One of the biggest things of many things in audio that I find to be a turnoff is the tribalism that infests it, be it around an approach, a brand, or an era. And yet it seems that more people adhere to a tribe than don't.... at least online, where it seems the point of a lot of it is to go to war for your particular way of listening to music.
As such I think I"m supposed to fight you for turning your back on my dear Harbeths. Give me time, I'll have to shave down my skin to a thinner layer than it is
I know you weren't expecting that, we know each other too well.... just joking about it. But I'm sure there are people who really would question any number of things about you or your ears/hearing/taste for choosing what you did... like they're you, in your listening chair. You made the call with your own ears, like so many people who listened to some of the speakers slagged in this thread did, and preferred them over some of the ones put on a pedestal. Not suggesting the Onkyos deserve any sort of slagging...they look rather cool to me and I bet that have a scale the Harbeths couldn't dream of...my biggest gripe with them. For their size they're rather anemic in the bass department, and the Harbeth 'tribe' passes that off as 'accurate tuneful' bass when really, I think it's just kind of specific fault they have, the result of focusing on getting the midrange more correct, which I'm not against, but its also not a perfect speaker...). I guess I could shove them in corners and pretend it's a feature not a fault.
Everyone has a different experience with audio equipment which leads some to a tribe and another to be baffled by it. Linn was one of the early "cults" in audio along with NAIM where the former required pretty much and all Linn systems. The fans were called Linnies. Indeed, this can be attributed to people like myself who are into Audio Note or folks who are into HE speakers and SET amps or people who are into panels.
Add discussions on forums usually go down spiral threads of disagreement. But the thing is - I was no sitting beside you at the time you auditioned and fell in love with the sound of something - if I were sitting beside you listening to the same music at the same volume - maybe I too would hand over my credit card.
If you think about Audio is entirely different than other hobbies. If I drive a Minivan in Vancouver and you drive the exact same minivan in Florida - we're both going to have pretty much the same experience assuming the roads are decently made.
Audio however is a slave to numerous variables. Is the room appropriately sized for the speakers, and the construction of the room, and the sound deadening furniture - room treatments/construction? Amplifiers? Sources? Music played? Volume level? etc.
Mirroring the experience is next to impossible.
I have heard numerous speakers numerous times and have had polar opposite responses. I hated the KEF LS-50 the first three times I heard them but then in Bangkok in a shopping mall of all places I enjoyed them connected to a Marantz AVR that uses EI transformers - Marantz can sound a little mellow for a receiver. I decided to get a pair in to see how they might be with my Line Magnetic 219IA - so here is a speaker I didn't love but I heard enough in them to get a set home and see what I could do with them with perhaps a more ideal match - playing off the strengths of the amp to the weakness I was hearing in the speaker - to get a balance.
Of course Linn, Audio Note, Naim, Roksan, Krell, ATC, and even Rega among several others are selling "complete" systems, in essence, to create that "balance" or referential house sound for you. If you really want to know what ATC is about it helps to listen to an all ATC system.
But even here - I listen to an ATC system at one shop and then I listen to it at Hit Audio. The former runs the actives or passives with Parasound and Bricasti. The latter was running the speakers with Melody Valve Audio and Line Magnetic and Rogue Audio - all-tube brands.
Now if you walk into the first shop maybe you hate the sound and now your perception of ATC will be very different from mine if I auditioned them in the second shop. What is that saying "You never get a second chance to make a first impression"
So it is very difficult once you have an experience with something to then listen to it a second time without bringing the baggage of the first experience you had into the room. Expectation bias is big. Not to mention other biases. Price, looks, technology. Some people view a high price as "being better" while others immediately react negatively to it and view it as "it must be a ripoff" - All partly why people demand blind testing.
I remember at an Audio Show I looked forward to hearing my AN E's and went in there and they were boomy, smeared, and even bright which is unusual - All Audio Note gear being used. The room would not make my top 20 and considering it was a small show I was not too impressed - and it didn't get better by the last day either.
I put myself in the shoes of others - I am on a forum and everyone is saying this company is great - If I heard that room as my "first Impression" I would have roundly the opposite opinion of them today! Similarly my experience with MBL and YG Acoustics - eesh they were both awful. Then a year or 2 later at another show in smaller rooms and better rooms they were both stunning.
Now I am a fairly easy-going guy - MBL and YG Acoustics proved to me that they have the ability to sound great so even if the next 5 shows or at a dealer they stink it up - I know that with work they can be good.
Focal -a speaker, I have always been luke-warm to sounded really good at a show - actually the best room but it was not for sale. The room was part of the Tape Project and Bob Hodus an acoustics expert who worked at Abbey Road set up the room and speakers. Heavily treated the entire wall behind the speakers and raised them above what Focal recommends. The tape source also affords them a huge advantage in sound quality. Still, it was great - they have the ability to sound great - never heard the greatness before or after but it's capable.
So ultimately it comes down to sitting in the same room at the same time listening to the same music - then see how much people actually disagree with the sound. At California Audio Show 2017 I was listening to the Audio Note room - meh - wasn't that great. Another reviewer agreed. That was Saturday. On Sunday I played Guns N' Roses and some other harder hitting stuff at a higher level. I brought the other reviewer back in and our opinions were polar opposite to the first day. He had it as a top room. So even at the same show in the same room with the same gear, the music played the level, etc changes opinions on a dime.