear and unambiguous ideas about speakers and his own designs. He apparently is not the type to improve his loudspeakers to comply with the customers’ itches and sticks by his views. As the late Guy Debord is reported to have said about his famous book The society of the Spectacle, which he published without any rewriting or editing after the first drafting, ‘I am not the type who corrects himself’.

Yet, in time AS has modified the voicing of most of his popular designs, such as the C7 and the SHL5. Because the components are the same since the introduction of the Radial2 cone, it can only have been a change in the crossover design, and it must have been done to second the opinion of many customers that Harbeth speakers are often a bit bass-y and not too open in the upper range.

When such changes occur in a manufacturer’s mind I always ask myself: If you have been adamant on your opinions for decades and your speakers were bought and reviewed with high ratings as they were, why are you changing them now?

So, being it likely a matter of different, very slight regulations in the crossover which translate into a different, not necessarily better voicing, I ask you: If you liked your C7s as they were at the moment of purchasing them, why should you not like them anymore now?

Best with your quest,

m.

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