"BOY OH BOY" You just have to listen to these babies for your self. I picked them up for $900 (the best $900 I spent yet)Look out Theil, Willson,and the rest of you over priced speaker Companies, Their's a new sheriff in town, and his name is NHT.

I believe that through all of my reading I have come up with the conclusion that I would love to have somebody send me these speakers for free to my house in Saskatchewan. I really want them so somebody please send me them soon. P.S-I have auditioned them in certain stores and find they kick almost any speakers ass.

While looking for speakers in $800-1500 range. I came across the NHT 2.5iat a local store hooked up to a Carver setup. The sound was horrible!!!.

Listeners fatigue...but a least the bass was tight. The owner of the
store swapped out the Carver separate with the Krell Kav300i. The sound
improve immediately. Great deep soundstage and pinpoint imaging. The
bass was still, one of the tightest and quickest that I have heard.
These speakers are worth the auditioning, but it needs careful matching
electronics. We also try it with a Yamaha receiver 2092 & 793 it sounded
good with the 2.5i also. I owned Carver amps before...it tends to tired
me out after a short while...especially the a400.

I auditioned the 2.5i's today at a local NHT dealer driven by a Carver pre-amp, Carver amp and Carver CD transport. I initially thought that the 2.5i's were very neutral and clean, but after a few minutes of listening, it became apparent that they were very bright and too etchy. After about 30 minutes, I began to get "listener's fatigue" and I could no longer listen to them. During the 30 minute listening period, I was also able to A-B the 2.5's with the NHT 2.9's, the 2.9's sounded a little (only a little -- considering they are more than twice the price) cleaner in the mid's, but again, there was that very, very bright top end. In my opinion, it seems that the NHT dome is simply too bright, harsh, and silibant for my liking. Others in this posting have given the 2.5i good reviews, but I personally could not live with the brightness of the NHT 2.5i (or 2.9). The imaging depth was fairly good, but there was not sound stage outside the edges of the boxes. I have also listened to the PSB Silver's locally (they also are harsh on the top end, but not nearly so much as the NHT's).
I personally prefer and am in the process of purchasing a pair of Paradigm Reference Studio 60's or 80's (the 100's are too large for my living area). The aluminum dome tweeter in the Paradigm's are softer and smoother and does not give me "listener's fatigue", and the imaging of the Paradigm's are much deeper AND wider that the NHT (or PSB) products.

I listened to many speakers before deciding on the 2.5i, the finalists were: JMLabs Daline 3.1, B&W P6 and B&W CDM7. These are very nice speakers, but they don't come close to the NHT's in performance nor cost. Let me say that the NHT's have a way of creating such a deep sound stage that all one needs to do is close their eyes and the speakers disapear and the images come alive. The highs are crystal clear, yet not bright. The mids are wonderful and handle vocals perfectly. The bass is deep, tight, and authoritive. I am still shocked that these speakers cost me $1150 (in mahogany)...I listened to two pairs of Thiels (both well over $2000) and a pair of higher dollar JMLabs ($2300) that didn't sound as nice (perhaps slightly more transparent, though). After a week of playing them to break them in they really started to shine-- they focused so well that I sat there and played disc after disc and heard stuff on them that I never new existed! I think I could be happy with these for the rest of my life!
--Michael

I really wanted to like these speakers, after reading all these glowing reviews. Unfortunately I do not. They are way to bright and in my opinion lacking in bass. But the main reason I did'nt like them was at normal listening levels they sounded like my clock radio. At high volumn they do shine, great imaging and a terrific soundfield. But high volumn is not the way we normally listen. I found the Deinitive Technology BP 2004 to be a much more pleasing speaker to listen to, I also like the BP 30 much more than the NHT. I am currently looking forward to listening to some Mirage speakers also, as I find the Bi Polar sound field to my liking (even if it does'nt offer great imaging)

I've enjoyed my NHT 2.5's (the older model) for about two years. They were origanally driven by a small Harmon-Kardon, and suprisingly well. I later obtained a used Parasound 1200 and the speakers revelled in the extra power. I tend to agree with those that maintain these speakers project a frankness with source materiel. I think they demand reappraisal of familiar music. Their almost mystical revelatory power was brought into sharp focus one evening while listening to an old Fontana recording of Furtwangler conducting Debussey's nocturnes. One of audience sounded tubercular in spite of the curative power of the music.
So far I've abstained from spending much on speaker cable. Any suggestions?

I purchased the NHT 2.5i s about a month ago. They are the first step in my goal of building a true hi-fi system. Currently, I am using an NAD 713 receiver (surprisingly good sound for the $$) and an older onkyo cd changer.
Before raving about the NHT's (which I will), a few caveats. First, they will take some time to break in. At least 20 hours, perhaps up to 40 or 50. Second, these speakers give a VERY accurate depiction of the musical information sent to them -- i.e., if your electronics are not up to par, these speakers will not hide their shortcomings. The same can be said of poor recordings. Finally, placement is essential in the overall sound of these speakers. Depending upon your specific listening space, moving the speakers even a couple inches closer to, or farther from to wall will have a SIGNIFICANT difference in bass response and imaging. Just play around until you find what works best for your space -- you will not be disapointed.

