Experienced audiophiles best speaker

Thanks for posting that link. I didn't think the show was going to be as hugely successful as it was. I had a lot of fun there. My top 3 rooms:

1. DeHavilland: Kara took advantage of a diagonal set-up and analog tape playback to create an exceptional listening experience.

2. Salk Sound: Jim's speakers are incredible values. Great guy too.

3. Tonian Labs: A $6000 system, and that accounts for $5500 speakers, never sounded so good to my ears. It's enough to create a paradigm shift in how we as audiophiles approach evaluating equipment and equating cost with quality sound.

I'd also like to mention the Simplifi Audio room as the most fun experience I ever had at a show.

I have heard metal domes in many speakers like the Epos M12.2, Thiel, Monitor Audio...even though I prefer a silk dome any day, these speakers with metal domes do not sound analytical to me, they do sound bright and a tad hifi-sh though. I somehow feel it is the mid-bass driver of the Harbeth which has a dry but thick midrange...what a rare combination !!!

Pani, were the Harbeths you heard broken-in as far as you know?

Yes, they were 3 year old. The fact that they were SHL5 which is one of the best Harbeths left no doubt on my mind that they are what they are.

I would also like to add, Harbeths are not very revealing, they are just a bit bright which makes them sound illuminated in comparison to the likes of Spendor and Dyns. The reason I say this is because the company themselves suggest that their speaker can sound good on even an entry level amp, basically they are amp independent. I myself heard them with two different amps one costing about $1000 (Rega Brio) and the other costing about $6000 (Senders Pre-Power), frankly there was very little different difference in sound, except that the bass was a little tighter and faster with the Senders. Common sense tells me that the speaker did not reveal enough for me to judge anything about the two amps.