# HTD Level THREE Follow-up Review Progress "Leak" Thread



## AudiocRaver

There has been a lot of interest in the $1,000 Speaker Evaluation follow-up review of the HTD Level THREE Towers (LTTs). We would not normally do this for speakers we are reviewing, but there is enough interest with the LTTs that I am starting this "leak" thread to update readers on the progress and perhaps flash some key findings along the way. Of course we want the final review to be an interesting read, so I will be holding a lot back for its publication.

The first bit of news: THEY HAVE ARRIVED. They were dropped off here just a few minutes ago.

Next step: The weather is going to be pretty nice here tomorrow, so I am hoping to pull them outside for a few minutes to get some clean, relatively-early-reflection-free frequency response plots. Of course all eyes are on the tweeters. I will let you know their status ASAP.


----------



## ericzim

Hooray!!!


----------



## Tonto

Nice that your going to the trouble to get "out of room" frequency responces. That's the only way I know to get the true measurements. I was amazed at how good my Klipsch KSF 8.5's sounded the first time I took them outside. It's not "real world," but it will let you know how much your room is interacting with the sound.


----------



## ALMFamily

A big thanks for taking the time to do this Wayne - I know we all appreciate it.

Subscribed!


----------



## Pilk

Much appreciated. I'm still on the fence between these, the ML Motion 12's and the ARX A5's.


----------



## AudiocRaver

Mom Nature gave eastern Nebraska some much-needed rain today - well, yesterday now - so some preliminary in-room measurements got done. The outside measurements will come in the next few days, Friday and Saturday are supposed to be sunny and 70s, probably then.

Got on- and off-axis response done for both speakers. All drivers are behaving nicely. The fun surprise is the off-axis response curves for the soft-dome mid-range drivers. Impressive.

Running music through them right now, wishing it was later in the day so they could be cranked up. Will do some burn-in and listening until the weekend, then get them outside for detailed measurements.


----------



## ericzim

AudiocRaver said:


> Mom Nature gave eastern Nebraska some much-needed rain today - well, yesterday now - so some preliminary in-room measurements got done. The outside measurements will come in the next few days, Friday and Saturday are supposed to be sunny and 70s, probably then.
> 
> Got on- and off-axis response done for both speakers. All drivers are behaving nicely. The fun surprise is the off-axis response curves for the soft-dome mid-range drivers. Impressive.
> 
> Running music through them right now, wishing it was later in the day so they could be cranked up. Will do some burn-in and listening until the weekend, then get them outside for detailed measurements.


The tweeters and mids are wonderful and really need some time to loosen up. Glad to read that you are having fun with them. The Motion 12's for 2 channel and HTD Level Three's for Home Theater are on my list of must haves. I just have to convince the wife that she wants them as well. LOL.


----------



## Pilk

ericzim said:


> The tweeters and mids are wonderful and really need some time to loosen up. Glad to read that you are having fun with them. The Motion 12's for 2 channel and HTD Level Three's for Home Theater are on my list of must haves. I just have to convince the wife that she wants them as well. LOL.


Interested in the post. I've been banging back and forth on the Motion 12's, HTD L3 and Arx A5 for HT and Music. Recently ran across some Motion 40's (more money I know) but wondering if you have any insight in to the differences between the 
A5
HTD L3
M12's.
Thanks.


----------



## ericzim

Pilk said:


> Interested in the post. I've been banging back and forth on the Motion 12's, HTD L3 and Arx A5 for HT and Music. Recently ran across some Motion 40's (more money I know) but wondering if you have any insight in to the differences between the
> A5
> HTD L3
> M12's.
> Thanks.


Hi, Pilk:
My best buddy picked up a set of M12's quite a while back. Some one told him Martin Logan speakers were good speakers so he bought the M12 set on a whim. He had them in storage until his basement was finished and didn't even know what he had until I saw them and told him about the HTS comparison. So between the comparison here and a little trial and error the Motion 12's are fantastic and very easy to get setup for 2 channel stuff and can handle just about any genre you can think of. All music has punch and clarity to it. Needless to say I spend a lot of time over there listening to his setup. 
As far as the L3's go, I am looking at the Dark Cherry wood as this might have a higher WAF, I can only go on spec for now and the acclaim the mids and tweeters are getting and AudiocRavers review will probably clinch it for me. Have a look at the forum: The Official $1,000 Speaker Evaluation / Home Audition Event for the M12's for more details. You will find the ARX A5 there as well. The Martin Logan M40's matched up with the ML Motion 30 center channel would be exhilarating to hear I am sure.


