My only thought right now is that buying an American product will probably give you more table for your money, considering the current state of the dollar. Beyond that, I think you'll be awfully happy with either.
I never heard the HR-X but changed from a Basis Debut Gold with Graham 2.2 to an SME 20/2 with Triplanar VII. The SME/Triplanar was a BIG improvement. Much more resolving, quieter blacker background, greater transparancy, better dimensionality, better dynamic shading, etc. The build quality on the SME is amongst the best I've seen. Based on talking with some very knowledgable people, the consensus was that SME is definitely superior to VPI.
Readster how can you say that. The SME is the ultimate in precision accuracy. They also are easy to set-up and take up half the space of the VPI. It may knot have the killer looks that some folks think the VPI does, but it makes up for it in musical performance.
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