Midrange Better Than Harbeth or Spendor?

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).

Thank you for the response and recommendation. I think you are correct regarding my taste and the dip at 2-4Khz which is probably good in my small and somewhat reflective room. The metal tweeters seem to help the speakers retain some of the bite of brass instuments though without them becoming overwhelming. I would love to try some Quads, but I think they would be too big for my room. Unfortunatly, there are no PMC dealers in my area. I've heard good things about them from others though. Probably would not go for an active speaker since I could not give up my current Mc tube amp.

I think you are correct regarding my taste and the dip at 2-4Khz which is probably good in my small and somewhat reflective room.

If you're room is highly reflective then the Harbeth's may be the perfect "Goldilocks" speaker for you! Enjoy! Those radial drivers have a strong following and rightly so!

In their literature, Harbeth describes their speakers as "Fast, clear, precise, .... big rich sound with incredible ease and detail...dramatic improvement in clarity of sound".

I agree completely however I do not think they are telling the whole truth. Note the emphasis on "sound". Put the Harbeths next to Intuitive Design Summits or a single driver speaker and the problem is obvious.
Note these are only my humble opinions as to my preferences.