----------



## Pilk

ericzim said:


> Hi, Pilk:
> My best buddy picked up a set of M12's quite a while back. Some one told him Martin Logan speakers were good speakers so he bought the M12 set on a whim. He had them in storage until his basement was finished and didn't even know what he had until I saw them and told him about the HTS comparison. So between the comparison here and a little trial and error the Motion 12's are fantastic and very easy to get setup for 2 channel stuff and can handle just about any genre you can think of. All music has punch and clarity to it. Needless to say I spend a lot of time over there listening to his setup.
> As far as the L3's go, I am looking at the Dark Cherry wood as this might have a higher WAF, I can only go on spec for now and the acclaim the mids and tweeters are getting and AudiocRavers review will probably clinch it for me. Have a look at the forum: The Official $1,000 Speaker Evaluation / Home Audition Event for the M12's for more details. You will find the ARX A5 there as well. The Martin Logan M40's matched up with the ML Motion 30 center channel would be exhilarating to hear I am sure.


Thanks...about to pull the trigger on something. I'd like to hear something in person first but I'm getting where I trust the ID companies and their products. I'm installing all HTD in home ceiling speakers and in my side and rear surrounds for my HT. I was just going to pick the LRC Level 3 when the $1000 review hit and they didn't sound too promising. That's why I'm holding off until I hear some of this follow up. The ML 12's can be had for under $600 shipped on Newegg (and even cheaper if you're patient from what I'm reading). I've seen the Motion 40's for 1399 shipped too which is tempting. I've got a little time before I need to jump on anything. Hopefully we'll hear some good info from the OP. Thanks for the response.


----------



## ALMFamily

Pilk said:


> Thanks...about to pull the trigger on something. I'd like to hear something in person first but I'm getting where I trust the ID companies and their products. I'm installing all HTD in home ceiling speakers and in my side and rear surrounds for my HT. I was just going to pick the LRC Level 3 when the $1000 review hit and they didn't sound too promising. That's why I'm holding off until I hear some of this follow up. The ML 12's can be had for under $600 shipped on Newegg (and even cheaper if you're patient from what I'm reading). I've seen the Motion 40's for 1399 shipped too which is tempting. I've got a little time before I need to jump on anything. Hopefully we'll hear some good info from the OP. Thanks for the response.


Where are you located mate? If you are close to a member that has something you would like to hear, it might be worth a shot to ask if you can swing by...


----------



## Pilk

ALMFamily said:


> Where are you located mate? If you are close to a member that has something you would like to hear, it might be worth a shot to ask if you can swing by...


SW Missouri. Love to hear some stuff before I pull the card out! BTW...when did cheese-heads start calling people 'mate'?:rofl2:


----------



## Sonnie

Ehhh... he could be mistooken for a mate. :sarcastic:

Looking forward to the review Wayne. :T


----------



## ericzim

Pilk said:


> SW Missouri. Love to hear some stuff before I pull the card out! BTW...when did cheese-heads start calling people 'mate'?:rofl2:


:rofl: from Green Bay, Wisconsin.


----------



## AudiocRaver

ericzim said:


> Hi, Pilk:...As far as the L3's go, I am looking at the Dark Cherry wood as this might have a higher WAF...


The WAF is very good with HTD's finishes, IMHO. The black we saw in August is satiny finish, as is the cherry I have now, and both have an almost liquid texture about the finish that is kind of a grabber. Of course with cherry you might be matching other decor and be interested in the exact shade. Wish the web site had better pics, they should be bragging it up more - the finishes are super attractive!


----------



## Sonnie

That Satin Black is the best I have seen on any speaker in my house. I was very impressed. 

Coincidentally... they protected their speakers with a nice soft cloth cover and include soft cloth gloves for handling, very nice.


