Why do Harbeth speakers have such a cult following

Harbeth's website describes their sound as "fresh'' and "natural'' which I think are very accurate adjectives.

To my ears the sound is also warm and relaxing, which should appeal to fans of most genres of music (except heavy metal/rap).

Other than sound quality I also think the appeal is that they do work well with a wide variety of amps - I recently listened to the Compact 7s driven by a modest setup costing about US$2k and the sound was captivating. The dealer actually emphasized the point to the several customers present that you don't need "crazy money'' to enjoy a Harbeth.

11-13-12: Bobheinatz
I owned the 5's and it always was enjoyable. It drew you into the music. Someday I will own a Harbeth again.

I also owned the 5's for a short time and Bob's comments sum up my feelings as well. It took me a few days to settle in with them, but after I did I enjoyed a lot of music.

Ditto Bobheinatz & Briangrarcom.

I am using a pair of P3ESR at the moment and they are great. Can't think of a better small speaker, fills the room perfectly, big sound, enough bass, punchy, with great balance and every record I play sound good, I don't know how it's possible, but it is what I hear! Easy to drive as well, and I can play very loud. In my opinion, in my room with my tube amp.

"The dealer actually emphasized the point to the several customers present that you don't need "crazy money'' to enjoy a Harbeth"

Perhaps but $2K price disparity between retail of new 30.1 in UK vs US seems crazy to me, but that's another can of worms isn't it?