Spendor D7 vs. Harbeth Super HL5+

My experience was just the opposite.
I owned the Spendor D7 and owned the Harbeth SHL5+ previously.

The midrange in the SHL5+ was marvelous, effortless, warm, and very easy to live with. I really enjoyed those.
The bass was not of my taste, not too much and not so defined and precise.
That´s why I start a search of new pair, and after a long time looking for I arrived to the Spendor D7.
Much, much better bass, more, clear, precise, and scary defined. 
I also found than the midrange was not so romantic and engaging as the SHL5+, but it was definitely  more natural sounding allowing better instrument/voices separation and realism to the presentation.

As the other OP, I noticed that the upper midrange was far too forward, but after 300-400hrs of burn in it was gone.

At one point prior to the 300hrs I was ready to sell the Spendor, but chatting with some others owners calmed down my anxiety.
And it pays a huge reward.

IMHO the Spendor D7 are a tremendous value proposition at their price point. They offer a lot of refinement and high-end sound for the price.

Its very difficult to match the natural, accurate and transparent sound they produce. 
 The SHL5+ is a different kind of speaker, more centered in romanticism and engagement, but not natural sounding as D7s.

So finally is up to you. Try to demo both of them with good amplification and take your decision.
 
Amplifier used in both of them:
Exposure 3010SD
Mcintosh MA252
Leben CS600X
SimAudio Moon 600i

Perfect match for Harbeth SHL5+ was the Moon 600i.
Perfect match for Spendor D7 was the Moon 600i for music that needed more grunt and grip, and the Leben CS600X to increase romantic/engagement factor in more relaxed music like Jazz.

If you are looking for a speaker in this size range then you might want to consider the ATC SCM50 from the classic series you can find them new for just under 10k and used for $5,750.00 right now on USAM.

@routeman21 
be careful straying from harbeth, they can get their hooks in you ! 
i went to spendor after my first harbeths, the c73s3 and eventually came back.  both my harbs took at least 250 hrs for the sound to plateau.  
before i forget-  grilles off!  too laid back with them on, especially my old c7s.  
every speaker worth owning requires (at least for me) lots of work to get the best sound and synergy in your system.  
position fine tuning including height, speaker cables (kimber 8pr sounds great with harbeths and not bank breaking) interconnects (nordost purple or blue brings transparency and air for example).  
"work them" per above and see if you aren't happy.  

I have found that all HARBETH models love great tube amps. Overall they are at their best reproducing classical, jazz and vocal recordings. I eventually ended up with PRIMA LUNA INTEGRATED "HP". But the real magic came to pass when I switched to a double quad of KT150's. The "150's" brought out a new character in my HARBETH speakers that wasn't there with any other amplifier tested, and the most interesting fact was that the HARBETH's did not loose one ounce of that superb midrange mentioned in other reviews.  Another area to look into, that I discovered, made significant improvements in the balance, tactility, presence and drive that the HARBETH / PRIMA LUNA paring produced, was going to large gauge (min. 10awg) power cables and some quality power input conditioning and well designed shielding. This improvement made as much difference in the overall reproduction of the audio spectrum, moreso that any other tweak I have every tried. Especially, soundstaging and bass slam. Have fun but for God sake don't give up on HARBETH. Eventually you will hate yourself for it. I think you would really love the 40.1's. It is a bit of an investment, however.

I heard them both 2 years ago at Hawthorne Audio, "A nice place" or so the sign says as you enter. I included the Tannoy Cheviots with the other two. All were retail of $6,500-$7,500 as I recall.

The first one I ruled out was the Harbeth. Only because the voices
sounded almost horn like. But the tone of instruments was heavenly.

The Cheviots had the smoothest sound. However were less engaging to me.
Odd since later I ended up buying a different model Tannoy.

The D7 was my overall favorite. Though now I can not recall exactly
why. Must have been the sound of the female vocals-my main preference.

Hawthorne's listening room, as many others are, features the Naim integrated streamer. About $4,500?
Your eyes are diverted to the mini screen showing the album art instead of tending to listening
carefully.  Millennial eye candy. I like to close my eyes anyway.

I now want to go back and spend more time listening to the HL5+ again.
There is something about the talking cabinets that was a new experience for me.

Some articles seem to favor the 30.2s over the HL5+s.
Any comment on that comparison?