----------



## ericzim

AudiocRaver said:


> The WAF is very good with HTD's finishes, IMHO. The black we saw in August is satiny finish, as is the cherry I have now, and both have an almost liquid texture about the finish that is kind of a grabber. Of course with cherry you might be matching other decor and be interested in the exact shade. Wish the web site had better pics, they should be bragging it up more - the finishes are super attractive!


Can you upload a picture? I would like my wife to actually see a production piece and not a web pic.


----------



## ericzim

Sonnie said:


> That Satin Black is the best I have seen on any speaker in my house. I was very impressed.
> 
> Coincidentally... they protected their speakers with a nice soft cloth cover and include soft cloth gloves for handling, very nice.


Thanks for confirming the satin black Sonny, the soft cloth and gloves is something even the wife can appreciate.


----------



## AudiocRaver

My progress is temporarily on hold, had to divert to some other priorities. Got the Towers burning in for a few days. Will try to get some decent lighting and upload a couple of pictures of the finish.


----------



## Pilk

Noticed the HTD website is putting a hold on selling the Level 3 due to issues with the tweeters. I wonder if this is a response to the shootout or if they've found a problem with the recent batch. Time will tell.


----------



## Sonnie

I know that what we have right now for review matches pretty good... completely different than the evaluation pair.


----------



## AudiocRaver

The Level THREE Towers finally got a trip outside for measurements and photos. The broad areas of bright mottled effect are from the sun through leaves, the finish itself is very consistent with some subtle natural variation along the grain in the veneer. The photos were left full resolution so you can see all the detail. The upper part of the side of the cabinet in the first pictures is the best representation of the color under natural lighting.


----------



## AudiocRaver

Without giving away ALL the review goodies, here is a view of the tweeter matching we are working with now. For each plot, six measurements were taken at 1 m:

on-axis
1" left
2" left
1" right
2" right
on axis again
These were averaged together with no previous smoothing, then 1/12th octave smoothing was applied.


----------



## Sonnie

Looks pretty good to me.

I am amazed at their finishes... as previously stated, the satin black finish was my favorite among our $1K evaluation group.


----------



## ericzim

Looks fantastic, can't wait to show my wife.


----------



## ALMFamily

That really is a great finish - looking forward to seeing your new set in person Sonnie!


----------



## AudiocRaver

A note on the Level THREE Kapton ribbon tweeters:

We have been working closely with Home Theater Direct since the $1K event in August where there was a tweeter issue. As you can see, they made the choice to stop sales of the Level THREE products that use those tweeters, and to be forthright with customers about what is going on. We think that is a responsible move and one that shows they have customer trust and satisfaction as their top priority.

We received a nicely-matched pair of tweeters from HTD recently for our Level THREE Tower review, and that review is progressing. Be assured that our approach to this and subsequent HTD product reviews will be such that we can ensure readers that those reviews reflect day-to-day product quality. We will discuss this in more detail when the Level THREE Tower review is published.


----------



## ericzim

Fantastic company to step up about the tweeters.


----------



## mark62

Hi, 

hello all, this is my first post here and wanted to comment on the HTD L3's. 


I bought 4 bookshelves and center in January of this year. 1 of the speakers in the first set had an extremely "hot" tweeter. I contacted them and was sent another set..... of course when i got them i tested them with a RS spl meter and the results were that the tweeters were 6db different from the highest to lowest output. I contacted them again several times back and forth and was told that he (dont remember name) would personally look into it, I never received a follow up. I know I should have followed up myself but was really busy at the time and i just kinda let it go. over time tho i noticed shifting imaging and dont listen to music with them anymore, just movies.

Let me say that out of boredom i went to the HTD site tonight and saw the that the L3's are not shipping, so i did a search and found this thread. 

I am not here to bash HTD and their customer service is top notch and i should have followed up on the issue. however it seems that this tweeter issue has been ongoing for some time as i bought mine in January and this article was written in September.

I have emailed them tonight and will see what their response is of maybe fixing my speakers as i now know that this is has been documented.

thanks mark


----------



## Sonnie

I am pretty sure they will replace them with two new ones that match. The ones that Wayne has now look good. Our best guess is that they got a bad batch in and just failed to test them sufficiently. It has certainly caught their attention.

