These speakers are stunningly attractive and sound amazing! I used to sell these when I worked at a high-end audio store, and they were the speaker of choice for everyone who worked there. All the salesmen owned them and we sold tons of these speakers after customers compared them to our other speakers (including KEF, Monitor Audio, M&K, Boston Acoustics, Bose, Yamaha, and Sony ES). These speakers were made in the glory days of NHT when Ken Kantor owned the company and designed the speakers. They ARE capable of warm, smooth sound if given the right source. The accuracy of the speakers causes them to reflect the quality and characteristics of the source given them rather than muffle everything into a distorted kind of "warmth." If you do choose to biamp these (which I recommend), be sure your receiver or preamp's crossover for the front speakers is set to 130 Hz. The drivers are capable of lower frequencies but the speaker's crossover network only sends frequencies above 130 Hz to the top end of the speaker. I also recommend the NHT SA2 (or SA3) amplifier for driving the woofers if you do biamp the speakers. The SA2 and SA3 are rated to drive both woofers and the bass just does not sound the same with a different subwoofer amp (I have tried).

Must be careful when cleaning the glossy veneer of the cabinet, since it can get very fine scratch marks in it. The foam to the side of the tweeters decays over time (and this affects the sound). NHT no longer sells this foam but Parts Express sells a product that serves as a good replacement.

Ritchie likes them

Very Ugly speakers need a small nuclear plant to power them

They sound INCREDIBLE when set up correctly in the room that is for sure!!!!! I stumbled across these speakers in Amazing shape for a price i refuse to disclose because it is perhaps the best purchase I have made yet to date!!!!!! I also got the NHT SA-3 power amp with the deal along with the NHT VS-2 center and rears. It still to this day is one of the best sounding systems I have heard for all around different music and theater. I think the B&W 802.2 sounded better but my lord price difference and to be honest my amplifier is an older Nakamichi so needs new caps tried the Accuton amplifier my friend allowed me to audition and i really wish I could have A/B'd the B&W's vs. NHT VT-2 on that because the NHT sounded EPIC!!!!!!!!!!! No FLAWS and to be honest not sure why these speakers sound so Incredibly amazing(WHEN SET UP RIGHT) major key in Parenthesis ...just letting you know even a coffee table in the room can screw up the capabilities of these speakers.. I AM BLOWN AWAY AND I WILL NEVER EVER SELL THEM PERIOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Takes some time to set them up in the room perfectly....Once you get it set up correctly.....Be prepared to be AMAZED!!!!

Can anyone tell me what's wrong with the pair I purchased? I have an B&K 2220 power amp DBX EQ, B&K preamp that makes my AR9 speakers sound great, but when I connect these NHT speakers and put them in audio mode it's like my highs just disappear and when I switch it back to video mode the highs come back to life, no matter what kind of adjustments I make with the EQ in audio mode the sound is so muffled like someone trying to talk with someone hand over their mouth, can anyone give me an idea why this is happing?

These speakers are just amazing, I bought one pair for me and another one for a friend at 400$. I am using a bluesound node 2 with tidal/spotify in hi fi as source. I have a Cambridge Audio Azure 550 (60W) amplifier and a Gemtune GS01 class-A tube amplifier with tungsol valves (10 real W per channel). With both amps the sound is amazing. Bass is extraordinary. If you are not getting good sound, you have an issue with either the place, the placement, the amplifier or the source. I have also tried the vt 1.2, and the 1.3. They have less bass but the sound is equally delicate.
They make a terrific combination with the tube amplifier, it feels you have the musicians playing at home. Strongly recommend.

