move to a floorstander from Harbeth?

Had an interesting convo with Gene Rubin (who is one of my favorite people in the industry btw). Was picking his brain about the Harbeth/Spendor/Graham comparison. Obviously this is all subjectively his opinion but he loves the original C7es3 and thinks they are the best iteration - he’s not a fan of the xd’s and feels that they’ve become too bright. I asked him about a couple speakers in question - the Graham ls6f (although i think he was talking about the ls6) and in his mind he felt like it was essentially a lateral move and that the grahams he would point me towards are the 8/1 which are his favorites by far. 
We also talked about the Spendor A4 and he said in his mind it’s another lateral kind of move BUT he’s had a couple customers lately that switched from C7es3 to A4 and they both love them more than the Harbeths and are very happy with the move. 

wow, that's great info @clarinetmonster2 

I would love to hear and maybe own Harbeths some day. I will probably never listen to anything in my setup other than British speakers.

@clarinetmonster2 

I have never owned Harbeth but had the opportunity to live with some in my system for a few days.  They were the 7ES2 models.  They were very impressive compared to my Wilson Sophias in how full they sounded and filled my large space.  My immediate thought is my next speaker purchase will be a 40 series Harbeth, likely a 40.1 or 40.2.  Not knowing anything about the Harbeth line, I am surprised you or no one else has mentioned the 40 series on stands as your 'floorstanding' upgrade.  Is it simply budget or is there something unappealing about the 40 series compared to your model?

I think Gene Rubin gave you some great information.  It's going to be hard to beat the C7s at the budget you have.  I've owned all the Harbeths except the 30 and 40 series monitors and the C7s have been my favorite.  I have the 30th anniversary edition.  A friend had the 40.2 for a while and those were excellent, but not in your budget. 

The only speakers I've had in my system that I like better than the C7s are my Gershman Studio XdB speakers.  They have more body and detail than the C7s, but have a soft dome tweeter and never get hard or bright.  They also produce considerably more bass.  I think they might be a stretch for your budget though.

dhite71 Í always figured that the M40 iteration that I could potentially afford, if there is any, would be at least 20 yrs old or more. So yeah, have just always felt that they’re out of reach. It’s the only model in the lineup I’ve never heard. 
 

big_greg appreciate the words of wisdom maybe confirming what Gene has said. I’ve heard the gershman studios at a local dealer but never the XdB - wow, they seem impressive and pricey for me. Also, I found out that the dealer that would’ve given me a discount on any Spendor, has stopped dealing with Spendor…