Amazing vocals, clear and natural sounding, great for jazz and easy listening music

No bass at all, could be more dynamic for home theatre

Superzeros once were the center and mains in my home theater system, I purchased them in 1995. They were powered by an entry level Yamaha Dolby Pro-logic receiver.
I had a DCM subwoofer, two cheapo KLH speakers for the rears, and a Denon CD shanger.

The NHTs were a supervalue (no pun intended).

I had tried several affordable audiophile and near audiophile quality speakers before I finally settled on the Superzeros. I had read about them and drove several hours in rush hour LA traffic two hear them.

The store even allowed me to hook up the Boston Acousic HD series speakers (speakers that I had thought sounded great) and compare directly to the Superzeros.

The Boston Acoustics (which were mid sized floor standing speakers) blew the Superzeros away on bass. But the vocals on the Superzeros were amazing. I had initially settled on the HD series because they were so natural sounding. But after hearing vocals on the Superzeros I realized that their was a "hole" in the sound of the Boston Acoustics that the Superzeros filled. True, they lacked bass, but all a subwoofer would take care of that, it couldn't replace the "hole" in the midrange that the NHTs filled.

I added a DCM suboofer to my system and was happy for years with the setup. My only complaint being that the Superzeros weren't very dynamic when it came to home theatre, but when it came to music especially jazz, easy listening, and soundtracks nothing in their price range even came close.

I would go to audiphile stores and listen to speakers costing several hundreds of dollars more than the Superzeros, be amazed that they didn't really sound much better than my Superzeros, sometimes they didn't sound as good!

I eventually replaced all the speakers in my system with Optimus LX-5s all the way around when one of my NHTs blew while playing them too loud too a cheaply dubbed rap CD.

Don't laugh the LX-5s are great speakers, and I only paid 40.00 bucks apiece for them (I just posted a review on the LX-5s if you want more details) However they aren't as good as the Supezeros, especially when it comes to vocals.

I am in the military and have been stationed in Korea for the last month. I am waiting for my subwoofer and two working NHTs to arrive in country. I have a Denon AVR-1800 on layaway and I plan to use the working NHTs as the mains in a Dobly Digital home theatre. I will eventually have Superzeros all the way around.

I will keep you posted.

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Optimus LX-5 speakers

Treble and mid range quality at an affordable price point. Breathtaking imaging and reproduction of small groups of acoutic instruments, voice and small jazz groups.

Requires a subwoofer. Makes poorly recorded material painful to listen to. Can sound overwhelmed by complex, many voiced music.

Late last year I got interested in Home Theatre. It had been years since I had paid any attention to home audio stuff. The vast quantity and for the most part quality of what was available was staggering, but I read everything I could find on the Net and discovered that the guys who sell this stuff are generally friendly and helpful.
I decided to get separate components, because the prepackaged HT setups didn't sound very good to me on most music.
I liked what I heard about NHT especially on this site so I auditioned SuperOnes but decided on the SuperZero's because it was obvious I would need a sub either way and the SuperZero's were a bit more honest sounding. I had planned to use my old Bose 301's as my surrounds but they sounded so localized that I quickly replaced them with Polk fx/300i's. I got the Denon AVR-1601 AV receiver because I thought it would be powerful enough and it has a great feature set for the price point. The only real glaring mistake I made was in getting a Polk sub (PSW-250),it stands out like a sore thumb in this company.
I love the the NHT front section and the Polk surrounds. Some music sounds better on 5 channel stereo and some things sound best on stereo. Crappy mixes are helped by all the diaphragms while the the quieter small ensemble stuff is really dramatic w/ the SuperZero's and the sub. Particularly for HT, this system needs a much better sub but maybe my neighbors wouldn't agree.
I just read somewhere that NHT is discontinuing the SuperZero - get yours while they last.
I just think its cool that such a a high quality sound comes out of such a small, relatively inexpensive speaker.

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Bose 301, Advent bookshelf speakers, AR bookshelf, auditioned Jamo, Polk & Energy HT setups.

Recently I upgraded my beloved Superzeros with North Creek Music crossover curcuitry. I had no trouble installing the kit, and was a minor expense($80). After an initial break in period, everything they claim at their website happened.I'm not talking a subtle change, but a tremendous improvement. I do not possess the lingo to properly describe the changes in audiophile terms, but I can confidently say that you will hear details you never heard before. High end smoothed out,upper bass tightened,and an already wonderful midrange became more detailed. I am truely amazed at how much better they sound.Do yourself a big favor and visit www.northcreekmusic.com and check them out. I have little soldering experience, but had no problems. As they say at their website, your Superzeros will become Super"duper"zeros, and they are right on the money!

accurate and musical, magnetically shielded, slim profile

no bass, low efficiency/sensitivity

The speakers are great in a small space with a subwoofer. They are as accurate and detailed as a $200 speaker could be and fairly musical. Imaging is decent. Spouse friendly and can be placed right up against a TV.

