HTD Level 3's arrived!!! (1 Viewer)

[NileDB]

Just wanted to pass on to anyone interested that my HTD Level 3 mains, center and sub arrived yesterday and I am extremely impressed with the fit and finish. Looks-wise, these seem to be an incredible bargain. I got the mid-gloss black painted MDF cabs and it's a really smooth and classy finish. They are clearly nicer to look at and behold than the Paradigm Performance series that I was originally interested in.
Overall the build quality thus far surpasses my expectations for speakers in this price range.

I'll post later as to the sound. That is the real reason we buy speakers, right?

 

[EricRWem]

Well?...

 

[RyanJE]

yea well??? Inquiring minds want to know

 

[John S]

I'll tripple the "Well"??? Response...

 

[Nhan_H]

It's been a year. I guess he's too busy listening to them

 

[RyanJE]

Yea I wanted to bring this back from the dead since im looking into em. Might not even be on here anymore.

 

[John S]

Hooolllly resurected threads Batman...

I didn't even notice.

 

[RyanJE]

Some say I have special powers......Some just say Im special

 

[Chris Quinn]

Clicking on the magnifying glass to search all the guy's posts shows he hasn't made a post since 8/4/04.

 

[RyanJE]

Thanks Chris, looks like we wont be hearing from him soon.

 

[Brian D H]

Well, I guess I'll chime in.

I just received Level 3 Bookshelf Fronts and a Level 3 Center in the Dark Cherry on clearance and I couldn't be happier.

My original intention had been to get these Level 3s for the front sound stage with Level 2s for the surrounds (due to their smaller size), but with the newer models coming out I was a little lost. The problem was the new versions of the Level 3s have the new Ribbon Tweeters while the new Level 2s have the same old Silk Dome Tweeters so I was afraid that the new versions wouldn't mix as well.

I emailed HTD and got a very quick and courteous response (their customer service is just as good as you've heard). They suggested that I get the older Level 3s on clearance and (since the old Level 2s were sold out in Dark Cherry) wait and get the New Level 2s for the surrounds since the tweeter is, in fact, identical.

Now I'm not an audiophile (OK, maybe aspiring to be) and I haven't done much A/B comparison, but I'm in love with these. I picked these due to the price (even better on clearance - check out the sale before they're gone!), the consensus that they are on the "warm" side, the finish, the fact that they are front ported and the customer service.

OPINION:

Customer Service:
Wonderful.
They suggested I buy the Old Level 3s on clearance rather than push me towards the more expensive new versions because they admitted that having the same tweeter on the fronts and surrounds was the better option. Unfortunately having the same Level 3s for the surrounds is not an option for me due to lack of WAF (too big).

Finish:
OMG.
I have a small living room home theater and these are the most beautiful things in there. Granted the design is a simple box, but the wood-work is gorgeous. The dark cherry veneer covers all sides seamlessly including the back and bottom. Bi-wired gold binding posts.

Sound:
Warm and smooth yet very detailed.
Since my room is so small I wanted a front ported speaker - it is likely that these may be a mounted a bit close to a wall at some point. I also wanted something on the "warm" side. I find speakers described as "bright" to be fatiguing - especially since my room is still in need of acoustic treatment that it will never get due to WAF (we're talking hardwood floors - but I have managed to get in a large area rug).
Did I get what I was hoping for? You bet, and then some! Yes the sound is round and full, yes it is a little warm and not fatiguing; but what I really am impressed with is the detail. My wife and I have both noticed things in our music that we've never noticed before. For example, I was listening to a classical piece and not only could I hear each instrument separately; but I swear that I could hear the wooden "thwack" of a stick completely isolated from the the "ring" of the bell it was hitting. Amazing

So far we've been using them mostly for music. I Ordered them on Friday the 22nd and got them on Tuesday the 26th, so I've only watched one movie on them (we have a three-year-old daughter, so not much time for films.)
________

When they get the new Level 2s in stock in Dark Cherry I'll get the surrounds. I'll let you know what I think of them then.

 

[Micah Wells]

I have owned the level 3 bookshelves, center and inwalls for over a year now. I am as happy as the day they arrived. They have handled everything that I have thrown at them, mostly movies. The wife was a little offset by the size of the center, but eventually got used to it and now admitted that she barely even sees it anymore. I recieved an email notice the other day about the clearence sale, and am seriously considering upgrading to the level 3 towers. I had the chance to listen to both in the store in Dallas, and while the bookshelves were as good as anything that I had heard in my price range, the towers were even better. And I had shopped Paradigm performance series, JBL, Omni, and Klipsch. And yes, the customer service is as good as everyone says.

 

[Brian D H]

Yes, I was a little put off by the size of the center, too. I had visualized it to be about as tall as a bookshelf is wide. I was surprised to see how tall it is.

The towers are not an option for me - these bookshelves are about as big as I can get away with.
____________

A HTD question: They advertise on their website that all of their speakers (Level 2 through 4) use the same tweeter so that they will all blend seamlessly if mixed together. Obviously this is outdated information since now the Level 2 uses the old silk dome tweeter and the Level 3 and 4 use the new ribbon tweeter.
- Obviously they need to remove this old selling point from the website. Too bad, it's one of the reasons I bought them
- Question: Since this is a good selling point for people like myself who want smaller surrounds, do you think they will later on incorporate the ribbon tweeter on the Level 2s? Or is it just too expensive?

 

[Micah Wells]

I don't think that they will change the tweeter in the level 2 due to the higher cost. I am actually a little surprised that they made this change in the level threes. If I was shopping right now, the new level three's would be out of my price range. My suggestion would that if you really want to know, call Chris at HTD, he'll tell you.

 

[Brian D H]

The new Level 3s are out of my range, too. But since I got the the ones I wanted on clearance I'm perfectly happy as is.

For what it's worth my suggestion to HTD would be to create smaller wall-mounted surround speakers with the ribbon tweeters to fill this gap. These could be attractive to both buyers of Level 3 and Level 4. (Especially those thinking of 7.1 or 10.1 who don't want to go entirely broke)

But hey, that's up to them.