I think like someone mentioned above, Alan Shaw says that so he doesn't loose sales to other companies also. I don't blame him either. Those people may buy another brand, because someone selling XYZ brand says you could use mid-fi gear with their XYZ brands. Years back, I used a receiver to power more expensive speakers I liked in the 70s,until I could afford the better separates they deserved. Harbeth speakers do show the flaws in the rest of the system. They at times will show mid-range flaws that a lot of speakers don't reveal. There are cheap speakers that do reveal the flaws of gear that are way higher than their price category. It all amounts to in the end to have a system with everything good enough and getting along while not being any standout flawed sounding pieces in the chain.
