Spendor D7 vs. Harbeth Super HL5+

twoleft: perhaps, but Spendor has not been one of those brands. Stereophile gave B ratings to Spendor A7 and SA1, just like it gave the Harbeth 

I also own SA1’s and extensively demo’d A7’s on same electronics, same room as D7 before getting D7. 
I agree with the Stereophile rankings, D7 much better than A7 and SA1, which do seem like B speakers. 
I haven’t heard the Harbeths so don’t have an opinion on them or whether they deserve their B ranking 

Prof;

yes,
As a person who has lived with Thiel speakers, they are extremely persnickety of amplification to tame the “ brightness” they are noted for.  Play them with a Class D amp( less $$$)  and your eardrums will let you know.
Play them with a Pass XA amp and they sound velvety!!!! Smooth 

so, Could the D7’s be as persnickety of amplification ?

I’ll bet it is so!
i heard the D7’s with a Chord Dave & upsampler front end at AXPONA , it was really, really, really  good ( DONT remember amp) sound

jeff

Prof has incredible listening and writing skills, but I do mildly disagree with him about the Spendors. In my case, I have a pair of walnut D7.2's purchased as nearly brand new demos. I also have a pair of DeVore O/93's which Prof has written much about. 
Prof is correct that the Spendors are brighter than the DeVores, but only ever-so slightly in my system. 
Prof does not seem to endorse the critical nature of wire to the extent that I do. Swapping out speaker cable was critical for me. I had Cardas Clear and it was good, if not very good. But replacing it (I am still holding onto them and won't part with the Cardas) with one-third as expensive Auditorium 23 benefited both sets of my speakers in my system, using ARC tubed electronics (Ref 6 and Ref 150SE). The Auditorium speaker cable "sorted out" the music as the Brits would say. Perhaps a little less sparkle and clarity but everything sounds more of a whole cloth to use yet another cliche'.
I am very very happy with D7.2's. They don't put out a wall of sound the way the DeVores do, but they do image much better and portray a deeper soundstage. The Spendor's are a bit surgical and precise compared to the DeVores, but they are by no means bright in my system unless the source is bright. I have been listening to the Spendors for four months now as my DeVores sit in the next room over from my listening room. I miss the DeVores. In two months I will carefully mark with blue masking tape the perfect spot I found for my Spendors and then move them out to make way for a return of the DeVores and then six months after that....such is my plan. 

fsonicsmith


How interesting that you bought the Spendors!   That's a real change from the Devore sound!


I like owning more than one speaker to have more than one flavour of sound available.


As for Thiels: when Thiel introduced the 3.7 flagship speaker, with the completely re-designed flat midrange etc, they finally nailed the sound.Open and alive but no brightness emphasis, smooth as silk, and still the most coherent sound I've heard from a dynamic speaker. 



My 2.7s, with my CJ amps, produce a sound that is almost dead in between a Devore O speaker and a Spendor (or similarly more precise/neutral speaker).   The Thiels produce super precise, dense imaging, huge deep wide soundstaging, but without the hard mechanically squeezed sound of some speakers.  They manage a balance of being precise, yet full and lush.


Admittedly I still wonder sometimes how the O/96s would have sounded in my room as I really liked those speakers too.   But then as you know I bought Joseph Perspectives, and those have been wonderful in their own way too.