At this point, I find the 5A's top end to be more revealing, transparent, smooth, holographic, and organic sounding than the excellent HT3.
George
George, glad you are loving your new speakers!!!!
It should be noted that George has a basic HT3 with little or no upgrades.
While I don't think the HT3's could ever approach the 5a's bass, I would bet with some cap upgrades and speaker wire upgrades they could or even should approach the midrange and treble response.
Rob,
You are correct that my HT3's are stock. I am not sure that the upgrades would bring the HT3 up to the level of the 5A's in the midrange and treble. Although I knew the sound of the 5A's pretty well, I wasn't prepared for the differences between the two speakers.
The fact that the HT3's are being compared to a speaker costing $20k is quite an accomplishment and something Jim should be very proud of. I knew it would take a very special (and most likely much more expensive) speaker to surpass the HT3's performance.
The HT3 would still be my choice for best all around speaker (in terms of performance, cosmetics, and price) under $15k. Before the responses start flying...that statement is based on my experiences and my preferences. I haven't heard everything out there and there are some excellent speakers that I would love to hear (a few examples would be the AV123 LS-6 or LS-9, Ridge Street Sasson, Selah RC-5) that would potentially change my mind.
George
