Neutral Sounding

Woofer not strong

I love these speakers! These speakers allow great sound without getting into high end & high price stuff. They are being "Door Busted" @ Crutchfield for $499.00(Plus Shipping)I am not sure how long they will continue to be available so if you have been looking to get these...Now is the time!

Similar Products Used:

NHT Super One's

Neutral sound, tight bass

Not much--maybe the foam surround (instead of butyl rubber)

As with many NHT products, these reveal the weakness of the components. Mated with a serious amplifier, these babies rock. Wired up with my old Yamaha receiver, they are anal retentive and surly. Match them with some serious muscle and you're in business.You will feel the music in your gut--extremely lifelike bass response. By the way, the ones I have are the intl. model with biwire/biamp capability. For the money, they simply can't be beat.You don't need a bloody subwoofer, unless you like the sound of flatulence (AKA bass reflex port noise; cone distortion; sweatshop-manufactured electronics).

Ancillaries:
NAD 2200 PE (6 dB of headroom, 1.6 KW bridged into 4 ohms; see reviews)
JVC 282BK CD player
AMC 1100 preamp
Homemade Cat 5 speaker wire
Sony TC-K670 3 head 3 motor cassette deck
Tara Prism 11 interconnects

Total cost: less than $1,000

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Other NHTs, PSB stratus mini, Thiel, Polk, Advent, Klipsch La Scala, voice of the theater, many others

Very transparent, one of the best buy for the price. I'll buy NHT for life if they keep coming with good products.

lack of detail and imaging. Ported design, bass not good.

One year ago, I bought Yamaha RX-V395 60W AV-Receiver with NHT Super 2, Super1 for the family room, for both music and HT.

Then after listened to it some time, found:
1. Fatiguing after listen a few hours with the bright, even shrill sound. The high-mid section became so annoying.
2. Lack of bass and treble. The drum and cymbal just don't sound right.
3. I never finished to listen any classic and Jazz CD. Because they don't sound good on this combination.

So I start to dig more online to find what's wrong.
And I found out it's the Yamaha AV 'natural sound' receiver!!!
1. Yamaha cut too much corners without telling you. Their highly claimed Yamaha A-592 stereo amp cost $500 for 2 ch that's designed for music. So what do you expect the music come from a 5 ch amp with all fancy stuff like DD decoder, prologic processer, surround sound processing, video switching and only cost $300? They cut the cost in the power amp. Which is the second most important component besides the speaker.
2. The damping factor is only 60. While their stereo amp are 320.
3. The good low distortion spec they tell you is used to drive 8 Ohm resistor that heat your room. It's not designed for your speaker! The speaker has capacitance and inductance in it, that require much more current than the resistor.

I hate those bad audio company that marketing bad product with misleading spec. They put up those spec that don't reflect the real world performance.

The good power amp: Parasound 855A power amp, <$800.
1. It rated 85w with 5 ch driven. But it's big transformer and 10 big capacitor are several times larger than Yamaha's small transformer and 2 small capacitors.
2. It got 30amp max current rating. Yamaha don't even tell you their amp rating.
3. It got >800 damping factor vs 60. The damping factor indicates the control of the amp over the speaker. The larger number indicates more fidelity.
4. The Parasound use DC coupling, no capacitor and inductor in the signal path, which means very flat freq response.

Now, with the Parasound 855A, the NHT Super 2, Super 1 are sounding just right. Not bright at all. I even feel there is not enough detail. The parasound 855A is very transparent, the ETown, WideScreenReview claims it's a little on the bright side. So I guess Super 2, Super 1 don't have enough detail. And imaging is not precise.

The reviewers are claim NHT 1.5 has better detail and imaging. So I guess I need to upgrade. Plus I don't like the bass of Super 2. I think it's because the ported design, and don't go low enough.

So plan to upgrade to 1.5 w/ Sub Two. The Sub one is ported design, so I'll pass that too. The only thing worries me is because the 1.5 is not video shielded, and I have to put it beside 55" HDTV-Ready CRT based RPTV.

Those people find it bright should definitely get a real power amp. Try Parasound 855A, you won't be disapointed.

This is their budget line. And the 1.5 is their ultimate music line. I don't care much about HT. Because HT really don't require much Hi-Fi sound quality, just sheer power. And with these speaker and good power amp, you can hear a lot of bad mix of movies. So I hope 1.5 and sub Two will be my last speaker to upgrade.

