I don't do pastes so I'm not one to talk about them but with hones I think its safe to say and I think Joe will agree with me that any given hone will sharpen blade X to a certain potential and that degree of sharpness will vary with each blade depending on the material, grind and condition its in. After that you will not improve the edge but will continue to remove metal. So you go to the next higher grit to get that next degree of sharpness say X+1 (hey this is starting to look like my old algebra problems) but at what point do you stop. You could go from the 8K to a 12k to a 15K to a 30K and then you could go to extra fine diamond hones. Heck, you could have an edge so keen you could part the Red Sea with it.When you get to X+8 or so you might have a wicked sharp edge but it might be useless for shaving-too brittle an edge, too fragile. I guess this X+ will depend on the metal and all those other variables.

So my point is that personally I don't give a hoot about the HHT, I just shave. I hone to get an edge that gives me a shave of a quality that pleases me and has an edge with good durability which is a balancing act we all must reckon with when we hone our blades no matter the medium used.