Obvious limitations: they do not play loudly and have no bass.

Ditto

Ditto

There are still five repeated reviews from Musicman and two from Gene to beat...this will lead one review from each one (after all, I respect another's opinion).
I had hear a lot of live perfomances, at the National Theater with the National Symphony Orchestra of my country (recognized in other countries) and the National Opera Company. I can not say Super Zeros sound alike, but for its size and price they are very close to a live string quartet or chamber orchestra perfomance in a little space. Of course. a full symphony orchestra will demand bigger and better speakers (and more expensive)with high end amplifiers to sound as real as possible in a big audio room. Vocals sound clear and soloist instruments sound detailed and clear with Super Zeros, and this is much to say about a $240 speakers.

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Ditto

M.A. talks about using tube amp for Zeros. He thinks Onkyos are low current, crappy Japanese receivers. Hello there, M.A.! Zeros are entry level $250~275 speakers. I'm sure Zeros as well as New Ensembles will sound better with Macs. None the less, all being equal, I'm sure New Ensemble will sound better.

As I said before, compare the two side by side. Has Corey and M.A. done that? If not, what's their basis for saying what they say? I compare the two sid by side and compare them to live music performances.

Do the audio equipment reviewers ever listen to live musical performances? When was the last time (if ever) Corey went to a chamber music performance, or an orchestral music performance?

If $275 is all you got, NHT Zero is a good product. But for $125 more, you can get a better product. If you go to ebay, you could get New Ensemble for less than $400.

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An interesting experience: I tested the Super Zeros with my NAD T750 and a VTL 50 w/ch tube amp with a VTL tube preamp. They sounded much better with the VTL. The NAD T750 sounded better with my Boston VR950 than with the Super Zeros but not as natural as the VTL with the Super Zeros. I have an old vintage Fisher X100A tube integrated amp rated at 17 w/ch rms, and connected the Super Zeros to it, not expecting good results because of its low power, but I was surprised how good the Fisher sounded with the Super Zeros, not as loud as the NAD or the VTL but very clear and detailed. If you can get an old vintage tube gear from Fisher (or, maybe, a MacIntosh, Scott or Dynaco), just connect it to the Super Zeros and you will hear something really different.

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See my previous reviews

See my previous reviews

In my first review I asked to remove 12 repeated review from "Musicman", who gave four stars to the Super Zeros, but there are still there...so I supose somebody (if not me) will have to post 12 repeated review of five stars to balance the rating!
I did it, Corey. I connected the Super Zeros to a VTL 50w/ch
tube amplifier and a VTL tube preamplifier (not of my own), and the result was impressive. The speakers sounded very natural; the vocals were clear and had a presence that I have hear only in much more expensive speakers, and the highs sounded detailed without any coloring. I add a VR 500 sub from BA (not of my own, too) and the integration with the Super Zeros was just right, setting the crossover from the sub at 100 hz. This leave me to the conclusion that an average japanese receiver will not work properly with the Super Zeros because they require a lot of current that these kind of receiver can not deliver; in fact, Super Zeros are not very sensitive for a low powered amp. They sound good with my NAD T750 and integrate good with my BA VR 2000 sub, but sound much better with tubes, so I will try to get maybe a Jolida (and will not kick too much my budget)

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See my previous reviews

See my previous reviews

See my previous reviews

In my first review I asked to remove 12 repeated review from "Musicman", who gave four stars to the Super Zeros, but there are still there...so I supose somebody (if not me) will have to post 12 repeated review of five stars to balance the rating!
I did it, Corey. I connected the Super Zeros to a VTL 50w/ch
tube amplifier and a VTL tube preamplifier (not of my own), and the result was impressive. The speakers sounded very natural; the vocals were clear and had a presence that I have hear only in much more expensive speakers, and the highs sounded detailed without any coloring. I add a VR 500 sub from BA (not of my own, too) and the integration with the Super Zeros was just right, setting the crossover from the sub at 100 hz. This leave me to the conclusion that an average japanese receiver will not work properly with the Super Zeros because they require a lot of current that these kind of receiver can not deliver; in fact, Super Zeros are not very sensitive for a low powered amp. They sound good with my NAD T750 and integrate good with my BA VR 2000 sub, but sound much better with tubes, so I will try to get maybe a Jolida (and will not kick too much my budget)

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See my previous reviews