Years ago I had a pair of Hales T5’s that I refinished in a beach veneer, speaking of refurbished. Loved those speakers. The last amp I used with them was a Pass Labs x250. Even with the grunt of the pass I never felt like I was getting the dynamics out of the speaker which may have been in part to its rather complex crossover, or the sealed enclosure. In any event I sold those to a friend and bought JM Lab Mini Utopias. While not as deep as the hales they gave me more slam and dynamic abilities with lesser amps. The aluminum dome on the T5’s was better than the aluminum dome on the Hales Concept 3’s I owned before them but I felt the the tioxid tweeter of the JM Labs offered slightly more detail and smoother to boot. So it really boiled down to better dynamics for me and going from a sealed speaker to a ported speaker. Best of luck.
I love my Hales T5’s but what about Magico A3 or Vandersteen?
I love my Hales T5’s but if I did one day wish to upgrade what would you recommend? The Vandersteen Theo seem nice as do the Magico A3. I do love my Hales and may just stay put. I just upgraded my entire system accept for the Hales which were refurbished. I ask more out of curiosity than upgrade itch. My system sounds better than ever.