Very good comparison for two good speaker companies. I would say that if you are interested in the two speakers it would come down to choices of the options in the Salk speaker and customizing versus the palatte of finishes from Joseph.
With that said, I'm not sure about the gear you would be driving them with the HT2 TL has a fairly efficient
. I know it has to be higher than the HT3's. I do not know the rating for the RM25XL
I have heard extensively in a home dealer's showroom with some very good solid state and tube gear driving them, most of the Joseph Audio line up.
IMHO, it would take the new "Pulsar" to match what little I heard of the HT2 TL. It is a (Pulsar) a fanatastic speaker with top rated gear in front of it.
The downside is it is projected to price around $7K and 83db@ 8 ohms, I could be wrong. The HT2 TL with the ribbon tweeter is significantly less money and is a venerable opponent to the Pulsar. I do not think the RM25XL will buy as much speaker for your money as the HT2 TL, but a nice speaker.
The Pearl, IMHO, is quite a speaker. I have listen to it several times with a Top Rated 35K stack in front of it. The dome tweeter is a little fatiguing after extended listen periods, but that is a very nice speaker. I'm sensitive to high frequencies.
I have not heard my HT3's with that set up so I can't compare the two since my gear is 1/3 cost of the full monty stuff the dealer auditions with.
Good luck with your search! Personally I would just give Jim Salk a call. Excellent source,builder, communicator and audiophile