Harbeth Compact 7ES-3  Speakers

$3499 (basic finish, other finishes optional)
www.harbeth.co.uk

Forget most of your pre-conceived notions about the classic British sound.  The latest version of the Compact 7 still has that wonderful midrange that Harbeth is famous for, but with extension on both ends of the frequency spectrum and the ability to play much louder than you would ever expect a speaker of this size capable.

If I could only pick one pair of speakers under $10k that I had to live with for the rest of my life, the Compact 7ES-3 would be my choice.  (keep in mind I haven’t heard the new Harbeth Monitor 30.1!)  The key here is balance, the Compact 7ES-3 does a better job of balancing all the aspects of good speaker design than most at any price.