Not much to add to what I have read in the other reviews. I am in total agreement with the "requires decent equipment" camp. These speakers will not let you fool them, and they won't tell you any lies. Current system - Pioneer PD 65, Audible Illusions L1, PS Audio 100 Delta. Kimber PB&J interconnects w/ a bi wire run of 8tc to the speakers. One nice thing about having a speaker w/ such a full frequency range is what it can tell you about your electronics. Case in point: I upgraded my Harmon K 5 disc to a Pioneer Elite PD 65, and was promptly introduced to real bass. The PD 65 went deeper and tighter, and not in a subtle fashion. Highs were quite a bit more presentable. All this from an admittidly low end cd player(I bought it for the stable platter transport, figuring I'd pay $700 fo a transport some Audio monkeys charge upwards of $1500). I am currently looking into upgrading the crossover network(air core Ls, real Cs and Rs and better wire from the drivers) , possibly pulling it out of the speaker and into it's own little sand box. I am doing this in an attempt to improve the sounstage past the outside edges of the loud speakers(I heard a pair of Aerial 8s do this quite well(as a further side note the 8s smoke the 10Ts)) . I firmly believe that this is NOT a room issue. One last thing, surface plates( granite) make excellent amp stands/ isolation platforms ( thiscomes in handy when your speakers' 6 dB down point is at 19 Hz). I got an 80 lb slab for thirty bucks(how they manage to ship it all the way from China at that price is beyond me). I have always been wary of this kind of "tweak", but my concern was quickly dispelled by the quiet tapping of John Lee Hooker's foot. The degree to which that subtle little bit of information improved was like a slap in the face. I'd appreciate it if John F of Boulder, Co could send me a quick blurb on the Musical Concept PD 65 modification that he mentioned in his review. Did you find this more practical then adding on a DAC?

I owned these speakers for a good 4 years now, they used to sound first rate on my old location. After the famili and me relocated to another state, I tried many different set-ups and none seemed to actually work, the mids seemed estrident and the hights screeching. Then relief, I purchased a very thick and nice looking,( my wife very happy, my kids love it ) area rug about 10' x 12', wow what a change . . . the image and sense of space now with a 12'vaulted ceilings are incredibly natural, the roomk dissapears.I'm making these comment for those people who did not like the 3.3's I have been using it with a Threshold T-3 for a preamp and has been a real blesing.
Now I'm switching to HT with a Classée piece so the T-3 is out for sale now.
The 3.3's are even for the $4,300 it retails for a class on its own!!
I'm adding a few more NHT's to complete my HT installation and planning to utilize a Sunfire Cinema Grand to amplify the 3 from channels, two amps for each 3.3 and the remaining one for the center channel.
All Kimber cable thrugout 8-TC double run for speakers, Combination of KCAG and 1020 for precessor/pre to amp and source respectively, also Illuminatti D-60 for digital 75 Ohm and Wydeye AES/EBU for 110 Ohm connection.
It's Heaven.
If you own a pair of 3.3s and want a "KILLER" reasonable priced preamp for music.
you cant beat the T-3, Its's for sale, 1st. come 1st. served.
I previously owned JBL professional studio monitors, Dahlquist, and others; auditioned and was very impressed with the Aerials, Von Scwaikerts,also heard Tannoy,Mirage, and other fine Ribbon planar and electrostatics. At this price point, very hard choice, the only thing I really liked better are the Wilsons Watt/Puppy combination, (at 3 times the price!!!)
My 3.3 are here to stay, had them for 4 years, treaky to place, but once everything locks into place WOW!!!, I have been saying WOW!! for the last 4 years, so have some of my friends that come home not for the conversation, or the food but to get a glimpse of Sonic Virtual Reality.

Mated the 3.3's with McCormack DNA 1, Aragon Aurum pre and Theta data basic.You cannot get a better (Full Range) sound for the price. No matter what your musical taste are, you will simply be in awe.

Until I hit the lottery and purchase my Spectral and Wilson combo, these speakers are very satisfactory. Be sure and put up against a solid wall.
Anyone that would give these a less than four rating, are simply trying to justify their mistake not purchasing them.

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). A 5 can only be awarded to live performance, and so far I haven't heard anything that sounded like live performance (meaning you can't distinguish whether an instrument sound came out of a real instrument or a speaker).

