To those who have had complaints about the bass from this, or any other speaker for that matter, get your head out of your nether orifice and discover the black art that is placement.
In my years.. more than I care to mention.. I have never heard a better speaker for the money. While the 2.5i's benefit from some tweaking of placement, they are less sensitive than most. I found these NHT's to be gorgeous, and wonderfully neutral and mercilessly accurate. When I want to hear the difference interconnects etc make, I always play through NHTs. The sound stage is expansive and detailed in all planes, the bass is stunning and tight, on par with larger and multi driver designs. Tonal quality is sublime, nuances of voice and instrument timbre are resolved well. This is one of the first metal tweeters that I have found to be non-fatiguing and without shillness... almost delicate.
No, these aren't 2.9's, but they don't cost 2700 to 3000 dollars either yet retain almost all of the virtues of their larger siblings. I bought a pair for 1200, and truthfully its pretty much all the speaker any sensible audiophile will need. I cite the law of diminishing returns and place the 2.5i's at the optimal point of the bang VS. buck curve.
One caveat: as with most NHT's they need good, if not great, source and power components to do their thing. Garbage in, garbage out applies. These speakers will not gloss over flaws in components or software rather, they tend to throw any shortcomings into sharp relief.

First the practical stuff. Picked up a pair in the sycamore laminate for $1200.00 I think its a great bonus to be able to choose from cabinet finishes. The cabinetry is better than average. However, I had to exchange one side because of some sloppy router work around the woofer's grill - check over the finish thoroughly! The sound - fantastic on female vocalists, Billie H. never sounded better. I have powered these with my 60w Sansui Receiver and my 120w Rotel Monoblocks. The low efficiency of these speakers is very apparent. If you want to take advantage of the bass range you need atleast 100w.

I reviewed these back in July 1997. Actually I was the second person to review them on this page.
I just felt I should re-submit a not-so-mini-review.

After having lived with these as my main music and theater speakers for nearly two years, I can still say that they are (and I seldom use the word)awesome speakers. They are unquestionably the best value in a full range speaker. There has been much excitement over the 2.9 in recent months. I say this... the 2.9 is more full range than the 2.5i but, in my opinion, certainly does not justify the price difference. The 2.9 is much closer to the 2.5 than the 3.3. Don't get me wrong, the 3.3 is a stunning speaker but still can't justify the price difference to me.

I plan on purchasing a pair of von Schweikert VR4s early next month... Already in Lay-A-Way at the local dealer. I plan on using the VR4s in the music system and the NHTs will see duty in the theater. At least that's what I'm planning on. I hope I'm not wasting my money on the VR4s but I'm getting a heck of a deal. I also may get another pair of 2.5is to replace the SuperOnes I'm using as surrounds.

Also, recently I have been using a 40 watt $400 Musical Fidelity integrated amp in place of the McCormack and it is a toss up as to which is a nicer sounding amp. I never thought I would say that. I got the McCormack to power a pair of Apogee speakers that could really use the extra power. Now this isn't to say that the NHTs aren't demanding but the 40 watts of the Musical Fidelity seem like much more. Of course, it can't hack it with the Apogees but they're in a closet at the moment so that isn't much of a problem.

They don't seem to be the speakers for Martin in Tokyo but the sonus fabers aren't even remotely similar to the NHTs? Similar price but NOTHING else. Would someone considering a BMW M3 even test drive a loaded Surbaban? Methinks not.

And for Kevin in Dallas who complains (as so many have) about the brightness, whoever accused Carver of being neutral? Maybe try them with some McCormack or Linn or Audiolab or even some Denon or some of the nicer Yamaha stuff. There is a reason the Sunfire so much better than the new Carver stuff. Bean-counters design Carver products and have been doing so for about 4 years. (Sorry for that little rant but... pet peeves, you know!) Not to try to talk him into buying them... But more goes into sound than just speakers. And A/Bing speakers shows general differences but still not which one is right in a fine system.

But the vast majority of the writers on this page seem to find the 2.5i worthy of their time, ear and money. That speaks volumes (pun intended) and is the most important idea of this review format.

Anyway, that's my new summary... Still can't touch them for the price. These new Polk and Klipsch and Mirage speakers with the powered subs are impressive with their prodigous bass on movies but I know at least one person with each of these systems and other than 5 minutes per action movie, my NHTs still kill them as far as sound quality. They just can't be touched for the price.

I've taken too much of your time already. My point is this... If you are interested in the speakers, and you don't feel you are hearing what the most of the writers on this page heard, it's the dealer's fault. Make them put the NHTs in a nicer room. With good electronics and cables. Play with placement. If he doesn't have a tape measure in his hands when he's placing the speakers, they aren't being placed where Ken Kantor intended and they can sound better than what you are hearing. Period.