Off topic: With the frequency response issues that we have experienced between more than one set of speakers, it begs me to wonder if some owners may not realize just what they are listening to. I never response matched my speakers until we started the evaluation events. We need to start a thread with members showing us their Left vs Right speaker plots. It might surprise some.


----------



## Sonnie

I am pretty sure they will replace them with two new ones that match. The ones that Wayne has now look good. Our best guess is that they got a bad batch in and just failed to test them sufficiently. It has certainly caught their attention.

Off topic: With the frequency response issues that we have experienced between more than one set of speakers, it begs me to wonder if some owners may not realize just what they are listening to. I never response matched my speakers until we started the evaluation events. We need to start a thread with members showing us their Left vs Right speaker plots. It might surprise some.


----------



## Peter Loeser

Interesting point Sonnie. It's always nice to have measurements to support subjective impressions. I'd be curious to see how well my 10+ year old speakers match now.


----------



## mark62

mark62 said:


> Hi,
> 
> hello all, this is my first post here and wanted to comment on the HTD L3's.
> 
> 
> I bought 4 bookshelves and center in January of this year. 1 of the speakers in the first set had an extremely "hot" tweeter. I contacted them and was sent another set..... of course when i got them i tested them with a RS spl meter and the results were that the tweeters were 6db different from the highest to lowest output. I contacted them again several times back and forth and was told that he (dont remember name) would personally look into it, I never received a follow up. I know I should have followed up myself but was really busy at the time and i just kinda let it go. over time tho i noticed shifting imaging and dont listen to music with them anymore, just movies.
> 
> Let me say that out of boredom i went to the HTD site tonight and saw the that the L3's are not shipping, so i did a search and found this thread.
> 
> I am not here to bash HTD and their customer service is top notch and i should have followed up on the issue. however it seems that this tweeter issue has been ongoing for some time as i bought mine in January and this article was written in September.
> 
> I have emailed them tonight and will see what their response is of maybe fixing my speakers as i now know that this is has been documented.
> 
> thanks mark


just an update, HTD has offered me a full refund and to pay shipping back or to send me new tweeters when they arrive, he said the tweeters would likely be in within a week.

I want to say that Chris Ashmore and the rest of HTD are top notch and have always provided me with great service thru all this.

Mark


----------



## Sonnie

That is good to hear Mark... and indeed I believe they are a class act. :T


----------



## mark62

Sonnie said:


> That is good to hear Mark... and indeed I believe they are a class act. :T


I think I will just get the new tweeters... hopefully they will be fixed tho... on 2nd thought the ARX look great, but i have no complaints with the L3's except for the tweeter and even then they are not horrible. 

they do seem to have a upper midrange bump making some music sound a little thin.


edit-- well the tweeters are soldered to the connections and i am not good at soldering so they are going to pick up the speakers free of charge to and from them..... and replace the tweeters....


----------



## AudiocRaver

mark62 said:


> I think I will just get the new tweeters... hopefully they will be fixed tho... on 2nd thought the ARX look great, but i have no complaints with the L3's except for the tweeter and even then they are not horrible.
> 
> they do seem to have a upper midrange bump making some music sound a little thin.
> 
> 
> edit-- well the tweeters are soldered to the connections and i am not good at soldering so they are going to pick up the speakers free of charge to and from them..... and replace the tweeters....


Maybe a good call. They were a little awkward to get soldered nicely (the towers), kneeling over them on the floor wishing for more light and three more hands.

The highs are a little bright on axis. I have found a pretty good listening angle that gives good soundstage depth and is just enough off-axis to settle down the highs a bit. Try this: ears at the level of the midrange/bass driver and at an off-axis angle of 25 to 30 degrees from the cabinet's vertical center line. That means the speakers will be pointing almost straight parallel to each other, toed in just a few degrees, and you will be able to see the inside surfaces of the speakers.

It might or might not be a good placement for the bookshelves, as the bass/mid driver is different from what I am listening to, and applies more to stereo music then home theater, but it is worth a shot, and should tame the highs a little. 

And I am glad you followed up with them on the tweeter issues you were experiencing. They really do seem to be "pulling out all the stops" to resolve the tweeter issues and make sure customers are happy.