The 3.3 is the speaker I like most out of the bunch, but I'm getting ahead of myself. It has a more enveloping sound than the 2.9, and sounded quite different than the 2.5. The base hits very fast, and doesn't hang too long (just tight enough for my taste), but not as felt as the DefTechs BP2/3000s. I should say that it doesn't sound strained when I increased the volume, and can readily fill a large room. The treble is too bright on the higher octave (same as 2.9), but tolerable. The woofer blends seamlessly with the mids. The only thing keeping me from buying this is the time I need to gather up money to buy it and I NEED to hear the PSB Stratus Gold-i, which seems to carry the same characteristics as the 3.3, but without it's shrieking treble. Deep, but not as wide a soundstage. Strings comes alive :).

I have owned the 3.3 for over 3 years, and use it with the following: Theta Basic II, single mode to a GenVA Balanced, Krell KRC-HR, to a Krell KSA-300S.AudioTruth Emerald Balanced and AudioTruth Clear to the top and Sterling to the Bass. Totally revealing of the system and source. I have tried to cable the brightness down a bit, and have been almost entirely sucessful. Hint: raise the front of the speaker up...buy longer studs for the cones in front. I use mine at 1/2 a bubble up on a level. This fixes the upper mid harshness. What continues to impress after these years is the dynamics. Fast, somewhat lean sound, with shotgun impact at higher levels. The immediacy and the ability to play loudly have amazed many folks that have heard this system. These might be the cleanest sounding speakers at high levels that I have ever heard, especially at the price. Thanks for the forum to share these few thoughts.

Just sold my Paradigm studio 100's and picked up a pair of 3.3's for 2K. Never having had a chance to hear them I took a leap of faith based on other peoples reviews and write ups. Mated with adcom GFA-5800,CAL CD player and Adcom GDA-600.I must say initially very disappointing,glaring treble so harsh that I had a tough time listening to them.Then I remebered Corey Greenburg suggesting that you raise the front of the speaker, ensuring treble is at ear level. I spent the next couple of hours with a wide grin on my face.These speakers kick some serious butt,very transperant, great mid bass kick ,sweet highs and the ability to play at volumes that are unbelieveably loud. Looking forward to hooking up some higher end electronics.I think my quest for sonic nirvana is extremely close thanks to the 3.3's.Highly recommended.

The speaker has great dynamics. It can go way low.

Possibly room configuration.

I'm am surprised that no one has reviewed this speaker. I have owned this speaker for about 2.5 years and I am impressed every time I listen to it. This was my first purchase into the high end market and I am still extremely happy with it. I first biamped the 3.3's with solid state on the bottom and tube on the top end (didn't have enough money for a real amp at the time). This sound was ok, but lacked power. I finally purchased a Mark Levinson 23.5 amp and biwired it. Wow, I don't think you really know the potential of this speaker until you hook it up to some serious electronics! Besides being extremely neutral, I don't think there are many speakers out there that has the dynamics this one does. This is helpful since I also run a video system with my main audio system. I use the NHT 2.5 for rears and NHT Audio Center 2 for the center. What an incredible combination? I got my speaker for 2300.00 (demo with minor scratches). It would be tough to blow away a versatile speaker like this for that price. If someone has an opinion please email me.

Similar Products Used:

NHT 2.5 and NHT Audio Center 2

Sound fantastic in all respects with good stuff driving them.

Painfully revealing of bad stuff upstream.

I'm solidly in the camp of those who've given the 3.3's five
stars here. They've cost me an arm and a leg, tho...trying
to get the gear driving them to be up to their quality.

Presently the system is: Muse 2+, Muse 5, Melos SHA-Gold, and
Conrad Johnson MF2500. The C-J is the most recent addition, and the
reason I'm writing this... The combination of 3.3's and MF2500
is out of this world. If, there ever was an amp designed
to work with these speakers, this is it. Gone are the high
frequency nasties; the imaging is beyond words; the bass is
excellent and the mids and highs so so fine.

Previous amp was Aragon 8008ST. If you are an NHT 3.3 fanatic
you owe it to yourself to hear them with the C-J MF2500!

owned 3.3. great rock speaker. to bright for my tastes. have a friend who loves them. closed in, bright and irrateting to me, but i can understand why people would like them.

These NHT 3.3s are an amazing pair of speakers. I am currently driving them with a Sunfire Cinema Grand and they sound awesome. I am using bi-amping the
3.3s so they are getting 400watts+ per speaker. I also have a VS-2 as a
center channel, and is driven using my sole remaining channel on the sunfire.

I have a Carver 705x driving a pair of VT1's in the rear. A M&K MX-125 MKII sub completes my system. I can't say enough good things about this setup. A great setup for AC-3/DTS home theater use, and good enough for music.

Now back to the 3.3s. With the proper recordings these speakers put up an impressive soundstage. On older recordings, the soundstage is confined to the
area between the speakers, much like headphones. But this just goes to show that the 3.3s how nuetral the 3.3s are. All in all I've got to give them a 5!