Midrange Better Than Harbeth or Spendor?

These speakers are tough act to follow. I've been in and out of many speakers but in the end, nothing beats the mids of the harbeths./ Spendor.

Some may offer more resolution, detail,bass, more highs, etc. Properly set up harbeth/spendor, the mids are just unbeatable. Some may disagree but i urge those to listen to a properly set-up harbeth even the small HLP3es2.

Again, everyone's mileage may vary.

How are vocals on Harbeths?
I've always thought ribbons did
the best job with vocals but I'm curious how Harbeths compare in this area. A lot of dynamic speakers fall short in this area (to my ears) with buzzy, digital-sounding vocals even though they sound fine othewise.
Thanks in advance.

"A lot of dynamic speakers fall short in this area (to my ears) with buzzy, digital-sounding vocals even though they sound fine otherwise."
Harbeth sounds like that. One of the worst speakers I ever heard. Jumbled, incoherent, just sounds coming out of a box. My girlfriend and I looked at each other after 5 minutes and said "we just drove almost 3 hours to hear this?" But if you like Sonus Faber grand Pianos Harbeth may be for you.

Interesting. I compared the Harbeths, Spendors and SF Grand Pianos side-by-side. Very different with vocals. SF were very colored overall. Not in an unpleasant way though. They tended to round everything off a little. Vocals were a bit thick and slightly coarse in comparison to the Harbeths and Spendors. The Harbeths had much more natural sounding, clean, and smooth vocals. The Spendors sounded fantastic with vocals, more sweet sounding than the Harbeths, but not nearly as ballanced or coherent overall. Supperior to the Grand Pianos though in the midrange. The Harbeths were more resolving without a hint of grain or edginess. Very ballanced and coherent. This is not intended to negate anyone else's experience. Different rooms, electronics, etc. Just my humble opinion.

I read somewhere that the Harbeth SLH5 is slightly recessed in the 2 Khz to 4 Khz region - they are deliberately a polite sounding speaker. This may explain your impression that they are articulate without sounding harsh or edgy. The "edgy" sound you especially get from brass instruments mostly occurs around 4 Khz. If this more polite sound is what you prefer then go for the SHL5...although a jazz musician may find that this flavor lacks the proper harshness or brashiness you typically get from brass instruments (often better produced by horn speakers)...at the end of the day, who cares what others think.... as it is your choice of speaker for your tastes.

Given more clarity about your preferences in your last comment, I suggest you probably will not like ATC. I suspect you would find ATC's sound "edgy" or "harsh" in the upper mid range compared to your preferred taste. Just my two cents but I thought I would pass on this advice rather than mindlessly plug something that now appears less well suited to your taste. In fact, a three way active PMC may be a speaker worth looking into given your tastes (think ATC with a more polite or less revealing mid range and significantly more bass).