I am astonished by the accuracy of the speakers. I had some acquaintance with NHT from back when we had a brick and morter dealer here who sold them. I was looking for a second pair of speakers and decided to give these a try. I have been using Bowers and Wilkins speakers for the past 20 years. Although Bowers and Wilkins speakers are more accurate than most (with the 685s being much more so than the 602s), the NHT Super Ones are superior in several areas, including overall smoothness and bass response. That NHT can offer such accuracy for only $350 is nothing short of remarkable. These speakers prove that acoustic suspension speakers produce better quality bass than ported speakers. The conventional wisdom that acoustic suspension speakers need huge amounts of power to drive them is hogwash. These speakers are not significantly less sensitive than my ported B and Ws. I believe these speakers are competitive with many speakers costing $2000 and up. I am convinced that NHT is the best value out there.

I have listened to many speakers and these are just amazing for the money. You can spend alot more and not get some of the performance you get from these. Some people don't like that the super one uses a paper woofer and foam surround. In my opinion this might be what gives them the magic they have. It allows the light weight of the woofer/midrange driver to react with blazing speed which elliminates distortions associated with slower drivers. Foam is surround is lighter and also faster reacting then rubber surrounds. This allows the woofers higher frequencies to react as fast as the tweeter for a seamless transition and integration from the woofer to tweeter. Whithout this a a speaker no matter what the cost will not have the magic. I love the sound or lack of sound you get from well designed paper woofers and the detail and speed they give you which is something many exotic materials cannot duplicate. Paper alone doesn't make a speaker sound good but in combination with other good engineering and materials it contributes greatly to the overall sound. Simplicity, a woofer and tweeter that integrates well, along with using quality materials give the Super Ones their magic. I'm not saying you cannot get great sound using exoctic materials. Exotic materials can improve the performance in areas paper cannot but at an important trade off if not designed correctly into the overall design of the speaker thus you are paying more and trading off important performance. Which is why it's probably better to use paper in the design of an affordable speaker and why such a speaker can outperform and sound better then a more expensive speaker. The Super Ones will sound a little bright and cold and won't thrown their magical soundstage right out of the box. Like most speakers they need to be broken in to sound their best. After break in you will notice the brightness will be disappear but the speakers detail will improve. The speaker will have a purity of tone. The slight coldness to the sound in some recordings is due to a lack of powerful bass that a port would give you that covers up poor recordings but a port might make a noise and you would lose the accuracy the super one provides. Which is why a well chosen subwoofer set up correctly would give a warmer presentation. The Super Ones analize the recording accurately and does not cover up some of the coldness that is present in some recordings or poor associate equipment.

Detail, clarity, natural sound (lack of coloration), and tight base, and good range for such a small speaker. I will not put the problems I discussed above as weaknesses because they are not attributed to the speaker except time to break in which applies to almost any speaker.

Deep base. Get a sub, but don't restrict the base from the NHT. The tight base of the NHT helps. Just adust phasing and crossover on the sub carefully.

For the last few years, these speakers have provided excellent service: detailed, clear, and yes full sound. At first, they exhibited some of the less satisfying characteristics that have been attributed to these speakers: a little thin including lack of base and a little bright. Some combination of time, interconnects, room acoustics, positioning, and electronics had everything to do with it. With time, the tweeter has gone from slightly bright, to smooth yet still detailed. Part of this may be attributed to the use of high end Audioquest interconnects between the CD/SACD player and the amp. The remodeled basement has better acoustics. Since remodeling, the speakers sit in a better room position (separation between speakers, distance from corners and wall). And the Rotel 850 amp/preamp sounds much better than the low fi receiver initially used with the NHTs. As for base, sometimes I have to check the Mission Subwoofer to see if it is on. Sometimes it isn't, yet the base is still strong. This wasn't the case the afford mentioned changes were made, though I don't know which changes were most important. I just acquired a pair of Epos ELS-3 for another room. These are excellent speakers, and I am not sure which I like better, but they are very revealing and a bit more 3-dimensional sounding. They also have a big sound for being so tiny. It is interesting that played in the same room with the same electronics, The NHT and EPOS both sound clear and full. In another room with different electronics (NAD 2150 amp/Soundcraftsman pre-amp), the highs on the Epos become somewhat brassy and less clear, while the base remains good. I Haven't tried the NHTs in that room. Goes to show that many variables contribute to a sound quality.