One tip: better buy Super 1 w/ sealed sub than Super 2. Because when I upgrade, I can move Super 1 to bedroom after upgrade. But the Super Two, I don't know where to put it. For a small room and non-critical listening, the Spuer 1 is enough. For a big room and serious, the Super 2 is not good, and too big for casual listening in second rooms.

For the overall, I'll give it 3. There are definitely better speakers. For the value, I'll give it 4. It actually more like 5, but you have to upgrade your power amp, and then upgrade to 1.5. So that's not ultimate value. I'll give it value 5 if it got better detail and imaging. I heard the new Super 1 will have Aluminium tweeter, maybe that'll help.

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Super Two, One.

Neutral sound. Suprising bass for driver size. Small footprint.

a little mid-bass hump. No real gut wrenching bass(not expected though).

It's hard to fault these speakers for the money. I paid $350 new for these - the same price the SuperOnes retail for! These speakers are sleek and quite attractive - not the usual "plain box" that is found in comparable products.

I'm currently using these with a Marantz SR5000 and an old Denon DCM340 and AudioQuest Type IV cables. I would characterize the overall sound as smooth and neutral. I have yet to hear the brightness that some people claim. Soundstage appears a bit small but I suspect positioning and better electronics could improve this.

I was pleasantly surprised by the bass response. It's tight and abundant, though not very deep. On well recorded pop and rock music, kick drums have just the right punch. I had honestly expected to need a sub with these, but they are just fine for most music and minimal home theater without one.

My only real complaints are a slight mid-bass "hump" and a a slightly "laid-back" sound. I compared these extensively to the Mini Monitor and liked the Mini's dynamics a little better, but they sounded too harsh and icy for my taste. I can't wait to try a "real" amp with the SuperTwo's as I suspect they would really shine.

For the money, these are a wonderful value - light years ahead of the heaps of mass-market offerings normally found in the <$500 price range.

Similar Products Used:

SuperOnes, Paradigm Mini Monitors, B&W 601

This isn't really a regular review so much as a warning that this speaker does require a good amount of power to sound its best.

The ones I tested were hooked up to a Yamaha RX395 45w/channel reciever. Also hooked up were a pair of Mordaunt-Short MS25i mini-tower speakers. If you read the reviews, you'll see that the MS25i are neautral, balanced, almost sedate speakers. Compared to the Super2s, though, the MS25i seemed to have a more forward midrange, especially with vocals. I even turned up the volume when switching to the Super2s, to offset the lower efficiency. The Super2s has deeper bass, of course, but I must admit that for vocals & jazz, I much preferred the MS25i's.

I'm not saying the MS25i's are the best or that it's superior to the Super2s. I'm only saying with a moderately powered receiver, the relatively inefficient Super2s (and other NHTs), won't sound its best.

So make sure you listen to the Super2s before you buy them!

(I'll give it a 5-star rating anyway because I don't think it would be fair considering the power source).

Similar Products Used:

Mordaunt-Short MS25i

Clarity, Strong bass, Competitive price for a floor standing speaker, Small footprint, Good video shielding, Appearance (personal taste), American made

Spiked feet, Binding posts are not that sturdy, Build is a little suspect

As was my policy in my Outlaw 1050 review, I will avoid describing my perception of tone. However, I will say that I suspect that my thinking will not change drastically within the coming months. In my opinion -- of the speakers that I auditioned -- these are among the best to fall in this price interval.

Conclusion: I recommend an audition, particularaly if you are in this budget range. ($750/pr and below).

Value Rating ****
Overall ***1/2

(In this instance, I rounded up based on the description of a four star product. The SuperTwo seems like a "high" 3.5. In contrast, I rounded down for the Outlaw 1050, as it seemed a "low" 3.5.)

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I should mention the online reseller. www.discount-n-deals.com Caroline and David Moretto are very nice people. David offered a *very* competitive price. Turnaround was quick. I received the speakers within five days.

One thing: I had to ask for a hardcopy of the transaction. In my opinion, hardcopy proof of purchase is not a luxury; it is critical for customer confidence.

Recommended vendor.

