So I went to the HTD office yesterday. All I can say is based on the way I was treated, I would buy from them without hesitation. I talked with one of their guys for half an hour before I listened to anything. I had forgotten the pricing for their speakers, so when I actually did listen I was floored by how good they sounded for such a low priced speaker. I haven't had the ability to listen to higher quality speakers in a while, but over the years I've sold over 13 different brands of speakers I was around every day all day. Those include Adam audio, dynaudio, KEF, and the rest of the usual suspects, so I'd like to think I know a good speaker when I hear one (which is why I have to get new ones, mine just aren't good enough anymore). I'm definitely not in the same league as most of you when it comes to my ears, but it doesn't take long for me to recognize when something sounds good.
So, here's what I noticed when comparing the level two to the level three: The ribbon in the level three adds another dimension to the sound. What I mean by this is when listening to the test material you could easily tell which instruments (triangle in particular) were closer to the mic in the studio. I haven't listened to too many speakers that are capable of that without breaking the bank. The level two sounded great, but did not have that extra dimension the level three's had. When he first turned on the system and the level two towers were the only ones playing I would have sworn he had turned on multichannel or something because the soundstage was so huge. It wasn't until I turned an ear toward the speakers that I could tell it was in fact two channel (he noticed and pointed it out too). The funny thing about that is the room wasn't a good room. No treatments, random open areas, and lots of flat surfaces. Didn't matter, they sounded great.
I've auditioned and listened to many, many speakers over the years and one of the first things I do when I listen is try to decide if what I'm hearing is worth the money. An example is when I auditioned the Dali's that were ~$25k per pair I came away with a "that's it?" feeling. Don't get me wrong, they sounded good, but not $25k good. The B&W 800 sounded WAY better to my ears and IIRC don't cost $25k. When I heard both sets of towers and bookshelf's I remember thinking that their pricing didn't sound correct for how good those speakers sound. All of them. It's really hard to believe that a $400 set of speakers ($360 on sale right now) sound that good. Don't get me wrong, I've heard more $400 sets of speakers than I can remember, and NONE of them ever sounded good enough for me to not think I was getting ripped off. These would make me feel like I stole them.
The guy also happened to have a few level two and three cabinets, drivers, and crossovers on his desk so I got to see every piece of the speakers. Good cabinet construction, solid looking crossovers, and high quality drivers. Very nice. Didn't expect to be able to see all of that.
I'll say this, as good of a deal as the Pioneer's seem to be, they have a hard battle to win now. I don't see how they could even begin to compete with these. I realize they are half the price, but I've taken 6 years to buy speakers so I'll pay extra to get more. He even said that if I wanted I could bring any speaker with me to do a side by side. I think that what impressed me the most is not once did he ever try to sell me a speaker. He was just as passionate about everything we are. Excited to show someone their products. It was refreshing. Too bad not everyone has that level of customer service.
Now, on to more auditions.
