speaker endgame upgrade recommendations coming from Harbeth C7ES-3 XD2?

@audiocanada I was thinking Tannoys, Fyne Classic Series, even maybe Klipsch Heritage, Devore O/96, a friend also recommended active ATC’s and Dynaudio Confidence

As you already discovered, the best option is to demo yourself as sonic preferences are personally subjective. 20k is a substantial amount to spend. Also, depending on the design, tube amplification is usually more musical than SS.

Since you like Harbeth, climbing to the 40 would be a good bet. 

Since Fyne was started my ex-Tannoy engineers seeking to be unshackled, I consider their offerings to be superior to Tannoys. At AXPONA 2022, the Fyne Audio F703SP sounded great - I could live with their sound. Demoing several Tannoy models I didn’t care for the sound, sounded subpar to modern offerings at audio shows and stores.

Volti Audio speakers are superior to Klipsch Heritage as Greg Robert’s designs his speaker to complete directly with Klipsch. Both brands are highly efficient, usually low watt tube amps are used with them. The Volti Razz sounded clear, clean, and effortless at many audio shows. I own the Volti Rival. I choose the 100db Rival to investigate tube sonic magic starting with flea watt SET Amps. While not sterile, both are more neutral than the more musical Harbeths. Amplifier low power requirements should be considered.

The Devore O/96 and the Fleetwood DeVille are the most musical speakers I’ve ever demoed at many audio shows and audio stores. If maximum musicality is your goal, then I would go with the O/96 as maybe the safer bet as many more are sold. The O Bronze is a significant sonic step up, but at 30k out of your budget.They are efficient are are typically matched with tube amplifiers.

I hoping to acquire the musical O/96 to compare to my more neutral Volti Rival during my low watt tube amp adventures - what fun!

ATC sounded great at audio shows. I’m not familiar with Dynaudio Sonics, maybe I don’t recall as there are many great sounding speakers (do things well) at audio shows, but I’m searching for Sonics that subjectively resonates with me.

Good luck.

@audiocanada similar journey; rolled through many, many Dynaudio speakers then Harbeth; shl5xd, c7es3xd, m40.2,m40.3; love love love the strengths of Harbeth; agree with your summary. Discovered ATC- try SCM40 or SCM50; incredible midrange- I feel the ATC 3” midrange driver and over all crossover design yields a midrange that does Harbeth better than Harbeth. Insane, uncanny see thru transparency that lives and breathes. Then there is the dynamic performance and truthfulness to tonality and near faultless broad band performance that easily blows past what Harbeth can do; I love Harbeth, don’t get me wrong, but the ATCs build on what we like about Harbeth, and keep extending it across the range. They are the most natural wide band performing speaker I’ve heard / owned. 
I can’t say enough about them :) 

The Harbeth C7ES-3 XD2 are a very good speaker. It would help if you mentioned the other components. Synergy is very important, particularly amp with speakers. I owned a pair of Harbeth M30.2 40th anniversary. They were fantastic with vocals, midrange and soundstage, especially when I put them on Ton Trager stands.

Like you I decided to do a significant upgrade. I traded to the Dynaudio Contour Legacy. Likely my end game speaker. I had listened to the Devore O/96, which are also a top choice. (Much better than the Fleetwood Deville that I compared side by side by the way). But my room was not large enough (room size also matters when you pick speakers). Another pick would be the Perspective Graphene. Again depending of your amp and other component matches. Good luck and keep us posted.

Legacy Focus SE driven by BAT tube preamp and BAT solid state power amp.  You should at least check them out. Bill Dudleston is an amazing speaker designer. I flew down from Anchorage, AK to Springfield, IL to audition these speakers.  Bill was kind enough to personally audition the speakers for me on the weekend. It was an amazing experience.

I did exactly what you're considering about 10 years ago. I had the C7ES's and upgraded to the 40.1's. I've never looked back and consider them my endgame speakers. The 40's were definitely a step up from the C7's.