Why do Harbeth speakers have such a cult following

Yes, but you get that with everything that comes from outside the U.S. You could say the same for Revel, Sonus Faber and so on.

I think a lot of those designers wouldn't be willing to go head to head with Alan Shaw regardless of what you think of his speakers.

I don't share Alan Shaw's perspective on speaker cable and amplification. With the right amplification I've heard the compact 7's perform much better than I ever expected. I walked into my dealer the other day and he was playing Rachmaninov at extremely loud levels with an Octave tube amp using a Luxman integrated as a pre and I was trying to figure out why the only speakers I could see we're compact 7's. I had never heard a Harbeth do anything close to this before. It makes me wonder why so many people use low power amps with most Harbeths. Even if you listen at low volumes I find they work best with gobs of power. That might be why some people don't buy into them (not all). My take is they do indeed require a lot of current to sound their best.

I have used Audioquest Rockefeller speaker cables for 4 or 5 years now. I just switched from C7es3's to SHL Plus as of 5 days ago and they're still a match made in heaven for Harbeth's. 

Obviously you've never eaten bangers and mash. There's never been a forced eating on record. Too delicious.

My Resonant Woods stands are in and I'm picking them up tomorrow afternoon. I can't wait to hear the difference with the open bottom stands. I use Skylan stands with my C7's for years and now the only stands I've heard my new SHL5 Plus's on are also closed bottom. I'm thinking the sound will be noticeably different, for better or for worse. Crossing my fingers.