First thanks to all the people who wrote previous review for the NHTs and other speakers. They were very helpful as I have been out of the audio buying market for a number of years.
I recently "bought" a pair of 3.3s and I am very happy with them. I had my house broken into a few months ago and my system was stolen. My insurance company had a replacement service and they not only could replace my equipment with comprable stuff but allowed me to pay the differnce and upgrade. They buy wholesale and it is amazing what a markup there is on good audio equipment.

The reason for the history is that I would not normally have purchased the 3.3s as they would have been out of my price range.

When I started looking arround at speakers I listened to the 2.5s the 2.9s and some Paradigm Reference, B & W s, etc. I found the 2.5s to be too thin in the midrange for my taste, the B&W 604s to be too silibant, the Paradigms just missing something, and the 2.9s sounded great. The replacement service could not get the 2.9s so I opted for the extra bucks and ordered the 3.3s.

The 3.3s are great speakers but are picky about setup and you definately want to sit in the sweet spot of the listening room. The imaging is great but what I really like about these speakers is the transparency and faithfulness to whats on the recording. Without the coloration they sound good on all kinds of music. That said they are very revealing and bring out the good and bad in recordings. If your recording is thin they will sound thin indeed on these speakers. They also have a good bass extension but I like the lack of exageration that you get on some speakers. Some have commented on a bright high end but I have not found this to be the case. In fact the B&W 604s had more of a sizzle or bite on the high end that bothered me. On one recording I used in my search the B&W added enough bite to the female vocal that it almost sounded like a slight lisp but this was not the case on the 2.9s I was comparing it to. On another note these speakers do like to be played on the louder side and were meant for a large room. They do lack some low level ability and the sound just fills in and opens up as you get out of the low levels and get to a mid level.

To conclude I think these speakers sound great. Would I have paid full retail for them; probably not, I would have probably opted for the 2.9s which are close in sound but a lot cheaper. That said spend most of your $$$$ on the speakers while all the components make a sonic diffence, speakers still make the largest difference in the sound of your system.

Tip- If you cannot afford very expensive electronics, as I cannot, but love the 3.3, try some of the Carver power amps. Although bright is often associated with bargain, I am running a $500 Carver power amp that really mates well with the 3.3s. Very Neutral. Same would hold for the 2.9s.

Why are all the negative reviews from people who don't own these speakers?

Audition these about a year ago when I was shopping for replacements. Like all speakers of the same design - slim towers with side mounted woofers, they lack "something". Similar experience was found on Audio Physic Virgo. I owned many high-end speakers before and my highest criteria is coherency; NHT 3.3 did not deliver. For the same money, I am sure there are better speakers out there.

I've had my 3.3's for about 3-yrs . I've tried many different amps (aragon palladiums, 4004's, classe, B & K) and the 3.3's can be bright & fatiguing.
Through numerous switching & trials, I finally settled on mono bi-amping; tubes on the top, solid state on bottom.

I'm using mono OTL Atma-Shere's MA-1 (100 WPC, 12 tubes per mono) and mono NHT's SA-3 subwoofer amp (250 WPC) on the bottom end. Power & speaker cables are from Synergistic (master couplers for mono tubes and "true" bi-wire sig's #2 & #3). Power cables to S/S are TG Audio HSRi w/ floated ground, these really brought out the bass! Why I went w/ TG Audio on the S/S!?! The synergistic's was to mellow on S/S, not as detailed/quick.

TWEEKS: ProAc's Spirical Speaker Cones, TEKNA Sonic C-10 & C-12 Vibration Absorbers, switching standard speaker cones to black diamond racing Mk 4's and a 25-pd bag of lead shot on ea 3.3

I agree with Paul, from San Fran., "why all of the negative reviews from people who don't own this speaker?"
These speakers are awesome and accurate. Break them in, and DON'T review them with shitty electronics. If paired with BEL, Pass, Krell, BAT or the like, they will truly sing! (ESPECIALLY with BEL amplification!)

I have had mine for 8 months. They are a joy at all volume levels and all sorts of program material. Isn't that what this hobby is all about?

related equipment: Pioneer PD-65 (Musical Concepts modified)
Krell KRC3 pre
BEL 1001 mk II amp
BEL & Cardas cables & wire

I have owned these speakers for a but 3 years now, and I must say, the NHT 3.3's are one of the best speakers money can buy. The bass is simply awesome and the speaker integrate wonderfully. You cannot use cheap electronics with these speakers or that is how they will sound. Whatever is downstream is what you will hear. If you cannot put these speaker up against the wall as intended, this speaker is not for you. Set these Babies up right and, you can't get much better.

In responce to John F: That is pretty easy to figure out... "Why are all the bad reviews of these speakers from people who don't own them?"
I Don't know about you, but I sure wouldn't spend $4300 on a set of speakers I don't like the sound of. I don't agree with the people who dislike the 3.3s but I can understand their opinions.

I don't have a wall to properly "Load" the 3.3. So I will be purchasing 2.9s. This line of speakers (3.3s and the 2.9s) are very revealing of source material. Some people want accurate sound and some find that this speaker is just to revealing of the other electronics in their systems. The 3.3 are to some degree "picky" in that you have to place them a certain way, they are physicaly imposing, and they are brutaly honest to what is fed to them.

Some people like that, and some people... don't.

OK, enough of the no-own/bad review crap here. I do NOT own a pair of 3.3's because they are out of the price range of almost any 18 year old i know, especially me. So how can i write a review on them you ask? Well, i happen to work in a great audio store with a set of 3.3's set up in a room that is unfortunately an acoustical nightmare. They dont have the world's best electronics on them, specifically a Marantz CC-63SE and an Adcom preamp that is escaping me as to the number and a 5802 amp [ugh ?? what the hell is ugh about this amp? see the review down the line if you dont know what i'm talkin about]. I dont know, perhaps my ears aren't as refined as everyone else's here but these speakers are second to none in their price class and even some of their higher-priced competitors. I opted to go for 1.5's [budget thing again] but i know for a fact that if i ever have the money to afford a set of speakers on the level of the 3.3's, they will be my first choice. The imaging is just incredible and the bass can cave your chest in [i'm from the car audio generation so bass means a lot to me, but i'm maturing, hehe] Anyway, i cant see how anyone who has not gotten the chance to listen to these extensively can say that they are a bad speaker. There are a lot of things that can make them less-than great but with the right placement and electronics, we're talkin sonic nirvana, end of story. 5 all the way.

NHT 3.3 IS A AMAZING SPEAKER IF YOU PLACE THEM RIGHT. AND USE GOOD ELECTRONICS,EVEN CABELS IS OF IMPORTANCE.

MY SYSTEM IS

AMP = CARVER 760x (SOON ONE MORE)
PRE = YAMAHA DSP-A1
CD/DVD = PIONEER DV-09
CABELS = MONSTER REFERANCE