Now Hear This (NHT) Classic 3 & Absolute Tower Speakers brief review

[denom]

Had a first hand mini listening session of the NHT CLassic 3 BS & NHT Absolute Tower Speakers this afternoon at Avenue Sounds Demo Room.

They were connected to

Emotiva UMC-200 Pre amp
Emotiva UPA-500 Power amp
Dune CDP
Emotiva IC's for connecting Pre/Power
Monster Coaxial Cable
Generic Optical Cable
Generic Analog Cable
Monster 16 AWG Speaker Cables

Heard the Classic 3 BS first, which were fresh out of the box.

Liked their
timing
overall presentation of freqs across the range
bass definition
acoustic suspension design, which ideally makes them less fussy as compared to ported speakers as far as placement is concerned

Looks like these will be a good bet & solid option for folks looking for a good pair of BS speakers.

Price - 62000/- for a pair

Next we heard the Absolute Tower FS speakers

Electronics Pairing was the same as above

Heard them very briefly as spent more time listening to the Classic 3 BS.
Pretty balanced sounding speakers but somehow did not have the sparkle/magic of the Classic 3's

Price - 78000/- for a pair.

Finish of both speakers were piano gloss black.

Also heard the centre & surround speakers of NHT along with a B-10d Powered Subwoofer with DSP, but it was for too short a time to write anything much about them.

NOTE: Sensitivity of both speakers is 86/87 db & found the Emotiva UPA5 to drive them pretty much effortlessly. Probably the declared power output of Emotiva Amp is pretty accurate


Glad that Ashish has put them up for demo. Hope more FM's visit his shop for demoing them. Also great news that Ashish is selling the NHT Speakers at listed MSRP price on their website(nhtaudio.com).

Some Pics:

 

[docd]

Denom and me spent an interesting afternoon auditioning the above gear. The classic 3 BS were the clear winner here. They had superb pace rhythm and timing. The Absolute Tower FS were not bad but I wasn't impressed by them. The Stereophile review has rated the Towers quite highly but has stressed that they require a long break in.
NHT Classic Absolute Tower loudspeaker | Stereophile.com.
The sub was the least impressive but I guess it needed a bit of tweaking for which we didn't have time.
The source was only CD play through the Dune HD Max as we were handicapped by lack of a display. I would have liked to try out BD playback on the NHT which was unfortunately not possible.
The NHT site is High End Speakers & Stereo Equipment | Subwoofers, Home Theater Systems

 

[mpw]

wow.. maybe next time i am that side i would drop in or a listen.

The NHT is a 3 way bookshelf.. i read last night..quite unusual at this price point..

mpw

 

[Hari Iyer]

A quick look at the measurements (Impedance phase) indicate that the towers would require a higher powered amplifier to drive these speakers and not so easy load for many amplifiers. The amp needs to be selected appropriately with these speakers. The FR curve implys that these speakers will be good at producing low frequency quite well with the added boom too. The step response does not indicate a very good integration between drivers transition and shows some minor phase issues too in the transition from mid to high.

 

[Nikhil]

NHT makes great speakers and from the baffle design you can tell these guys know their stuff.
It's much harder to design a good speaker at this price range that will still deliver the goods.

Too many good reviews out there - should try and listen to these one day.