NHT 3.3 Floorstanding Speakers

NHT 3.3 Floorstanding Speakers 

DESCRIPTION

Acoustic suspension w/ 12in woofer, 6.5 in. midbass, 4-in mid, 1 in tweeter

USER REVIEWS

Showing 41-50 of 52  
[Feb 26, 2000]
Steve
Audiophile

Strength:

Imaging, Transparency, BASS

Weakness:

Size

The 3.3 speakers are simply the best speaker for the price. At $4500 retail, they easily compete with speakers at least twice their price. There is little comparison between the 2.9 and the 3.3. For the money the NHT 2.9 speakers are great, but don't ever think they represent 80% of the 3.3! The 3.3 are in another league all together - pin-point imaging, fast accurate, deep bass. I am discovering musical information on some of my favorite CD's, just when I thought the 2.9's had revealed it all! The 3.3 is head and tails better than the 2.9 - for those considering the upgrade - don't wait another minute!
Also don't be fooled by the notion that the 3.3 require excessive amounts of power, or extremely high quality components. I have heard them driven by $15,000 tube gear, and $2000 solid state gear, and they are outstanding and revealing in each set-up. They can easily be driven by 150-200 watts, using a decent preamp. Listen to several cables though (speaker and interconnect), Cardas sound natural and accurate, with some Audioquest cables sounding bright.
I have compared the 3.3 with Aerial 7B, and 10T, and Wilson Watt puppies 5.1 - and I purchased the 3.3's. Obviously I can't say enough about these speakers.
The only potential weakness is their size - they are huge! You'll need a decent size room to realy appreciate the accurate and detailed bass, and not feel crowded out of the room. AWESOME!

Associated Equipment
VTL Monoblock 450 amplifiers
VTL 5.5 preamp
Denon DCM560 changer
CAL Alpha DAC
Cardas Cross Interconnects/Speaker

Similar Products Used:

NHT 2.9

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Mar 01, 1999]
GIO
an Audio Enthusiast

JUST PICKED UP MY 3.3'S TWO DAYS AGO. I HAD THE NHT 2.9'S PRIOR (WHICH I LOVED.) THE 3.3'S DELIVER THE GOODS. ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC SPEAKERS. CLASSICAL, JAZZ, HARD ROCK, COUNTRY AND WHAT EVER ELSE YOU WANT TO LISTEN TO, SOUNDS GREAT.
KEEP IN MIND THE SOURCE RECORDING MUST BE OF HIGH QUALITY. THESE SPEAKERS ARE VERY REVEALING AND IF THE SOURCE IS CRAP THAT'S WHAT YOU'LL HEAR. BUT THAT'S WHAT SOUND REPRODUCTION IS ALL ABOUT. IF YOU WANT TO MAKE A BAD RECORDING SOUND BETTER, BUY A MIXING BOARD. PROPER SET UP OF THE 3.3'S MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE AS WELL. TAKE THE TIME TO PLAY WITH THE PLACEMENT. ITS VERY REWARDING. AS A GOOD MANY 3.3 OWNERS HAVE SAID, GOOD EQUIPMENT COUNTS.

MY PRE AMP IS MY WEAK LINK RIGHT NOW, BUT THE SYSTEM STILL SOUNDS DAMN GOOD.

SYSTEM- CALIFORNIA AUDIO LABS CL-5 CD
ROTEL RC-972 (MOVING UP TO A BRYSTON BP-25)PRE AMP
BRYSTON 4B-ST AMP
TRANSPARENT WAVE 200 AND LINK CABLES
NHT 3.3 SPEAKERS.

I'M SURE I'M BIASED NOW BECAUSE I'M A 3.3 OWNER, BUT I OWN THEM CAUSE I LIKE WHAT I HEAR. NO QUESTION ABOUT IT. I GIVE THEM A 5!

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
[Jan 05, 2000]
Mike
Audiophile

Strength:

Incredible Dynamics, Great Bass Extension, Transparent,
VERY accurate musical presentation

Weakness:

Require a lot of amplification

Went to audition the 3.3, Aerial 10T, and B&W N802. 802 sounded terrible. 10T was good but not worth the price. THEN I listened to the 3.3s. WOW!!! How anyone can not like these speakers I have know idea, but I was stunned and just sat there with my lower jaw on the floor. The 3.3s have to be the best value in high-end speakers ever made, sounded as good or better than most speakers 3-4 times their price.

Similar Products Used:

Aerial 10T, Revel Ultima Salon, Wilson WATT Puppy

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 04, 2000]
James C.
Audiophile

Strength:

Clear, natural midrange. Accurate treble response without harshness.