OKAY FOLKS!!!!!! I'd like to clear this up RIGHT NOW!!!!!! These speakers HAVE TO BE HOOKED UP AND PLACED CORRECTLY....WITH THE RIGHT QUALITY CLEAN AMPLIFICATION AND SIGNAL FROM THE SOURCE. This is not rocket science to those of us that have gone through the set up process a few 100 times. I think we can all agree that once set up properly with the right gear it is WELL WORTH IT!!!!!!!! PERIOD!!!!! Can't stress it enough especially with these speakers, and it is for a DANG GOOD REASON mind you (just sayin). I have these ran perhaps a way that you wouldn't but due to the loss of alot of money and ALOT of HIGHEND gear i've had in the past i came across these AT THE UBER PRICE DEAL OF HOLY GRAIL OF DEALS with the NHT SA-3 AMPLIFIER AND SOME OLDER NAKAMICHI GEAR INCLUDING THE NAK AV-2 WHICH IS NOTHING SPECIAL BUT IT DOES OKAY ON THE UPPEREND OF THESE SPEAKERS AS I HAVE IT BIAMPED (THE WAY THESE NEED TO BE RUN BY THE WAY) AND I HAVE THE NAK AV-2 RUNNING THE UPPEREND RUNNING QUENTESSA SPEAKER WIRE THAT CAME WITH MY PURCHASE AND SOME AUDIOQUEST DIAMONDBACK SERIES RCA CABLES AND INTERCONNECTS. NOW MIND YOU I AM TOTALLY UNDERPOWERING THESE SPEAKERS WITH JUST THE NAKAMICHI AV-2 RUNNING 6 OHMS ON THE UPPER HIGHS AND MIDS AND THE NHT SA-3 MONOBLOCK AMPLIFIER BIAMPED AND DROPPED THE OHM LOADS BY POWERING BOTH OF THE SUBWOOFERS USING THIS SINGLE CHANNEL MONOBLOCK AMPLIFIER THE NHT SA-3 (WIRED IN PARALLEL RUNNING BOTH SUBS SO THE NHT SA-3 IS RUNNING BOTH SUBS ON 1 MONO CHANNEL AMPLIFER RUNNING BOTH SUBS IN PARALLEL DROPPING THE OHMS ON THE AMPLIFIER DOWN TO AROUND 3 OHMS THUS PUTTING OUT RIGHT AROUND 500 WATTS TO THE 2 , 1O INCH BUILT IN SUBWOOFERS ON THE NHT VT-2 SPEAKERS AND THE NAK AV-2 POWERING THE HIGHS AND MIDS ONLY......SO IT IS BIAMPED BUT ALSO DROPPED THE OHM LOADS ON THE NHT SA-3 MONBLOCK TO GET MORE POWER OUT AND THIS WILL ALL MAKE SENSE IN A MINUTE WHEN I EXPLAIN WHY IT IS SO EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO BIAMP THESE SPEAKERS WITH LOTS OF CLEAN...QUALITY...GOOD POWER!!!!!!! i KEEP BLOWING THE T4A SLOW BLOWING GLASS FUSES IN THE NHT SA-3 HOOKING THIS UP THE WAY IT IS AND IT GETS HOT BUT....I WILL SAY THIS AND THIS SHOULD BE WRITTEN IN GOLD ACROSS THE CLOUDS FOLKS.....THESE SPEAKERS SOUND ABSOLUTELY ABSOLUTELY AMAZING WITH ALOT OF GOOD QUALITY POWER AND BIAMPED AND PLACED CORRECTLY IN YOUR HOME(THEN THEY ARE SET FOR LIFE) I AM NOT GOING TO SPICE IT UP I WANT YOU TO AUDITION IT FOR YOURSELF BECAUSE I THINK THESE ARE TRULY ABSOLUTELY AMAZING SPEAKERS FOR THE MONEY AND EVEN IF MONEY IS NO OBJECT....IF THESE ARE SET UP WITH ALOT OF GOOD CLEAN BIAMPED POWER ON ALL DRIVERS INCLUDING HIGHS, MIDS AND SUBS ALL I CAN SAY IS PREPARE TO BE AMAZED AND FOR THE IDIOTS THAT SAY THESE SPEAKERS