Auditioned the KRC, and KRC-HR in my system and also preferred the KRC, though at the time I assumed the HR was just more neutral and revealing flaws in my setup. Regardless, I ended up purchasing the KRC-3 because it far excelled over anything else I auditioned around its price or less and, unlike the others, the KRC-3 was good enough.
IMO, compared to the KRC, the KRC-3 is not as smooth, and does not image or soundstage as well.