Why are so many people trying to sell Harbeths?

Harbeths like Proac, Spendor, Stirling and certain other brands put music first in that classic restrained British way.

I thought the comment about listening to classical music as being elitist as odd as classical music was the driving force for a lot of great hifi. I can listen to Mozart and Black Sabbath on my Harbeths but I do not listen loud.

I love the BBC school of speakers and have owned other such brands. Also love the timeline classic styling.

These speakers don't play loud and are not the forward obvious sound of certain other brands. They are easy to drive but favor a slightly forward amp. If you are running something that is already warm and soft sounding these will not be ideal.

In Canada, the 40.1 is the same price as in the US but in a different currency. My C7 was $3699 last November but the C$ has fallen quite a lot o not sure if pries have been adjusted.

Good question and none of the speakers I mention have real bass down to 30 hz. I would not characterize the brands I mention as broadly European.

These have very traditional BBC school voicing. Natural midrange tone, especially with voices and acoustic instruments, at the expense of some dynamics. They would sound very different from other major European brands such as Dynaudio, Focal, B&W or Sonus Fabor. The PSB is a Canadian design made in China and is a more modern sounding speaker. It is more forward with deeper tighter and faster bass but I would not characterize it as "natural". Some American speakers are very natural like the DeVore line.

One company that tries to provide a neutral midrange but a nice open sound is the Canadian made Totem. I think they offer a very good overall package and they are widely available with a number of good sounding speakers at different price points.

BTW your Quads are excellent speakers. I have always been impressed by this company's traditional box designs and would say they too are voiced in that traditional British way.

Those three speakers are very different sounding, although all are made by companies with storied histories. Dynaudio is the most neutral and is a reference standard used by many, including the BBC. Wharfedale's budget offerings to my ears are best in class. I have not heard the new Denton but very familiar with the wonderful sounding classic model. I am not totally in love with the Jade series as I find them a bit too forward, but I am not sure I have heard them properly set up. Definitely different animals to the neutral Dynaudios or natural Harbeths.

Of the 3 brands, I think Dynaudio makes the best speaker for the money, even though I am a Harbeth owner.

When I say voicing, I am referring to models following traditional UK speaker values. KEF, B&W, Harbeth, Neat, Kudos etc are all British but all are voiced differently.

Even Spendor, which has a Classic line also has a more modern sounding floor standing series. The treble sparkles a bit more. The bass is faster and tighter, though not a lot deeper and the midrange is a bit more forward.

I have found traditional US speakers are more full range with extended treble and deeper base but the upper mid range was less refined. And in the old days, the west coast sound was big and brash while the east coast sound was more like UK speakers.

Most companies today build speakers that defy their country of origin. I would say big Klipsch speakers might embody traditional US values but companies like Wilson or Joseph make fabulous neutral full range speakers that would compare against other full range modern designs from Focal, Dynaudio, KEF or B&W.