New NHT Classic line to replace Super Audio - Page 51

It looks to me like they could have a simple software upgrade/revision on the pre/pro if they really wanted to to boost Evo subs output down to -3 db at 20 Hz.

You may have a point as I have also wondered myself just how much advantage there really is to "stereo" bass if you have the high pass crossover low enough.

On the Fours though, with the crossover to the built in subs being at 125 Hz, IMO that's just too high to get away with using a single A1 to bi-amp with in conjunction with a X2.

Copied and pasted from a post of mine on another thread:


That is a very interesting idea about dual, stacked U2s as stands though.

[/quote]
I do think the U2 works out even better in some ways for running with the idea of subs as speaker stands. If you stack a pair of the U2s (each U2 system has 2 W2 cabinets) you end up with a 28" speaker stand (same as the P6 pedestal). Now, if you can swing getting two U2 systems (4 W2s), then you end up creating what are essentially two line sources with (2) 12" woofers per side. This also creates natural stereo bass (like a T6/T5) with a very small footprint; and as Mr. Moncreiff points out, with none of the inherent disadvantages of the B5/B6 bass modules. Not perfect for every room and everyone, but an idea that may be worth considering. [/quote]

I like that idear. I have read most of the review sometime back, might reread it.





[/quote]It was mentioned earlier in this thread that the B5 and B6 bass modules have been discontinued by NHT.[/quote]

I am trying to get caught up on reading this thread. In fact I would guess it is the biggest NHT thread on AVS. Been a fun read.
Thanks Allen

It's a monster NHT thread.

On August 30 this thread will be celebrating it's 1st birthday!

... And most of it was about us waiting for the speakers to arrive.

Hi,

I noticed this thread about a year ago when I made my decision to go for a T6 with M6 center and 4 L5s for surround for my new HT. I auditioned this setup against the usual suspects from the competition and for me it just sounded best. I struggle to articulate exactly why but I just felt more engaged with the movie. Unfortunately I put my project on hold because I had to go back home to the UK for a while but I have risked the London to Washington United flights and my first priority is to get back to my HT!!

I will probably want to buy in the next 3-4 months but my dealer has a good deal on his demo setup ($3.5k) now. BUT, having read this thread I wonder if I need to go back to the drawing board and look at 3s/4s. My room is 20' by 20' and will be 100% movies and I have not yet settled on a pre/pro combination.

It feels like the concept of using 3s with evolution subs might be a good alternative but is that just a "workaround" until NHT release something better? Do this mix and match work OK with the Controller? What about the power5? Any recommendations on my setup would be great.

I suppose the choice is do a take the deal or wait a few months and get what is best at that time?

Any help much appreciated.

Thanks

Piers

I think there are some one here that genuinely prefer the sound of the M6 to the Three, but my take is that unless you either need very high-volume ouput, or if you have an acoustically difficult room, go with the Threes plus the Evo subs.

My understanding of the Controller is that it will handle just about any combination of NHT speakers (of Super Audio, Classic, Evolution, or Xd vintage) you can throw at it. The Power5 is just an amp that happens to be a little smarter when bossed around by the Controller.

I'd guess it would be a year or two (at least!) before we see anything out of NHT in terms of the stuff John has beeng asking for, like smaller/bigger veresions of the Four and sealed Classic subs, if at all. But that's just my completely uninformed guess.

The upshot being, go for the Classic Threes and Evolution subs now and enjoy. If something better comes out, that's what trade-ins are for!

I like this. I don't even have to participate any more. Now if I could just get you guys to tag team running my store so I could take a vacation! Seriously, most of you guys could do it now

But I do have something to contribute. I finally attempted to put a badge on my 3C (yes, I opened my first one!) and holy CRAP!!!! No shite, it's hard to put in! But, there is something for people to do. First, take a nail and poke the fabric so it is big enough to get the little plastic prongs through so the fabric doesn't try to go through holes with the prongs. Then put it on the edge of a table or over something that allows you to hulk down on it until it goes in. But, man, you guys weren't kidding! They need to include a special tool!

