I have had many speakers in my life time. From some of the first AR speakers to Snell, Martin Logan and so many others. I have never had a problem finding something I liked better with no remorse selling my old speakers. Jim's speakers are very different. Right now, I have many speakers in my inventory. Periodically, I change out my system and think well that sounds good, but I am at the twilight of my carreer and so I am thinking about "settling down" with a set a speakers.
So, I recently have been putting many speakers in my system. I put the Usher Tiny Dancer in my system lately and I also bought the Dynaudio 140's. Alll highly relgarded speakers. I decided the TIny Dancers can go and the Dyns can stay... for awhile. I also have bought a 7.1 Songtower sytem which I love so I thought I can downsize and sell my HT3/HT1 set-up and not feel too bad. I put the Tiny Dancers for sale and put back in my system the HT3 fronts with HT1 center. I am immediately struck by the fact that these speakers are SO MUCH better than anything else I have with the possible challenger or Earl Geddes speakers. Those i have to go back to and see but I now know I can't sell my HT3;s unless I am destitute. They are so much better than the contenders including John Ashman's NHTXD, Aerials, and the many many other speakers I have. It bothers me that they are so good and so much better than the others. It isn't that they are a little better, they are ALOT better. You don't realize it until you go to somthing else sort of get entranced by a couple good features and then go back. The clarity of Jim's speakers especially the HT3 is something I have not encountered before. My guess is that anyone that sells their HT3's will eventually regret it. I know I can't part with them.
One of the test CD's I use, believe or not, is Sticky Fingers by the Rolling Stones. I find that it has lots of different guitar from acoustic to electric, but it also has piano and horns and is well recorded. The only speaker that I have listened to that renders the horns so perfectly is the HT3's.
What can I say, I fully intended to downsize and sell my Salk Ht3/ HT 1 system and I can't. Oh well, I have lots of others I can let go easily.
Randy Bessinger