=====================

I will get back to the HTD Level THREE Tower review shortly. There were interruptions with the RMAF show coverage and the just-completed $2500 speaker evaluation event. Once this last event is written up, I will publish the HTD Tower review. I also wanted the HTD folks to be pretty far along with resolving their issues, just in case they ended up having to change their design somehow - highly unlikely, but it can come down to it sometimes - and then I would have to start all over. I am confident they are getting QA processes in order with the driver maker and at their own facility and will have ribbon-tweeter-related product sales back on line soon.


----------



## mark62

AudiocRaver said:


> Maybe a good call. They were a little awkward to get soldered nicely (the towers), kneeling over them on the floor wishing for more light and three more hands.
> 
> The highs are a little bright on axis. I have found a pretty good listening angle that gives good soundstage depth and is just enough off-axis to settle down the highs a bit. Try this: ears at the level of the midrange/bass driver and at an off-axis angle of 25 to 30 degrees from the cabinet's vertical center line. That means the speakers will be pointing almost straight parallel to each other, toed in just a few degrees, and you will be able to see the inside surfaces of the speakers.
> 
> It might or might not be a good placement for the bookshelves, as the bass/mid driver is different from what I am listening to, and applies more to stereo music then home theater, but it is worth a shot, and should tame the highs a little.
> 
> And I am glad you followed up with them on the tweeter issues you were experiencing. They really do seem to be "pulling out all the stops" to resolve the tweeter issues and make sure customers are happy.
> 
> =====================
> 
> I will get back to the HTD Level THREE Tower review shortly. There were interruptions with the RMAF show coverage and the just-completed $2500 speaker evaluation event. Once this last event is written up, I will publish the HTD Tower review. I also wanted the HTD folks to be pretty far along with resolving their issues, just in case they ended up having to change their design somehow - highly unlikely, but it can come down to it sometimes - and then I would have to start all over. I am confident they are getting QA processes in order with the driver maker and at their own facility and will have ribbon-tweeter-related product sales back on line soon.


I have the bookshelves facing pretty much straight with hardly any toe in, hopefully when the tweeters are fixed they will sound better.

I was looking at ARX when i got these but the audio insider doesn't take paypal and i had to use my paypal credit line to buy speakers at the time and didnt want to wait to save all the money.... always need everything NOW! not that i dont like the HTD's they are pretty good and they have great customer service.

but this tweeter issue i believe to be a widespread issue, none of my tweeters match in level using a RS spl and the spread from high to low is 5 1/2 db not including the center it is probably 10db hot but i dont remember for sure but it is the worst. the second pair i got after the first set had a hot tweeter didnt match, they were off 3db according to my meter eventho they said they checked them before they shipped them to me, so it could be my measuring. so hopefully all goes well with them getting it all worked out. 

If they were not a great company to work with i would just get a full refund but they are top notch and that says alot and i feel that it is fair to give them a shot at making it all right. if i get the speakers back and i still have problems i may have to cut them loose. having said that it was my responsibility to return them within the 30 day window and i didnt, but my issues were documented, so for them to still offer me a full refund they are going far and above for me and i appreciate it.


----------



## AudiocRaver

mark62 said:


> I have the bookshelves facing pretty much straight with hardly any toe in, hopefully when the tweeters are fixed they will sound better.
> 
> I was looking at ARX when i got these but the audio insider doesn't take paypal and i had to use my paypal credit line to buy speakers at the time and didnt want to wait to save all the money.... always need everything NOW! not that i dont like the HTD's they are pretty good and they have great customer service.
> 
> but this tweeter issue i believe to be a widespread issue, none of my tweeters match in level using a RS spl and the spread from high to low is 5 1/2 db not including the center it is probably 10db hot but i dont remember for sure but it is the worst. the second pair i got after the first set had a hot tweeter didnt match, they were off 3db according to my meter eventho they said they checked them before they shipped them to me, so it could be my measuring. so hopefully all goes well with them getting it all worked out.
> 
> If they were not a great company to work with i would just get a full refund but they are top notch and that says alot and i feel that it is fair to give them a shot at making it all right. if i get the speakers back and i still have problems i may have to cut them loose. having said that it was my responsibility to return them within the 30 day window and i didnt, but my issues were documented, so for them to still offer me a full refund they are going far and above for me and i appreciate it.


