incredible imaging, speed, accuracy

requires subwoofer for music with DEEP bass (40hz and lower)

These speakers are awesome. I have had my pair for just over a year now, and I am still amazed at just how good these babies sound! The sensation that the music is being played in my room -- that the voice I just heard came from a live person, and not a pair of speakers -- is astounding. When I'm working on the computer and casually listening to CDs, I can't help but turn around and stare at my system upon hearing a voice or passage that sounds particularly "live".

I was lucky too.. I was able to pick up my off E-Bay for $400. What a steal! Still though, I wouldn't have complained if I had to shell out the $600 retail for them.

One thing I will say against these speakers, though, is that they are not designed to play EXTREME volume or bass levels. That isn't to say that they can't get loud (oh, they can get plently loud!), but that the sound does start breaking up at volume levels that would probably cause hearing loss. Also, mating them together with a subwoofer is a good idea, if the music you listen to has an abundance of bass (I actually have my 1.5's high-passed at 65Hz, with bass filled in with a PSB SubSonic 2i subwoofer crossed over at about 100Hz).

Despite the speaker's weakness at EXTREME volume/bass levels, I would still give these speakers my highest recommendation. Incredible sound and reasonably priced.

System setup:
- NHT 1.5 speakers
- PSB Subsonic 2i subwoofer
- low-pass xover at 100Hz
- Rotel RC-971 preamp
- Rotel RB-981 amplifier
- input high-pass at 65Hz w/ACI in-line xovers
- dedicated to driving the 1.5's
- Cambridge Audio CD4SE cd player
- monster cable interlink 400 interconnects
- dh labs t-14 silver sonic speaker cable
- lovan stands/rack

Similar Products Used:

mission 731, b&w 302, NHT super 2

Extended hights, clear and precise sound, no mid-base boominess

"Cheaper" electronics may make them sound fatiguing or too bright. Narrow sweet spot, but this could be an advantage to minimize reflections

Two way, 53Hz-25KHz (+/-3 dB). Acoustic suspension (sealed, not ported). Same tweeter as the larger Music Series models. The sound is cleaner and more precise than the well-known lower-end SuperZero, SuperOnes and SuperTwos. With the right electronics (read: neutral, uncolored feeds) they are simply superb. The highs are exceptionally clean and detailed and the base covers most of the spectrum less the very deep notes. It rolls off down very naturally, without being boomy or uncontrolled like many of the ported two-way designs. For most Jazz, Acoustics and Classical you won't need a subwoofer. The image is very focused, the sweet spot is narrow but this means there is almost no reflection from side walls and ceiling to distort the sound. Easy to set-up on stands. Vocals are presented very naturally. The overall dynamics and coherence is excellent. Sound best in my room if 2-3 feet away from the back wall and about that far from the side walls. Stands do make a difference, but the sound is good even when placed on a bookshelf. I have compared them side by side to AR, Polk, PSB, Definitive, B&W and others and my personal opinion is they are more accurate and uncolored. Some listeners may not like this “leaner” sound as the "warmth" that comes from tonal coloration and mid-base non-linearity in other models may sound "better" at first. For example, when played side by side driven by the same electronics, the twice as expensive Infinity Overtures simply sound like cheap boom-box compared to the NHTs: the Infinity mids and highs are much more distorted and less natural and the base is boomy while actually less deep. The NHT 1.5 are decent for home theater too as they center the image very well and the center channel speaker is not really required. A subwoofer would help there for the really low frequency effects. Try them out at your local dealer and if you have the chance compare them or the SuperOnes to more expensive models side by side – you’ll immediately hear the difference in clarity and resolution.

For the money - definitely 5 stars. But there are better speakers starting at $1400 and up, so 4 for overall rating.

Similar Products Used:

Infinity Overture 1, Polk, PSB, B&W, Definitive

Clean, clear, neutral balance

Needs plenty of watts

I haven't heard a lot of comparison speakers, but I can't imagine how you can beat these for the price. I got them for about $400 on eBay (Look for geselectronics; he's reliable). They don't have much deep bass below 80-90 hz, but I have the SubOne (for approx $550 on eBay), which allows for tweaking the crossover and adjusting the deep bass volume. The neutral balance is very impressive. They sound just great in my living room. Even my teen-agers are impressed.

small, compact size makes for easy placement

weak soundstage, hard to find sweet spot, stereo image wavers

This is my first pair of small, compact speakers. Having owned towers for all of my audio days, I was a little apprehensive about satelites. Justifiably so. But, alas, circumstances (new job) have forced to to temporarily live in a small studio here in los angelas. Unable to properly set up my towers, I decided to give these 1.5s a try upon recommendation of a friend and all these favorable reviews (well, most of them seem favorable, except for the one from John in Phx). After bringing them home and hooking them up (Rotel pre amp, power amp, and CD) I proceeded to play some of my favorite musical selections through them. I immediately noticed a dramatic difference in sound between these 1.5s and the towers i'm used to listening to. My initial reaction was that these don't sound as nice as my towers. I suppose this was due to the limited frequency response of these small speakers. In all fairness, i decided to continue listening to them in the hopes that I may grow to like the way they sound. This didn't happen. The soundstage was very weak, and I had difficulty locating the sweet spot (this may also be due to my small living room). Also, vocals seemed to waver. This depended on the music that was being played, but it seemed more pronounced with female vocals than male ones. The image would wonder in front of me, instead of staying somewhat in the center.
Now that i'm out of that apartment and into a house, i've decided to go back to my towers. I like their sound much better. I may end up using these 1.5s for rear channels if i ever go into home theater. All in all, I was a little disappointed in the performance of these $600 a pair speakers. For that much money and for all the hype that I've heard and read, I expected a little better.

Similar Products Used:

Mirage, Definitive Tech