Considering Harbeth C 7ES-3

you truly don't know what you've got until it's gone with the C7ES3.  they gave me so many moments where I just marveled at the sound and never anything to be irritated about.  but like a bonehead i had to complain about some slightly excessive enclosure warmth on some recordings and at the same time falling for the hype of faster, more efficient speakers so i sold them.  
although the new speakers i bought were clearly an upgrade in sound they simply did not sound natural and did not deliver the same amount of moments to marvel at.  
Harbeth is my brand for life.  

I have the 40.1's and think they produce as accurate a sound as one can achieve in this hobby. I always compare them to the original Quads that I had for 30 years....so natural but without the limitations of the Quads. But they do benefit from powerful amplification. You may be able to find a used pair on the internet that would save you some bucks. As a caveat, I've only heard the 7's several times in short listening sessions but they should sound reasonably similar to the 40's

I owned C7's for about two years after my Quad ESLs quit
They are exceptionally good speakers with a very sweet treble
I was so impressed I decided to step up a notch to Harbeths SHL5+
but I could have lived very happily with the C7's

I have two Graham Slee Golds and they are very uncolored and natural sounding but they are not SUT's....they are to be used after an 
SUT or directly with a MM cartridge. They're at their optimum with the optional power supply