The 3C badge is crazy! I made the mistake of using my coffee table as the surface when I was trying to pound the thing on. I ventually got it in, but... now I have 6-8 peg-size dents in my coffee table, which isn't a huge deal as the thing was bought used and cheap to begin with, but man! This is crazy! I managed to put some scratches in the badge too... might try to get a replacement at some point.

As to running your store... that sounds good right now. There's a pretty stereotypical lull in my program at school around year 3-4 where things become very boring and it's hard to care about my project. All sorts of jobs are sounding much more appealing these days! I'll keep plugging away at it, but Apple Store Genius, web design, coding, audio sales, restaraunt cook... Everything sounds good right now.

But I'm sure it's not all fun and games. Like when you've got lots of impatient customers waitin gon new speakers to be released... Or when people endlessly stalk you on forums...

Zaracsan, have you ever tried your dual U2s (4 W2s) as stacked, co-located stands for each of your M6s with an A1 per side so that in effect you have a set of T6s, only with forward facing drivers, and if so, what did you think of the results?

No, No, NO! (lmao). NHT (Jonathan), checked on this for me & the factory in China actaully shipped the wrong badges for the 3c. It will never work properly, so dont pound it. Ask them to replace the badge....the unit he sent worked like a charm.

Well, it'll fit eventually :-)

But I guess I should get the replacement.

Oh, it will fit. But it will fight you all the way. Well, I'm *so* glad Jonathan informed me of this

I have a question if you set up your m6 or m5 like this will you have stereo bass or does the x1 just take the lower crossover and send it to each set of woofers. The 2 on the left and the 2 on the right at the same time. Also with the u2 or u1 only going down to around 27hz would you still use a sub like a DD 18 or an ACI Maestro that goes down to around 16 or 18 hz for the lfe channel.
Allen

No pain no gain.
NHT doesn't 'officially' know the part is the wrong one, but mysteriously the replacement had much smaller diameter pins.

Thanks for your reply Mattwardfh. Can I ask what you mean by accoustically difficult room? My room is 17' wide by 20' long with 8'6" ceilings - does that count!! I don't yet have treatments installed.

As I don't yet have any kit what would be the ideal setup for a 3s with evo subs and how would it hang together? I'm assuming it would make sense to get NHT controller and power5 kit with NHT speakers......or is that a bad assumption!

Thanks

Piers

The M5/6 have fairly directional responses in certain frequency ranges, which helps in rooms where omnidirectional response at those frequencies would lead to bad reflections.

I'm out on a limb a bit here, as we're getting past my knowledge of those speakers, but I think it's useful if your room isn too live or is of an odd shape. Oh, and also they have a boundary switch which adjusts frequency response for when they're placed in furniture or against walls, which gives you a little more flexibility there.


So the best setup would be 4-6 Threes, a 3C, 2 U1 subs, the Controller, and the Power5 (with optional Power2 if you're going to run additional surround channels).

Although given the size of your room, I'd bet a 5.1 setup would be fine, so you can stick to 4 Threes, a 3C, and a single U1 or U2 set. You can save a little on electronics by going with a good quality receiver from somebody else, if you need, but the Controller/Power5 will probably be optimum. Easy setup and optimized sound.

So let me recount some of the more notable claims gleaned from reading this thread.

Tom Nousaine doesn't know how to measure speakers.

Bob Carver is deaf.

NHT marketing and delivery suck.

It's easy to compare speakers, you just listen to them at some point and then rely on memory.

The new NHT speakers are the bestest NHTs ever. Until the newer one comes out.


(Btw, I agree with one of these items.)


--
k.
(5.1 system: SuperOnes all around + Velodyne F1000 sub)

Well, I'd hope the company keeps putting out better stuff rather than spinning their wheels. If my experience comparing the SuperZero to the SB1 to the AbsoluteZero, and the SB3 to the Three is accurate, then yeah, they are an improvement on the older ones.

Though I haven't heard stuff like the 3.3 so certainly it's incomplete. But even if you were sharing that line sarcastically (were you?), there's some truth to it.

Not so fast there!

After extensively auditioning the the Threes against the M5s of my T5s while using the subs in the T5 for both, here it is in a nutshell.

The Threes do in fact seem to do some things better than the M5s, such as dispersion/sound staging, and vice-versa, such as slam and dynamics in the M5's favor.