If you don't mind my asking, are you measuring with sine waves or with filtered pink noise? Beg pardon if this is stuff you already know, just thought it worth pointing out for thoroughness:


Using a single-frequency sine wave for high-frequency measurements is problematic in that the response of any driver (even a good one) varies quite a bit when viewed without averaging of some kind, especially in a room. If a steady sine wave falls on or near a null frequency, it could look 10 or 20 dB low (and be very sensitive to mic position - move a few inches and get a vastly different reading) while with regular listening it might be fine.
Best to use filtered pink noise, say a 1-octave band that all falls above the crossover frequency, 4KHz to 8KHz for instance, avoiding those single-frequency and positional sensitivities.
Not doubting that you heard the variations that you did, just pointing out some of the difficulties of actually measuring them.


----------



## mark62

AudiocRaver said:


> If you don't mind my asking, are you measuring with sine waves or with filtered pink noise? Beg pardon if this is stuff you already know, just thought it worth pointing out for thoroughness:
> 
> 
> Using a single-frequency sine wave for high-frequency measurements is problematic in that the response of any driver (even a good one) varies quite a bit when viewed without averaging of some kind, especially in a room. If a steady sine wave falls on or near a null frequency, it could look 10 or 20 dB low (and be very sensitive to mic position - move a few inches and get a vastly different reading) while with regular listening it might be fine.
> Best to use filtered pink noise, say a 1-octave band that all falls above the crossover frequency, 4KHz to 8KHz for instance, avoiding those single-frequency and positional sensitivities.
> Not doubting that you heard the variations that you did, just pointing out some of the difficulties of actually measuring them.


Dont mind you asking at all. no sine waves involved. i understand my method could be questioned and i am not a professional and i even question myself, but when you have gotten or have 2 speakers that sizzle your ears and can easily hear the tweeter is much louder than the others, but begs to question are the louder ones too loud or are the not as loud ones too low in level? all i have is a Radio Shack Meter and white and pink noise, i level the speakers the best that can with white noise in room and then measure the tweeters nearfeild with the meter at almost touching the frame of the tweeter. i would not have even done the testing if not for the fact of the above.

So i know my method is far from professional and was only driven to do this on my own accord after actually hearing the difference in level with the tweeters with my own ears, no meter needed. I have not posted on boards about this until now because i know my methods are not lab worthy and would be a fool to slander a good company like HTD with my home brew method. The best i can assume is that while my test are not absolute, i feel my measurements are close. I even go to as far to test each speaker in the middle of the room in the same spot. so if they were all off a db or 2 either way i could equate it to my testing, but of the 4 bookshelves there is a variance of 5 1/2 - 6db. so if i am measuring the speaker in the same location in room at the same loudness , which i know could be of by a little im sure, with the same meter so i think the measurements should be pretty close. and the center tweeter is much louder than the bookshelves.

So, after browsing the HTD site out of boredom and seeing the hold on the speakers and then searching and finding your review and actually seeing this problem documented, i think it is more than coincidence that i had this issue back in january and now see the issue in september. 

so again i kinda let the whole thing slide and regret that i did, i never posted in forums to "warn" people of the issue thinking that i just have bad luck or im just crazy or being too picky . i believe with my heart tho that the tweeters in MY speakers do not match and seeing your article only reinforces this. 

I know not to post stuff like this in forums and know if you do you better be ready to back it up. I mean no ill well towards HTD or have no motive to post this except for the fact i have a tweeter issue and so did you guys. 


so now all i want are speakers which have tweeters that match, and HTD are nice enough to try to make that happen. Im going to ask them for a printout or to send me a file of the measurements of the speakers before they ship them back to me. 

so i hope i dont get flamed and again mean no ill well toward anything or anyone..... and really do not want to get into a big mess here like what happens over at another audio video forum....

thanks for listening


----------



## AudiocRaver

mark62 said:


