Harbeth sound with high wife acceptance factor?

@ mapman, Hi, I to have a man-cave, My wife helps buy whatever I want in audio, she loves music, she does voice her opinion on the sound, I like that thou, females do hear differently than a man, so when I am tunning a system, a compromise happens often, works very well toward the end result, I found men hear bass better, and the females hear the highs better, now this is just my opinion, they may be differnt opinions out there since every-one as a whole hears differently.

CTkeene - good that you finally settled down with the Devores. For what it's worth, I own both Harbeth and Dalis(SHL5 and Mentor Menuets). The Dali's midrange is no where near the Harbeth and sounded unnatural next to it.

A shop owner once told me she stopped selling Harbeth's because they were UGLY speakers and a "girlfriend repeller" (no joke). Since I like girls, I decided to heed her advice and go with something else.

Some of the best "advice" a boutique owner ever imposed on me.

I was the happy owner of a pair of C7s for many years--great speakers. The only other speaker that I have heard that is as "right" sounding are the Daedalus. I would suggest you take a look at the Athena's--a moderately sized floor stander that is beautiful to look at. If you like the Harbeth sound, then you will like the Daedalus sound even better. And the WAF could not be higher, unless you are looking for something with very modern styling.

Do you have a partnership with your wife, or is it a dictatorship with her the dictator?

I mean, a problem with a speaker that small?

What percentage of the home is decided by her choice of furniture, drapes, and other decor decided by her? Do you contribute to the family finances, or do your share of the work at home if she is the main breadwinner?

Gather big photos of Wilson Alexandria, Edgarhorns, Martin Logan CLX, the biggest Magnepan, Tannoy Westminsters, Classic Audio Technology, and the Harbeths. Tell her that this is the list of speakers acceptable to you and she can make the choice.