I love my archaic Harbeth Super HL5+ (resonant panels! inneficient! mundane tweeter materials! a fxcking port!) They are just a joy for listening; I don’t think about them when I am using them
Beautiful sound, and wonderful levels of detail, but not in your face; if you want to listen deeper, more is always there (Stevie talking to his horn players at beginning of Superstition; the beautiful work by Brian Jones on Beggars Banquet)
Not a fan of lip-smacking or guitars made to sound like harpsichords. Diana Krall and Nils Lofgren recordings *not* on my speaker audition list - too manufactured (I respect the artists, it’s the recordings that aren’t to my taste)
“Mining for Gold” by the Cowboy Junkies is my idea of a speaker audition song. Just Margot, that pure, pure voice, and the clunky church HVAC system in the background
Yes, I’m from the Dionysian school of audio, though I respect the Apollonian approach
Have a great day!