> Dont mind you asking at all. no sine waves involved. i understand my method could be questioned and i am not a professional and i even question myself, but when you have gotten or have 2 speakers that sizzle your ears and can easily hear the tweeter is much louder than the others, but begs to question are the louder ones too loud or are the not as loud ones too low in level? all i have is a Radio Shack Meter and white and pink noise, i level the speakers the best that can with white noise in room and then measure the tweeters nearfeild with the meter at almost touching the frame of the tweeter. i would not have even done the testing if not for the fact of the above.
> 
> So i know my method is far from professional and was only driven to do this on my own accord after actually hearing the difference in level with the tweeters with my own ears, no meter needed. I have not posted on boards about this until now because i know my methods are not lab worthy and would be a fool to slander a good company like HTD with my home brew method. The best i can assume is that while my test are not absolute, i feel my measurements are close. I even go to as far to test each speaker in the middle of the room in the same spot. so if they were all off a db or 2 either way i could equate it to my testing, but of the 4 bookshelves there is a variance of 5 1/2 - 6db. so if i am measuring the speaker in the same location in room at the same loudness , which i know could be of by a little im sure, with the same meter so i think the measurements should be pretty close. and the center tweeter is much louder than the bookshelves.
> 
> So, after browsing the HTD site out of boredom and seeing the hold on the speakers and then searching and finding your review and actually seeing this problem documented, i think it is more than coincidence that i had this issue back in january and now see the issue in september.
> 
> so again i kinda let the whole thing slide and regret that i did, i never posted in forums to "warn" people of the issue thinking that i just have bad luck or im just crazy or being too picky . i believe with my heart tho that the tweeters in MY speakers do not match and seeing your article only reinforces this.
> 
> I know not to post stuff like this in forums and know if you do you better be ready to back it up. I mean no ill well towards HTD or have no motive to post this except for the fact i have a tweeter issue and so did you guys.
> 
> 
> so now all i want are speakers which have tweeters that match, and HTD are nice enough to try to make that happen. Im going to ask them for a printout or to send me a file of the measurements of the speakers before they ship them back to me.
> 
> so i hope i dont get flamed and again mean no ill well toward anything or anyone..... and really do not want to get into a big mess here like what happens over at another audio video forum....
> 
> thanks for listening


Sounds like you have been very thorough, and your approach is valid given the limitations. Your hesitation in posting your results is understandable, not wanting to make trouble and not wanting to get flamed. Getting flamed is one thing that will not happen to you at HTS, sometimes a question or two for thoroughness, perhaps a gentle correction is worst case around here. Glad HTD is making things right with you, all indications are that they are making every possible move to be square with past and future customers. We are glad that you joined us and spoke up!


----------



## zieglj01

HTD is a good company - and they have always taken care of me >>
Brian Wines the President, is serious about taking care of their customers.

I have owned the Level Three bookshelves with matched tweeters, and
they are nice - their proper working ribbon tweeters are good.


----------



## AudiocRaver

I just received an email from Brian Wines of HTD in an airport in China and it sounds like they are leaving no stone unturned in getting their tweeter issues resolved.

The HTD Level Three Tower review will be back on the front burner in a few days. I can say this much, it has been fun spending time with them.


----------



## mark62

The L3's are now back in stock and available for order on the HTD site....


----------



## zieglj01

AudiocRaver said:


> The HTD Level Three Tower review will be back on the front burner in a few days. I can say this much, it has been fun spending time with them.


Any chance that the review is coming before Christmas?


----------



## AudiocRaver

Yes, that is great news that they are back to shipping the Level THREE products again.

I was trying to have that review ready right about now, but am a little behind on one other pressing project. The Level THREE Tower review will be next, hopefully within a week.


----------



## AudiocRaver

This is cheating, but here goes anyway.

A number of readers had expressed interest in reading our Level THREE Tower review before making purchasing decisions. I am finishing that review right now, hopefully to have it posted today or tomorrow. But knowing that delays sometimes occur, and knowing that there may be holiday purchase plans at stake, and knowing that time for such purchases is growing short...

Anyway, it is against the rules and all, but time is a-wasting, and it IS a leak thread after all, so here is a summary of the review - but you GOTTA PROMISE to read the whole review when it gets posted, OK? I trust you...