Bottom line for me personally though, the M5s will be staying as they will play noticeably louder without strain or congestion. The Threes start to labor and run out of gas much earlier while the M5 is still not even breaking a sweat. Plus they have wall mountable matching surrounds which is a must for me in that particular room.

Against the M6s, the Threes advantages are even smaller while it's disadvantages are even greater.

Interesting enough, the Three did MUCH better than the M5 or even the M6 IMO with the high pass crossover set at 50 Hz.

I also compared them to my SB-3s, and the Three is a definite overall upgrade over the SB-3 (although the SB-3 does do bass better IMO).

So it ends like this, I'm getting a pair of Threes to replace the SB-3s in my office rig. I have a spare X1/A1 I just picked up for cheap, so I will eventually get another set of W2s to have a complete U2 set of subs to go with the Threes in the office rig.

I was driving the SB-3s with a Cambridge Audio 640A (V1) integrated amp, but I just picked up a HK AVR 240 off of a Target clearance rack of all places to use in my 2 channel office rig. It has 65 watts X 2 in stereo mode, and with HK, you can count on that, and then some. I will use the sub out on the HK AVR to the X1/A1 of the forthcoming U2 set for the office rig. Plus, I have an old '96 vintage Yamaha CD changer I will integrate into the system using the HK AVR's much more modern 192/24 bit DACs.

Now the question is what do I do with my pair of SB-3s as I won't really have any use for them anymore after this.

The answer is "Sell them".

Obviously, 2 six inch woofers, are going to provide much more grunt from the crossover point up than a single driver (M6 vs Classic 3). I have gotten reacquainted with my M6 rig recently and I can see why Stereophile rated them as Class A. They do most things very right and will give you all the volume you need to boot. When coupled to the U1s (I've got two of them) we're talking a very full range sound that will play LOUD without strain. In this respect, I'm sure the M6 has it all over the Xd system.

Ok need help here guys.

I purchased classic 4s /rears Classic 3/Center 3C also a Velodyne DLS 5000R sub/ Pioneer Elite VSX-82-TSX receiver.

Here is the question: I have some audioquest CV-6 biwire with dbs36V. speaker wire.

since I am not using an amp (just my new reciever) Can I remove the jumper on the back of the classic 4s and go 2 wires on top for highs and mids, and the other 2 on the bottom for the sub????

Also I have the same biwire speaker cable for my center channel, but I only have 2 post on the center channel can I just use 2 of the biwires and maybe tape the other 2 bannana posts????

I bought this cable because I was looking down the line when I buy addition amps, just trying to figure how I can use them now!!!

Thanks for your help in advance.

Tony don't you use your U1 for the speakers stand for your m6. Do you think this works good even though it is a little lower then what a T 6 would be. This does put you within an inch of the t5 height.

I would have thought the stand for the m6 would have been lower than the m5 because the m6 is longer. And I would have guess the tweeter should have been at the same height on either speaker.
Allen

Yes, you CAN use the bi-wires. Hook them up as you described to the Fours. If your AVR has only 1 set of binding posts for main L/R, hook one set of wires up with spades, the other with bananas on the same binding post terminal set.

Use the spade/banana combo on the 3C as well.

What the hell, you've got 'em, just as well use 'em!

Later on down the line, you could add an X2 and a set of A1s or an amp such as a NAD C27/C272 to bi-amp with since you've already got the wires you would need for it.

I forgot to add they all have 2 wires to the AVR and 4 wires to the speakers.

I actually have my U1s in opposite front corners of the room. I think they sound better there. Woofers in the middle of the room give very unpredictable response IMO.

Actually, you'd be *very* surprised. The M6s may ultimately play louder, but up until probably 105dB or thereabouts, the Xds sound better and lower in distortion and easier on the ears. I can listen to Xds all day long at shockingly high volumes without fatigue. Few, if any, analog speakers allow me to listen so loud for so long and enjoy every moment.

^^^ I can attest to that, although the T6s do seem to have a higher, or taller soundstage.

BTW John, any new word on those filter updates they have been talking about?

With weight and authority in the upper bass?