JBL 43xx va Harbeth 40.x

never owned harbeth but i encourage you to go for the 4343.  i won 4344 and have installed new xover and bi-amped them.  the sound is huge, powerful, resolving and sweet with right equipment.  great stereo and great movie 2.1 system.  i love it and highly recommend.  15 inch woofers for life!

if you like 4343 you'll LOVE 4344 ;-) but you need to bi amp the 4344 to maximize performance. or depending on what you listen to, 4345 even, 18" woofer!

Ninety % of my listening is classical --big orchestra stuff: Mahler,Beethoven, Shostakovich, etc.,through Van Alstine tube preamp, the iconic all powerful Proton 1200 amp,And Magnepan MG12/QR speakers.Very dramatic through the Maggies,but massed violins always have a dry gritty edge. Have tried other amps and speakers-- have a Musical Fidelity M6sPRX amp on the way.But I keep hearing about Harbeth.Very expensive,many different models.Appreciate any feedback.Also thinking about the Magnepan 1.7i. Thanks.

6119:
Bypass 1.7i. Save for 3.7i. The true ribbon rules. But not clear why this is posted on thread comparing JBL and Harbeth??
When I was a young audio novice we talked about the West Coast sound (JBL, Altec) vs. the New England sound (AR, KLH).  This is the same conversation as that was. Basically, as I see it, it’s really about whether your listening keys in on the sound of live classical music, unamplified and heard at some distance, or if you are keying in on music created in studios with multiple close-mic tracks. The latter favors large cone area higher sensitivity speakers, the former favors smooth frequency response, freedom from peaks, and artful driver blending...all hallmarks of the New (and old) England school. 

that is a very interesting perspective crustycoot

i drifted towards jbl rather than standard drivers and i listen to studio recorded music in the main.  something about standard drivers that does not do it for me and i do not listen to classical.