Considering Harbeth C 7ES-3

Helomech... in every forum, when someone opens a thread asking about Harbeth do you have to come in and recommend Spendor or Stirling?

"nothing the C7 do that the A4 dont do better" . I mean, really dude?

Yes, that is my opinion based on my auditions. The A4s have greater resolution, they "disappear" more, plumb deeper in the bass and have a lower fatigue factor despite their greater resolution. Keep in mind I’m specifically referring to the A4s vs the C7s, not every Harbeth.

And I don't know why you put that second sentence in quotes, those are not my exact words. Please, if you're going to quote me, please copy my words verbatim. I said the A4s are in a "whole other league." It's true IME and I'm confident 90% of other listeners would agree because the difference is huge. It's not a matter of comparing the minor quirks of each, like maybe one has a sweeter treble and the other a sweeter midrange.

The OP asked for recommendations for other speakers he should consider. Do you think it unwise for him to audition any of the competition? Really, shouldn’t he listen to as many options as possible and decide for himself instead of drinking the Harbeth Kool Aid and buying "blind"/deaf?

But why do you care anyway? You claim you have no regrets going from the Super HL5+ to the much less expensive Seas A26. So should you really be surprised that I don’t consider Harbeth the best value in this price range? I mean, you went from a $6K/pair speaker to a ~$1800/pair speaker and claim "no regrets."

I truly do find the Spendors and Stirlings to offer far better performance and value. Between the Spendor SP2/3R2, Stirling SB-88 and Harbeth C7ES3s, I actually find the Stirlings are the best overall. I know where one can buy them for less than $3200, which makes them an incredible value since they happen to sound best of the three.

Both of the sales managers of my local Harbeth dealer (one of the largest in the U.S.) share my opinion. They also sell Spendor and Stirling. Guess what? They don’t have Harbeths in their home systems. Nuff said.

Thank you all for your thoughts. Much appreciated. 

Hi, @helomech! You seem to be one of the few people around with direct experience with the Spendor SP2/3R2. Could you please elaborate a bit more on:
1. the difference between the SP2/3R2 and the Stirling's?
2. the difference between the SP2/3R2 and SP100R2, if you've heard them (I want to know if the voicing is the same, of course the raw performance should be quite different)?
3. the difference between the SP2/3R2 and the current Spendor Classic range, if you've heard them (2/3, 1/2, 100)?

Thanks a lot! Oh, and apologies to the OP for hijacking the thread, an answer in a new thread or by PM would be fine with me.