Warm romantic & detailed


Good morning Gentlemen & ladies... 

I'm just starting to toy with idea of replacing my Focal 1038's... No matter how I treat my room, or what equipment I throw at it I just can't seem to tame the harsh highs on this speaker. 

I'd like to stay in the same price range of the Electra's (7/8k), I don't mind buying used, the musts for me at this point are: Warm, romantic, yet detailed... It would be beautiful to just sit and listen and not have ear fatigue after 15 minutes of listening. 

Can you please recommend something? 
jeffinnh76
Just thought I'd update all of you chaps. 

Sold my Focal's, feeling a little bittersweet about it, but time moves on.

So far I've auditioned the Focal Spectral 40th, Harbeth 40.3, Sonus Faber heritage iii.

Question: obviously there is a difference between the harbeth 40.1 / 2 and 3rs. I believe I've been told the 40.2 share pretty much the same components as the 3's. Obviously I'm not selling out  18k for a new pair of 3's, so I'm leaning towards the used market. I've found a great price on the 40.1's, but searching a little deeper and opening up my wallet a little more I could land a pair of the 40.2s... So my question is: would I regret buying the 40.1's and not going for the 40.2's?

By the way hearing the harbeth 40.3 was a life changing experience. I was also Extremely impressed with the sonus faber heritage iii, and the focal spectral 40's where also very impressive 
I've only heard the 40.2s (amazing!), so can't comment on the differences between .1, .2 and .3, but I would be surprised if they were significant.  I'd suggest checking out the Harbeth User Group - https://www.harbeth.co.uk/usergroup/.  There may be some folks there that have heard the different versions.
@jeffinnh76  There are significant differences between the .1 and the .2/.3.  The crossover in the 40.2 was changed to make it more living-room friendly.  The 40.1 could boom in too small rooms or when not carefully positioned.  The differences between the 40.2 regular, 40.2 Anniversary, and 40.3 XD are insignificant, and have more to do with marketing than performance.  A NOS/NIB/demo 40.2 is the purchaser's sweet spot.
I heard the 40.2 at the New York Audio Show and they had them pulled well out into the room...literally in the middle of the room. 
I owned 40.1's for 8 years and currently own 40.2 Anni's.  The 40.1's are considerably warmer and more full bodied / organic sounding than the 40.2's.   The 40.2's are more neutral and detailed.   
If you prefer warm and romantic, go with 40.1's.   If you want detailed and exciting go with 40.2's.