Harbeth 30.1, 30.2, XD

@twoleftears and @dhcod - I had to buy the LS5/5s without an audition. I was auditioning another interesting speaker as a potential upgrade to the LS5/9s (Wolf von Langa SONs) and wasn’t totally sold on the sound in my system. I ended up speaking with Erik from Gig Harbor Audio in Washington by phone who told me how good the LS5/5s are, but said that they were in such short supply that he couldn’t let me audition it without purchasing it. I went back and forth, ultimately taking a gamble on a new pair in Cherry (serial number 42) that was arriving a few days later to his store (he gave me a nice trade-in for the LS5/9s, though). The LS5/5s are virtually without flaw in my few weeks with them, sitting on top of custom stands from Gig Harbor, with footers by Isoacoustics on the stands. They’ll play any type of music, have a rich smoothness that has to be heard to be believed, and disappear completely with the right recording and amplification. They also look great (with the grills on) in my room. For $18k, they’ll be my reference for a while...  I've never heard the Harbeth 40.2s but I'm sure they're incredible too.

Piggybacking on Twoleftears’ remark, Harbeth recently hired Terry Miles who had worked at Spendor for decades and was responsible for all their designs over that period of time. I have owned over a dozen Spendor loudspeakers over the years, including the pair of  Classic 2/3’s I currently own, and if you have kept up with the progression of those designs, especially the newest A, D and Classic series, you know Terry has incrementally moved Spendor from a somewhat classic British sound to one that is more immediate, being highly transparent and detailed, yet at the same time retaining a high level of musicality. Even though Alan Shaw would probably say it’s the other way around, I think Harbeth brought him on board to do the same thing, albeit with perhaps a bit more oversight and collaboration. Just a guess.

@vdotman very interesting, indeed. Derek Hughes (now mostly with Graham) and Terry Miles have very different approaches to updating the BBC sound (as does Alan Shaw). Top end Spendor classic speakers are probably excellent too (I haven't heard them either). Always down to personal tastes of course. Erik at Gig harbor audio was of the opinion that Hughes is more of a purist, and he seemed to prefer his designs overall. 

I've heard the Spendor Classic 100.  For me, it was streets better than the D7 that I also heard that same afternoon.  It was just pipped by the 40.2.

Vu of Deja Vu (Wash DC) says the earlier incarnations of the '100 were better.

I previously owned the SP 2/3R2 Spendors and found them quite special. Their tonality is more presence centric than the new Classic, which tends to favor clarity and detail over a warmer midrange. It’s not that the newer version is bright. Quite the contrary. It simply takes a more even handed approach, and as a consequence requires a bit more careful matching with the rest of the system. I’m driving mine with a Bel Canto E1X integrated amp with excellent results. One thing certainly hasn’t changed and it is just how big these speakers play. They can easily fill all but the largest of rooms.