Harbeth 7es3 vs HL5

I forgot to add that if you are solely into natural midrange especially voices, there are few that can match the Harbeth. The Harbeth only lacks the resolution and high frequency extension when compared to speakers that are more revealing in nature ie. Revels, Dynaudios etc. or analytical and bright Thiels(sorry). It's all relative. Those who are into speakers that have extended highs will think of the Harbeth being rolled off in the highs.

It depends on the type of music one listens to as well.

To each his own.

TimK, you can put Spendor SP range and Harbeth in your shortlist if you are looking for natural midrange with smooth highs and low listening fatigue. Both these speakers have BBC heritage and sound quite close although not exactly similar. Used Spendors may be cheaper than the equivalent Harbeths. The advantage of the Harbeth and Spendor is they are easy to drive and don't require high powered amplifiers. A good quality integrated which is able to provide a decent amount of current will be more than sufficient.

Another speaker with less piercing highs is Sonus Faber. My experience with the older Cremona range and Grand Piano reveals these to be even more rolled off in the highs than the Harbeth as if a blanket is covering these speakers. The midrange and clarity isn't as good as the Harbeth and the sound is quite colored. The higher SF models(Guarneri Homage upwards) are better in this regard.

There may be other speakers that fit the bill. Others can probably recommend.

Another contender might be a pair of used Avalon Ascendants. Might be slightly over your budget but you wouldn't need a sub. They are very musical and don't have an etched high end. I listened to the Harbeth's and liked the tonal signiture of those speakers. The avalons are just more focused, transparent and musical in my opinion.

Thanks Ryder and Goose I will look into your suggestions. I am familiar with the Grand Piano and Thiels (ouch for the thiels). I listen to rock (light and heavy), jazz, classical, and blues. about 20% each. And to both cd's and albums.

I suspect that speakers with "rolled off highs" may not solve your problem. It's possible that the problem you're having is in the brightness region, which extends roughly from 2K to 5K Hz rather than higher up. I believe "rolled off highs," insofar as that means the region above about 5K Hz, result more in loss of upper-octave "air" rather than a reduction of brightness.

A review of the Vienna Haydn Grand at TechRadar said, "A common thread runs through all the Vienna Acoustics speakers we've tried, and it's a thread that distinguishes them from the overwhelming market majority. It concerns a suck-out in the presence zone. And if this feature seemed somewhat less extreme with the Haydn Grand than some of its larger siblings, it was still obvious enough on our far-field in-room averaged measurement. In this case, this was a lack of energy through most of the treble range. On our measurements, the output level fell something like 5dB between 1.2kHz and 1.7kHz..."

You might best be served by looking for speakers that are a bit recessed between about 2K Hz and 5K Hz. If I'm mistaken about this, someone please correct me.
-Bob