Similar Products Used:

EPOS ElS-3, Yamaha bookshelf, Bozak Listener series bookshelf, and Dynaco A-25

The best sounding american product: detailed presentation, minimalistic looks, precise and pacy, realistic with the most outstanding imaging...

Good looking AV and Speaker stands to match the piano lacquer... The South African distributor bailed out..Want the replacements...

Have had some of the above average bookshelfs (...the best speakers by SA terms are Brittish - Castle, Mordaunt Short, B&W, etc) and this being my second American* (previously Venturi..)speaker set, I love them!!!! Mated them to an Onkyo AV receiver TX-DS676, Sony DVP-NS305 DVD player(was a gift),-Rotel 9-series CD Player, Yamaha AX600 stereo amplifier, Kimber speaker cabling, Monster interconnects, LG TV(not proud of it)...These babies have me inviting friends over to show-off at every oppurtunity I get... I think I should have them toe-toe with something British and report back...

Similar Products Used:

Mordaunt Short, Castle, Venturi, B&W an JPW among other bookshelves, Always a Yamaha fan on Amplification...No competitor...!!

Accuracy and imaging that make them one of the best values in the small monitor market segment. Attractive glossy piano black enclosures.

Can sound bright when used with poorly matched electronics. Listen before buying, or look to match with warmer electronics.

These are wonderful speakers for what they are - small monitors with excellent mid-range character. Unless you're using these speakers in a small dorm-sized room, I strongly recommend additiona of a subwoofer to bring full range sound to the listening experience. Like the Super Zeros, the Super Ones generate stunning mid-range and high frequency detail from the soft dome tweeter, but they fill out the lower mids more competently. Like similar quality acoustically suspended speakers, the Ones imaging, when positioned properly, is excellent and on par with more expensive speakers. They are also very accurate across their entire usable range. There are no ports in the enclosure to color bass frequencies into the signal. Use a sub for that, et your crossover frequency, and enjoy the wonderful mids available in these well engineered monitors.

Similar Products Used:

PSB Alpha A/V PSB Alpha Mini Atlantic Technology T70 NHT Super Zero JBL S38

None with this sub.

great speaker, on 24" lovan sand filled stands, also used @center, w/velodine ct-080. I listen to all types of music from Blues, to country,to big band. Also many movies all of it with great sound.

Similar Products Used:

Jamo, Mission.

Used either by themselves or with a subwoofer, these are excellent speakers in a normal (non-surround) stereo setup. The bass does not have the characteristic hump of underdamped small speakers, and the rest of the frequency range is reproduced with excellent accuracy. They won't rattle the windows with rock and roll but are truly excellent for solo vocal performances like Rosanne Cash' Ten Song Demo (One of my favorites.)

Please listen to other speakers before deciding on the NHT SuperOnes.People who own these tend to be bias. There are other speakers that far outperform the SuperZeros for a few more bucks. Listen around!

Please note the one speaker rating is just for eye catching apeal. Truly a 4 in it's price range. 3 overall.

Totally disagree! I have three NHT Super Ones and 2 Super Zeros for my surroundAnd for the $$, the value is unbeatable. The surrounds could be slighty
better, but work for us. The center, left and right SuperOnes are great
for movies and music. Just added a PSB Subsonic II and that makes the speakers
even better. Granted, there are 100s of others on the market, but you
should give this strong consideration!

Terrific sound imaging and value

Wish I had found them sooner

After looking around to replace an aging pair of Dahlquist DQ-10s I looked around here at the reviews. Went to the local store convinced I would buy Energy Encores based on the reviews here. After a listen on several familiar disks I found the Energys far too bright on the high end and not altogether smooth.
Then went and listened to the NHT SuperOnes, wow, very smooth transitions from low to mid to high, female vocals clear as a bell, not harsh.
Ended up with 4 S1s a VS2A center (worth the extra $$) and the Energy Encore 8 sub. A great combination for not a lot of money. I didn't think it would be easy to say goodby to the DQ10s, but it was no contest these are sweet.

Similar Products Used:

Energy encore. Dhalquest DQ10