Recommend A More Dynamic Monitor Than Harbeth C7

Sunnyjim,
I have not heard the latest HL5 Super so I cant comment on it.

However if you look at any other Harbeth apart from the original LS3/5 and to some extent the P3Es, they thicken the tonality and alter the timbre towards a darker shade, more choclatey, in a way. It possibly could be related to their driver design which get sluggish as they grow in size. The change in bass tone due to the sluggishness will ultimately affect other ranges too due to the change in harmonics.

I owned the Harbeth HL5 + at the same time I owned the JMR Bliss Silvers and I can honestly say the JMR blew the Harbeth away at a fraction of the price. I don't agree at all with Sunnyjim and his comment about the price of the JMR.

I went through a similar situation myself, except I was coming from a pair of Proac D2 (which may have a similar sonic signature to Harbeths, I can't say but maybe others can). A good pair of Proacs was always my "holy grail" and I finally got them, and they were better than anything else I'd ever owned. Living with them a while I noticed that they were very musical, but also warm and not entirely transparent. That sense of the music coming from a wooden box never left me. My listening room is also near-field, about 5-6 feet listening distance, and my budget was $3000 and I wanted more transparency, more clarity, a more dynamic sound.

I researched many of the same names mentioned on the thread so far - and there are some fantastic recommendations here - but ended up going in a different direction and trying a pair of used Wilson Benesch Arcs, with their steel & carbon fiber cabinets. I wanted to see what happens to the sound when you remove the wooden cabinet from the equation, and the answer is what I was looking for. In fact, I liked that effect, of removing the wooden box, so much that I then bought a pair of extruded-aluminum cabinet BMC Purevox for our larger living room (would have bought bigger Wilson Benesch but they too rarely come up used and I can't afford new). The Arcs are clear, transparent, dynamic, and very airy - very much a you're-in-the-studio-with-them or in-the-concert-hall type of sound. And there happens to be a pair available here now, pre-owned and mint, for under $3K.

Only warning is that transparency comes at a price. If you listen to a lot of '80s rock, especially badly-recorded content like so many of Pat Benatar's albums, Bryan Adams, hair-metal, etc., the Arcs don't hide or protect you from that like warmer, more colored speakers will. If all I were going to listen to forever was Bryan Adams' "Reckless" album, I'd stick with the Proacs. But on anything recorded well, the Arcs are in a different league. But there's no coloration to protect you from poorly-recorded material. Hope this helps.

I have heard the Wilson Benesch Arc many a times. Sure they have gone ahead tried new materials in order to get rid of unnecessary coloration. But then they have gone a bit too far and actually cleaned up a bit too much IMO. Some of the real musical harmonics have gone missing with that speaker. It is something thats very common with many of the current ultra clean audiophile sounding speakers.

I have heard the Wilson Benesch Arc many a times. Sure they have gone ahead tried new materials in order to get rid of unnecessary coloration. But then they have gone a bit too far and actually cleaned up a bit too much IMO. Some of the real musical harmonics have gone missing with that speaker. It is something thats very common with many of the current ultra clean audiophile sounding speakers.

Pani, I think you're confusing box resonance/coloration for musical harmonics, as if the box material is editing out the content of the music. IMHO, that's nonsense. Now, if you want to debate "colored" sound vs transparent sound, that's an entirely useful debate - for some people, they don't want completely transparent reproduction of a CD/LP's content. "Colored" sound can be very helpful, as I pointed out in my last post, when listening to badly recorded material. You just have to decide what you're after.

For me, all I want is the music as clean as I can get it. Saying music is too clean, for me personally, is like saying you cleaned a glass table too much - there's no such thing. It's either clean, or it isn't. But then, I also own a pair of older Sonus Faber Concertino speakers - a great example of beautiful sound reproduction, but colored in that warm SF way. Again, it's all about preference, and what makes your ears happy in that particular listening space and your chosen music.