Finally got my HTD Level 3 Center with the Horizontal Ribbon tweeter and boy am I impressed!
Looks:
To my eyes it looks gorgeous. The light cherry color (which is not my favorite) really looks pretty and the drivers are very good looking as well. Even my wife liked it.
Build Quality:
This thing is built like a tank! It passes the knuckle rap test with ease. You can really tell a lot about this speaker just by admiring the build quality. Its kind of big at 22" but I love huge center speakers (bigfoot anyone?). All in all, as I am writing this, I cant stop looking at it...I am in LOVE!
Sound Quality:
Ok, I am no expert but WOW!
I tried everything from heavy metal to mariachis and everything was oh so great. The acoustic guitars, trumpets, pianos, everything sounded so natural that I couldnt help but listening to each whole song even though I was supposed to be testing only. Thats when you know you got something special.
Who ever said that the ribbon tweeter was dull or mufled either was talking based on other ribbon tweeters he may have heard before or really like ultra bright speakers because this Level 3 sounds perfect to me.
The bass is really tight and hits very low, heck, I though the sub was still on at one point. They claim 45hz +/- 3db and I will have to believe them. The mids are just perfectly balanced and natural. The highs (which I was afraid of based on ribbon tweeter comments Ive read) are just amazing. You get ultra detailed highs without been harsh or bright...its like "Having Your Cake and Eating it Too". You actually seem to get the best of both worlds because you dont get fatigue or endure harshness and yet the detail is superb.
To make it short, this speaker blew me away much more than the original Level 3 did when I went to their office while I was living in Texas. I really dont feel the need to look elsewhere as this speaker delivers everything I was looking for and then some. Now all I need to figure out is if I want to go with 3 center channels to use as Mains and Center or get the Level 3 bookshelves.
As a reference Ive auditioned or owned the following speakers (among others):
Acoustic Research 318PS
AR PSC25
Klipsch RC52
Klipsch RF82
Paradigm Titans
Paradigm CC-70 (center)
Advent tower (cant recall the model)
Insignia
The receiver used for testing is the Harman Kardon AVR-635
If you have any questions please ask. My testings is limited since I only have 1 speaker so not sound stage or imaging comments yet. Still, for anyone looking for speakers I will say PLEASE do your self a favor and get this, HTD will even pay for shipping BOTH ways so its a totally risk free trial, now I know what they are so confident to do that.
Regards