This my first high-end stereo set. Before I buy, I have done a comparison between 2.5i and other high-end speakers. It was a no brainer after testing 6-7 different speakers. 2.5i provides a clear, very powerful, yet very natural sound. When I close your eyes, the speakers disappeared, leaving only the singer standing in front of me. You'd better have a good amp, and CD to take 2.5i's full advantage. It is not very forgiving. It shows every bad recorded track. It's the first time I can differentiate good recorded CDs from the bad one.

tookme a while to burn in these speakers and also took me a while to find the right listening spot. NHT 2.5i is spectcular good soundstage, good vocal, good bass, and good depth. good look, good price. Only disadvantage is need quite a bit of room and lenght of your stuido room and big power.

THE BEST SPEAKER FOR THE MONEY. BUT THESE SPEAKERS SHOULD NOT BE DRIVEN BY ANY RECIEVER, THESE SPEAKERS NEED POWER, NO MATTER WHAT THE DEALER STATES. MUSIC WILL BE CLIPPED IF NOT SET UP PROPERLY WITH A GOOD AMP. MA500 MONOBLOCKS WORK VERY WELL WITH THESE SPEAKERS.

A lot of Hi-Fi magazines recommend NHT 2.5I. The appearance of NHT is a bit strange, not really typical speaker. But the sound proves to be impressive. I think the overall sound are quite good. The treble is clean, the bass is impressive, and the midrange is detailed. But I think it is missing something. I just don't know what. Perhaps, its is my style of listening and I think the European speakers are more pleased to listen to.

The finish on the NHT 2.5 is black piano finish which I personally don't like. A little bit biased, I only give the NHT 2.5 a 4 star.

Some background: This review is made after listening to Legacy Focus and Whisper (Elite DVD and CD Player - forgot model #, with Legacy monoblocks), Martin-Logan Aerius and SL3 (Marantz Receiver and CD Player, forgot amp and DVD player), Hales Revelation 3 and Transcendence 3 (Rotel Amp and CD Player), NHT 2.5i (Rotel Amp and CD Player), 2.9, and 3.3 (Sony 355ES CD Player and Sony TA9000ES amplifier stereo mode), Definitive Technologies BP2000, and BP3000 (Sony 355ES CD Player and Sony TA9000ES amplifier stereo mode), PSB Stratus Silver-i (Rotel Receiver + Amp, Denon DVD Player, and another config which is Bryston amp + Rotel CD Player + forgot what preamp), DynAudio Audience 40 (Krell CD Player and Receiver), Snell (forgot what model, but it's $1400 a pair with McIntosh amp + Sony 5 CD changer player), McIntosh ML4C (Marantz DVD Player with all McIntosh amp/receivers). See my other reviews on these speakers for a perspective of what I want in sound.
All the speakers above I've heard in different places/room/situations/conditions and might affect the judgement of that particular speaker, so take this with a grain of salt, and more importantly, LISTEN to them if you are interested. This is just an OPINION of mine of those speakers I've heard. Full disclosure: I haven't bought any of these speakers, but right now I'm leaning toward the NHT 3.3, since I can buy them (1 year old) at around $2500. All the speakers I've heard will either get 3 to 5 stars, since I don't believe any speakers at this price range is capable of getting 1 star (If they do, how many star is my $10 computer speaker? If it's also 1, I'm sure the speaker reviewed will be a LOT better than my $10 computer speaker).

The 2.5i is a fairly balanced speaker, the base is more towards my liking, but can't touch the BP2/3000 series. The mids and low treble gets kinda muddled for my liking with fairly crowded materials. The treble a touch bright (a bit shrieking), but not intrusively so. Compared with the speakers I've auditioned, the base is felt more so. I should say it's different than the 2.9 or 3.3 and I prefer the siblings than this one. Didn't try this with DVD material since they don't have DVD player in the listening room. Can fill large rooms, doesn't strain.

Smooth treble - strong bass - good imaging

none

Hooray - Ten months after purchasing my 2.5i I broke down and purchased a CD player. The model I chose was the 99 version of the AH! Tjoeb. For the first time since my initial purchase I have been able to enjoy their overall sound after listening to a steady diet of FM for nearly a year. I am experiencing none of the shrill treble that some talk about. In fact I find it to be just about right. The bass from the 8inch woofers is very tight and powerful. Perhaps it is the associated equipment I am using that is providing these very enjoyable results. Along with the AH! Tjoeb 99 I am using a twenty year old Hafler DH 500 with matching 110 pre amp. Also in use is another twenty year old product - an RG Dyanmic Range Enhancer.

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch Heresy - Bozak Symphony

Realism

I recently purchased a pair of 2.5i's. I previously had a pair of Pinnacle book shelves. I have learned that the NHT's take a good amount of time to break in but am amazed by the realism of the music. When I listen to female Jazz vocalists it sounds like they are in the room with me. I am hearing sounds in my music I never knew existed. The bass is tight and the highs are crisp. I would highly recommend these speakers. I listened to countless speakers and for the money there was no question, the 2.5i's were the best in the price range.