Harbeth C7ES3 vs Spendor SP2/3R2


I recently acquired some beautiful Harbeth C7ES3 stand mount speakers and some Sound Anchor stands.

I normally wouldn't purchase speakers unheard, but I went against my own advice this time and let all the internet hype sway my risky decision.

The Harbeths are currently in the break-in period, and so far I'm not terribly impressed. In fact, the only trait I prefer over my MA Silver 8s is the midrange tone, everything else is inferior thus far.

I realize that comparing some medium sized, metal cone floor standers to BBC style 2-ways is apples to oranges, but I was really hoping the Harbeths would captivate me, if by completely different merits. 

I hope that some break-in will change my view in the coming days. However, the dealer I bought these from claims that the Spendor SP2/3R2 might be the better speaker for my room and preferences. The Spendors are another $500 on top of the Harbeths which already stretched my budget.

Anyway, I'm curious if anyone here has compared these two models and can give me some feedback.

I think I'd be very pleased with the Spendors if they offered better bass extension and dynamics over the Harbeths.

I know this is all subjective, but the dealers near me have trouble accommodating in-home trials. They're nice guys but very busy. 


helomech
Bit of a sideways move going from Harbeth to SP2. Problem us that you have moved from big punchy speakers to a more delicate speaker with less bass. The midrange is excellent in the Harbeth as well as tonal balance, color, timbre etc. Perhaps the Harbeth is exposing some weakness in your chain...
They don't seem to be exposing weaknesses that I can discern, though I'm not sure how I could tell unless I had a reference for comparison.

I'm willing to sacrifice some bass and dynamics for the tonal improvements, but I still like some good hard rock once in a while. I'm trying to be patient with break-in. 
A few years back I replaced the Harbeth P3ESR with the C7ES3. I had the same problem with them lacking bass. I sold them and went back to the smaller P3's. For some reason which I can't explain the smaller sealed P3 has a tighter more accurate sounding bass than the larger C7. 
Yogiboy,

The P3ESR may have tighter bass but I can't imagine they could fill a room as large as mine with realistic levels. I think the C7 cabinet volume is probably the minimum I can get away with and still achieve loud, uncompressed sound. The dealer claims the Spendors can dig a little deeper despite their contradicting specs.

Break-in seems to be yielding. improvement, either that or I'm just becoming used to their sound.

If I could manage just %10 improvement in bass, I think one of these BBC monitors might have a future in my house. I'd like to avoid attempting to integrate a sub.