Weakness:

Laid back presentation. Good Expensive amp required to really bring out what they can do. Bi-amp is strongly recommended.

I went to the nearest dealer of NHT (laserland) and decided to listen to the 3.3s. The sound quality was balanced from midbass up. Nice bass, clear and natural and midrange and an accurate, yet soft top end. The overall balance was close to my Sennheiser HD 600s. The speakers are not very sensitive though, they need to be bi-amplified with preferrably expensive monoblocks to really get great sound out of them.

Overall, the speakers will make the overall price of your sound system cost more since you have to buy big expensive amplifiers(Without it, it lacks dynamics therefore it doesn't perform very well). But if you want sound quality close to the Sennhieser 600 headphones and have $$$ to spend for expensive amps then these might be the speakers for you. However if you are on a tight budget, don't even bother auditioning the speakers. Listen to the Sound Dynamics RTS-11. It has excellent midrange, slightly forward treble(still very musical), and can go loud with typical receivers. It costs 1/4 the price of the NHTs and they actually sound better using low powered amplifiers.

Similar Products Used:

B&W Nautilus 802
Martin Logan Monolith
Sound Dynamics RTS-11

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
3
[Nov 02, 1997]
frank e. pronk
an Audio Enthusiast

My 3.3's date back about one year. They are located in a 13.5ft x 21ft home theatre room. Centre and surrounds are NHT VS-2's. The A/V receiver is a YamahaRX-V870 which drives the centre and surround channels. The mains are driven
by a Carver A-760X amplifier. About 50% of the home theatre use is for audio only, mostly classical music. The 3.3's perform as one expects from state of the art equipment, as good as it comes! Sources of less than CD quality are not really compatible with these speakers.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
[Oct 26, 1997]
Jim Bolin
an Audiophile

I just purchased these NHT 3.3's. I have listened to just about everything. I'll have to say that I haven't heard anything better yet, especially for the money!

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
[Sep 17, 1997]
Tod DeBie
an Audio Enthusiast

I have been living with these speakers now for about two years. I thought they were excellent when I bought them. I still think they are excellent! They have excellent clarity, solid bass, just right highs. They deal with very high output without problem.
The downsides are 1) expense, 2) weight: 125lbs each, 3) size: big, 4) not many options for room placement, and 5) negative wife factor.

In all, quite excellent.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
[Oct 18, 2000]
Jack Hidley
Audiophile

Strength:

Excellent bass output and full range dynamics. Very cool looking.

Weakness:

Not super efficient. VERY sensitive to the rigidity of the wall behind them. A total pain to move around.

I have owned these speakers for about 8 years now. And before this, I listened to a pair for a year while we were designing them (I used to work for NHT). As I was one of three people involved in the design of them, this review is more for the help of other users.

1) If the rear wall behind these speakers is not rigid, don't bother buying them. The speakers must be placed within 2" of the rear wall. Some people comment that the speaker sounds bright and sibilant. This has nothing to do with the midrange, upper midrange, lower treble, mid treble or ultrasonic response! It is simply the lack of output between 80Hz and 150Hz if the speaker doesn't have a solid rigid boundary directly behind it.

2) The speakers awesome imaging has a lot to do with the fact that the left and right speakers are matched to deviate from each other less than 0.3dB. This is also one of the reasons that placement is very critical. If the impulse response between the left and right channels isn't exactly the same because of differences in placement, you can hear it with this speaker. It is also why people don't seem to like the imaging of the 2.9 as much. The 2.9 goes through regular QC processes.

3) The speakers DO NOT BREAK IN. The changes that go on in a loudspeaker during it's first hours of operation are miniscule. When you hook up the speakers for the first time, YOUR HEARING IS ADJUSTING TO THE SPEAKERS. There is one exception though. If the speaker has been stored at a temperature of less than 50 degrees or so, the ferrofluid in the tweeter will become very thick and effect the tweeters response. This will go away in an hour or two of playing.

After 8 or 9 years with these speakers, I am still very happy with them. When NHT comes out with a 3.3a or i, I may replace them. More than likely, I will just use a product from my current company (Vergence Audio).

I appreciate all of the nice comments.






Similar Products Used:

All other NHT products.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jun 29, 2000]
Tod DeBie
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Excellent clarity and dynamic range. Very balanced. You would be hard pressed to do better for the money

Weakness:

Big, heavy.

Excellent speakers, if you have the space for them.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 41-50 of 52  

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