Harbeth 30.1, 30.2, XD

I was blown away when I first heard the 30.2 40th anniversary editions in my system.  Bought it on the spot. Then I was even more impressed by the Graham Audio version of the LS5/9, sold the Harbeths after extensive a/b testing. Much more open sounding, much nicer treble. Minimal if any drawbacks. Graham Audio may be the modern pinnacle of the original BBC speaker. Harbeth is better than most speakers out there, but they get a LOT of hype.  

@redwoodaudio -- I'm assuming you haven't updated your system page yet (?) I, for one, am super interested in a detailed comparison between Harbeth 30.2 and Graham Audio speakers that you mention. I have the 30.1s, but would love to give Graham Audio a try.

@speakermaster
“ …I would stick with the old model newer speakers tend to sound thin and bright with the sound all about the soundstage and not about natural tone or a musical tone…”

Not so in my audition circumstance.

I heard them in an A-B bake-off with the old 30.1 (pre-owned) against the new 30.2 XD in a couple of solid state systems… a $10K and a $25K system.., in both, the new model was an incremental step-up in audio performance. There was nothing thin or bright or compromised “natural tone / musical tone” in the new model.

What was witnessed was that the better the upstream components (and price strata ….) = the added incremental refined audio improvements. No surprise there.

@arafiq No I haven't updated my system page yet... too many recent changes... and I don't even have the LS5/9s anymore... having upgraded in a big way to Graham's LS5/5s.  They are incredible, but LS5/9s would be my choice for a smaller room.

The Graham LS5/5 is a fascinating speaker.
https://www.grahamaudio.co.uk/products/ls55/

@redwoodaudio  You are the first person I've encountered to have heard them and actually own them!

In the impossibility of me auditioning them, I ended up with Harbeth 40.2s, which I'm enjoying very much.