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Auditioned the Monitor Audio Silver 5 and M&K (several models)

great imaging, good sound stage

thin tonality, lacks deep base, some what bloated in uuper bass, matching center sounds a tad chesty on dialogue

The price paid included the center speaker Super 1. If you are looking in this price range, these are a good set. But I preferred the NHT 2.5's by a wide margin over the super two's. The 2.5's can be purchased $900 delivered from mail order outlets which makes them a better choice for both music and HT. Super two, while very good, they sound thin and lack serious bass under 50 Hz. Also, the center speaker is not as seamless as should be. Another words, they do not hold together very well. And you still need a good Sub. And that put it in a higher price bracket. The 2.5's can be used without the sub and they sound much better than super ones. Also you can choose the Center two (or the cheaper Center 1) with 2.5's which is one of the best centers. After two months, I returned them and opted for NHT VT series. Much better speakers but more expensive.

Similar Products Used:

NHT 2.5, 2.9, VT-2

Beautiful highs

Can't handle bass for music or movies on it's own.

I just finished my weekend audtioning a few speakers, Infinity IL40s, Acoutics Research AR9, and NHT SuperTwo. The used my own CD that contained almost all classes of music and soundtracks. These speakers had really nice sound, and played "He Loves Me" by Jill Scott beautifully! The only thing that I did not like about these speakers was it's lack of bass. These are not really meant to handle bass on it's own. I could not hear the bass from Jay-Z's "Hard Knock Life" or from Faye Wong's "Xiang Ni Er". But overall, these speakers produce nice sound if you're planning on using a sub to accompany it.

Neutral sound, clear separation of sounds. A very accurate if somewhat unforgiving speaker (If you have a weak link in your setup, these speakers will expose it).

Bass is not that strong.

After a long review process, I finally decided on the Super Two's for two reasons. 1) A high price/perfomance ratio. 2) High WAF (wife acceptance factor) because of the size of the speaker.

None of the speakers that I auditioned could match the clairity and the soundstage of the Two's (at least with my setup).

Similar Products Used:

Infinity, Paradigm, JBL, Sony

Soundstage, definition, bass extension compared to other floorstanding speakers in the same size range

Watts eater, efficency

My opinion on the Supertwos is based on listening with the following materiel: TEAC VRDS25X, REGA Elicit, modulation cable Audioquest Hyperlitz and speaker cable MIT Terminator 2 Bi-Wire. But let's begin: i first want to make you notice the Supertwos are sold in France almost twice the US price and they are still competitive. My intentions were clear, i was looking for a tower speaker, $1000 price range, bi-wiring possible and matching with REGA Elicit and Terminator Two Bi-wire speaker cable.
With this in mind, i compared essentially the NHT Supertwo and the Proac Studio 125 (sold $1000 in France, $2000 in the US). I have to admit the Proac had a delicious medium style, making voices sweet and natural but with some bass excess (you finally hear it all the time) that couldn't fit my "small" listening room. I was also afraid of the same type of "lovely medium" on all types of records.
The Supertwos were clearer and first i preferred the Proac. I brought my discs (Rachelle Ferrer, Dire Straits, Diana Krall, Lenny Kravitz, Ivo Pogorelitch, Joe Satriani,Supertramp, etc...) and tried little by little to deeply analyze the Supertwos and the Proac Studio125.
First: if you can't take the Proacs away from the rear wall (at least 6 feet) forget about taking them home.
If your flour is carpet, forget about real bass extension with the NHTs.
I wasn't confident anyway on the Supertwos. My technical background on Electronics and Acoustics made me see less neutrality on NHT cabinet compared to the Proac, less confidence on the Medium driver suspension (they last less and turn into dust) and the way the drivers were attached to the cabinet, directly screwed in the MDF while others like Proac for instance or JmLab-Focal would install proper screw-holding, avoiding screws to fooly turn in the cabinet.
I also found the medium driver using old technology (paper, metal chassis while quality drivers only use die cast chassis).
Well, in spite of all that, those speakers had a very high quality soundstage level (due to their outstanding phase keeping), a neutrality that makes every single change on records, electronics or cables jump to your ears. I let you imagine the sound quality when everything is appropriate....
But don't believe those speakers are Heaven on Earth. I have listened to JmLab-Focal Utopia or Thiel CS6 with Mark Levison electronics and after such an experience you want to throw away all your material. But below the dream is reality and I'm very pleased with my Supertwo Speakers.
The price difference with better speakers is so high for so little improvement that i'm going to enjoy them for a long while.

Similar Products Used:

Proac Studio 125, Vision Acoustique Eden