The answer is: TWO ENTHUSIASTIC THUMBS UP! The tweeters are great, and the speakers work well for home theater and for two-channel. There two things to note and you might want to wait for the full review if either of these is a concern for you:

If your main application is two-channel listening and you hope to get the kind of deep soundstage we do at our HTS Speaker Evaluation Events, it can be achieved with the Level THREE Towers, and quite nicely, but placement is CRITICAL and it took some work to achieve it.
These speakers are bright, but it is a SMOOTH bright, and I mean REALLY smooth. Any other speaker I have ever heard with this bright a high end would not have worked for me, but it is so smooth with these towers that I simply enjoyed it. I never experienced fatigue, I just wanted more, and I never thought I would hear myself say that about a bright speaker.
Neither of these points is made as a negative, simply things to be aware of if they are particularly important to you.

That's it for now. The full review will be posted very, very soon. If neither of the two points above causes any hesitation and you have had your mouse pointer poised over the "order" button waiting for some confirmation, the towers have my recommendation.

Now, back to writing. Cheers.


----------



## 100pr00f

as the review been posted...if so where...Thanks! Very interested


----------



## zieglj01

100pr00f said:


> as the review been posted...if so where...Thanks! Very interested


I am beginning to think, that the whole thing is a mystery.


----------



## Sonnie

No mystery... just a lot going on.

When it is posted it will be in our Reviews section under Speakers. :T


----------



## 100pr00f

Sonnie said:


> No mystery... just a lot going on.
> 
> When it is posted it will be in our Reviews section under Speakers. :T


Good to hear. Looking forward to it


----------



## mark62

well, after having the mismatched tweeter problem on my level 3 bookshelves and center, ive decided just swap them out for the level 2 towers, center, and bookshelves... kind of a long saga type story.

HTD and Chris have been great thru it all.... i waited until the new production of tweeters came in then arranged pickup of the speakers but confusion between fedex and HTD have delayed pickup for a week then they pick them up today and then the driver comes back 5 minutes later and places them back in my living room because he had no labels for them. i wanted them back for christmas and chris even offered overnite shipping to and from them....

after the whole tweeter mess and the fedex delay i just decided to get the level 2's then i dont have to worry about the tweeters with me being OCD and all...

i hope they got the tweeter mismatch defect fixed, i am sure they have but for piece of mind for me im sure the level 2's will be fine for me and im getting towers for the front instead of bookshelves.

i know this prolly doesnt make much sense to to you all but for me it does, i should have the speakers friday and supposedly they are picking up the level 3's again tomorrow.


----------



## AudiocRaver

Beg pardon, the review has been written, edited twice, and is finally up for internal review. Scheduling has never been one of my strengths.:huh:


----------



## AudiocRaver

mark62 said:


> well, after having the mismatched tweeter problem on my level 3 bookshelves and center, ive decided just swap them out for the level 2 towers, center, and bookshelves... kind of a long saga type story.
> 
> HTD and Chris have been great thru it all.... i waited until the new production of tweeters came in then arranged pickup of the speakers but confusion between fedex and HTD have delayed pickup for a week then they pick them up today and then the driver comes back 5 minutes later and places them back in my living room because he had no labels for them. i wanted them back for christmas and chris even offered overnite shipping to and from them....
> 
> after the whole tweeter mess and the fedex delay i just decided to get the level 2's then i dont have to worry about the tweeters with me being OCD and all...
> 
> i hope they got the tweeter mismatch defect fixed, i am sure they have but for piece of mind for me im sure the level 2's will be fine for me and im getting towers for the front instead of bookshelves.
> 
> i know this prolly doesnt make much sense to to you all but for me it does, i should have the speakers friday and supposedly they are picking up the level 3's again tomorrow.


Totally understood. The main thing is that HTD is taking care of you and that you end up happy when it is all over. Let us know what you think of the Level TWO speakers.


----------



## AudiocRaver

The Level THREE Tower review WILL be posted tomorrow. A link to it will be posted here.


----------



## AudiocRaver

The review is up! Thanks for your patience! READ IT HERE.


----------



## Sonnie

I am going to close this thread and redirect anyone wanting to make comments or ask questions to the *review discussion thread*.


----------