Now, the raves. These are, by far, the best speakers I have heard in this price range. Their dynamic range is fantastic. They present an almost visual soundstage -- I listen to a great deal of jazz and the placement of each instument is quite distinct. The sound is absolutely neutral -- a sax sounds like a sax, a piano like a piano... you can not ask for better accuracy.

When purchasing these speakers, I had narrowed my choices to B&W and the NHT's. At first, I leaned toward the B&W. I loved their natural, soothing sound. In my first A/B test between the B&W's (603 and p4/5) the B&Ws really impressed. The NHT's did not. However, they were not properly set up, sitting in the middle of the room with only average equipement (I do not remember what). I thought I was going to go with the B&W's. Then I heard the NHT's set up properly in a store w/o B&W. They were amazing. I new I had to do an A/B test under better conditions.

I am glad I did. Side by side, the NHT 2.5i s simply blew the B&W away. The clarity and detail was immense. I put in a live recording of Tower of Power and the disk literaly came alive. I was not listening to a recreation of the music, I was listening to the live jam session. It was incredible and uncomparable. My decision was easy -- NHT's all the way.

After taking them home, finding the best placement and letting the speakers break in, I am enjoying the fruits of my labor. Because the NHT's leave no musical stone unturned, I continually rediscover even my favorite cd's... baselines than suddenly become musical, background passages I had never heard before. Rock kicks ass, with a very tight and quick bass. Growing up with a professional musician as a father (he plays in a major symphony orchestra)I can tell when an acoustic instrument sounds true to life. Jazz sounds absolutely realistic and lifelike. Classical music shines... Not only can I see the orchestra, I can discern the string sections, the brass, the percussion -- I can tell the trombones from the trumpets SPACIALLY, even though they are sitting in such close proximity to each other. A fantastic, honest protrayal of the music.

Because my equipment is not up to par with the speakers, the high end can tend to be overly bright... especially on poor recordings. Once I get a better matching pre amp/amp and cd player this should know longer be a concern.

All in all, these are EXCELLENT speakers. They may tend to the bright side with poor recordings or equipment, but only because they are desinged to play music with a level of realism which reveals every weekness of a system or recording. If your satisfied with mid-fi equipment, you may want a more forgiving speaker (perhaps the B&W). If you want the most accurate depiction of the music for under 2K, and are willing to build a quality system around them, the NHT2.5i s can not be beat. Four and a half stars.

I confess that I'm not an audio expert, but I do know what I like. For months I was trying to find a pair of speakers for my Quad 34/306 combo. I had paired them up with speakers from Infinity, Klipsch, and Castle. Then I unexpectedly came across NHT 2.5is one day. The gloss black, piano look just took my breath away. But how about the sound? Hooked up to a Denon receiver in the shop, they sounded quite sharp and gave me the listener's fatigue. So I brought in my Quads and connected them. Oh, what beautiful music they made together! Anastasio's guitar playing in Landlady (Phish-- Picture of Nectar) was sweeter than I have ever heard. And the heart beating sound of Dark Side (you know who) was just unbilievable-- it shook my spine so hard, I had a hard time getting up to change the disk. Then I threw them the ultimate task. Tchaikovsky's symphony #6. They put up a huge sound stage, and soon I was hearing all these details I've never heard-- turning pages, musicians' breathing, and even a gulping sound! To cool down the intensity, I put on "Beyond the Missourie Sky" by Haden and Metheny. The music should be heard to be believed. Then I put on Led Zeppelin II and could not dare turn the disk off. After this encounter, I was sold to 2.5is. In my opinion, NHT/Quad combo sounds better than Thiel 3.6/Audiolab 8000Q/P combo. And the latter costs twice as much! Excellent, excellent buy. Word of caution though-- match them with quality electronics, not Carver crap. Cannot go wrong. Enthusiastic 5 stars!

I llistened to the 2.5is at an AudioVisual show recently and they had just about the best sound among all of the speakers on display (ranging from a couple of hundred dollars to thousands of dollars). After reading a lot of reviews (including those posted on this site), I finally got a pair. I have had them for a month now and they seem to sound better every time I listen to them -- the bass is extremely tight and not too boomy while the highs and the midranges are crystal clear. Sundstaging is superb. I am very satisfied with my purchase and am now thinking of the AudioCenter1 and a pair of 1.5s to have a complete Home Theater system. The stereo shop owner suggested that I buy a pair of 2.9s and put them in the front and move my 2.5is to the rear (wow, wouldn't that be a fantastic system -- drool, drool). He's even offered to take back the 1.5s at full price (should I buy them now) as a trade in and let me have the 2.9s at some later point. Essentially this means a decent bank balance and convincing the wife to upgrade to the 2.9s -- no easy task, but I have started working on it!