The chase scene originally had a constant, uninterrupted momentum which was mirrored in the soundtrack in a perfect marriage of music and directing. But George Lucas didn't direct the chase scene, and he has no sensitivity to the awkward effect his insertions have on the scene's rhythm. When you watch the end result, it's obvious that someone who didn't direct the movie has inserted shots into another director's work. That doesn't excuse Lucas's decision though, because you don't have to be the director of "The Empire Strikes Back" to perceive that the insertions break the rhythm.
Just to clarify where I'm coming from here, my main reason for having an issue with this is my love of the soundtrack, not the directing of the scene. Years before the special editions were ever released, I listened to the soundtracks a million times, and the specific rhythmic track for this chase scene was one of my favorite tracks. I listened to it enough to have every note burned into my brain, and got very attached to hearing it unbroken in the movie just like it was on the CD. When I first experienced the loss of that in the special edition it bothered me greatly.
This is one of the many examples of how things that fans care about are not things that Lucas cares about.
And whether or not that new voice is James Earl Jones, it does NOT sound acceptable.
The original starter of this thread discussion mentioned Vader's emotional state and how it relates to the dialogue; honestly that's one detail that I never thought of and it isn't one of the issues for me, but I find it to be an interesting perspective. I'm surprised he mentioned that as an issue but didn't mention the sound of Vader's voice in the new version.
One more thing - aren't the special edition changes supposed to be things they didn't have the money and/or technology for in 1980? You're telling me they didn't have the money/technology to have James Earl Jones say "alert my star destroyer to prepare for my arrival"? Or that those extra shots of the shuttle and Vader's arrival weren't possible? They don't require cgi like the enhanced Mos Eisley shots. This scene is only one of many examples that disproves the argument that the special edition changes are justified because they couldn't be done with 80's technology.