Brooklynluke, I have owned a pair of Heresy IIIs for several years. I pair them with a McIntosh solid state preamp/amp setup and use Nordost interconnects and speaker cables. I will offer a few comments.
Firstly, not to offend but letting WAF dictate everything you do with your system is a sure route to disappointment. I have the same concern with my wife’s disapproving comments regarding the look of the components in the room, the visible wiring, etc. But I have found it necessary, while honoring some of her requests, to be insistent with regard to my audio needs. I find that if I explain why the speakers/compoonents need to be where they are and involve her in the conversation, she will slowly relent and after awhile I hear no more complaints.
Secondly, my H3s did improve over time, but I think that after 100 hours you should be getting most or all of what they have to offer.
Third, you are allowing everything but sound quality dictate your speaker placement and orientation. I believe that a 10’ spread between the speakers is just too much. Six or seven feet apart, with a slight toe-in would be appropriate. If you point them directly at yourself so that you are looking directly down the axis of the horns you will experience harshness. And a good seating position would be 12 feet or so from the speakers.
Speaking of harshness, Art Dudley wrote a review for Stereophile a few years ago in which he basically liked the H3s but found them too harsh in the high frequencies. I’m sure you could find this review is still online.
Third, my personal experience with cables and interconnects has shown me that the do indeed matter a great deal, and that more expensive does not necessarily mean better. To a certain extent they act like tone controls, accentuating some parts of the spectrum over others. I found that some of the lower priced Nordost cables worked better for me than the more expensive ones and yielded a more balanced sound. For me, the choice was more detail but less tonal fullness with the higher priced cables. I tried to go with 12 gauge braided lamp cord for my speakers, hoping that this cheap hardware store solution would give acceptable results. What I got was a smeared sound that was unacceptable.
Fourthly, I think you may have mis-interpreted one of earlier comments someone made about using risers. He was talking about using the risers that are already supplied with the H3s to tilt them upwards. You seem to have interpreted his comment as a recommendation to get speaker stands. I have not tried aftermarket speaker stands myself. If you do, I’d like to know your results.
Fifthly, I do find that a subwoofer is needed with the H3s as well as with every other speaker I have owned. The H3s are only good down to about 60hz, and they start dropping off way before that (above 120hz). I have a 15" Velodyne that I position in the corner of the room.
Well, that’s about it for now. If I think of anything else I will post it. Good luck!