HAVE NO BASS....PFFFTTTT I DONT THINK YOU DESERVE THESE SPEAKERS AT ALL BECAUSE YOU DONT HAVE THE GEAR NOR THE KNOWLEDGE ON HOW TO OR WHAT GEAR TO HOOK THESE UP WITH BECAUSE IF I CAN DO WHAT I ACCOMPLISHED WITH THESE SPEAKERS AND THIS B-C GRADE AMPS AND SIGNAL GEAR (Nakamichi mind you) then you need to read this review over again and please feel free to contact me for any questions, answers, help, or if you just want to shoot the POO and talk highend gear home or car or home theater gear because I LOVE IT!!!!! NOW IV'E HAD INFINITY KAPPA 9'S I MODIFIED INTO A SERVO SUBWOOFER CONFIGURATION WITH A 600 WATT MOSCODE TUBE AMP BIAMPED TO THE EMIT''S SEMIT'S EMIM'S AND THE POLYGRAPH DOMES MODIFIED THE ENTIRE CROSS OVER NETWORK WITH SOLEN POLYCAPS AND SOLEN HAND WOUND AIRCHOKE COILS AND A MODIFIED HAFLER MONOBLOCK ON THE LOWEND.......THESE NHT SPEAKERS ARE GREAT IS WHAT I'M TRYING TO POINT OUT THAT YES I DO KNOW HIGHEND I HAD A VPI TURNTABLE WITH AN SME V ARM AND A SHURE ULTRA 500 CARTRIDGE NAKAMICHI CR-7A CASETTE DECK, SPECTRAL PREAMP AND A MADRIGAL PROCEED CD PLAYER.... CONNECTED BY ALL TRANSPARENT CABLE, CONNECTIONS AND WIRE. Helps the 5th and 6th sense listening to orgasmc mind and spine tingling experiences =) WHEN I SAY SAY THESE SPEAKERS SOUND INCREDIBLE...AGAIN... SET UP PROPERLY WITH THE RIGHT AMPLIFICATION AND SIGNAL THESE ARE EXTREMELY UNDERATED AND NOT ONLY DESERVE TO BE RECOGNIZED AS HIGHEND BUT SHOULD BE EXPERIENCED PROPERLY BY EVERYONE ESPECIALLY THE PEOPLE THAT ARE LUCKY ENOUGH TO ACTUALLY OWN A PAIR OF THESE SPEAKERS NEEDS TO READ THIS AND HOOK THESE SPEAKERS UP CORRECTLY THEN PLEASE COME BACK AND WRITE A REVIEW. I WAS IGNORANT ONCE TOO AND DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF DOING THINGS THE RIGHT WAY ESPECIALLY HOOKING THESE SPEAKERS UP CORRECTLY TO THE RIGHT HIGH POWER GOOD QUALITY CLEAN GEAR THE RIGHT WAY..... ONCE YOU AUDITION THIS AND EXPERIENCE WHAT I HAVE TOOK ALOT OF TIME OUT TO DESCRIBE TO YOU ALL IN THOROUGH DETAIL 9FOR A REASON MIND YOU) THEN YOU WILL ALL UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT AND YES YOU CAN ALL THANK ME LATER AFTER YOUR EXPERIENCE DOING WHAT I HAVE SO THOROUGHLY DESCRIBED FOR YOU ALL BECAUSE IT IS REALY THAT IMPORTANT.... JUST WHEN YOU THINK YOU HAVE TO MUCH CLEAN POWER FOR THESE SPEAKERS ADD A LARGER BETTER AMP THEN PREPARE TO BE AMAZED AL OVER AGAIN TRUST ME!!!!!!!!! I PROMISE YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT.... Call me Jason 316-213-0995 Let's talk Audio

I CURRENTLY HAVE THE NHT SPEAKERS AND NAKAMICHI GEARS SET UP FOR AUDITION IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN HEARING THIS EXPERIENCE. THEY ARE ALSO UP FOR SALE IF INTERESTED.

I have many NHT speakers, Super ones, Classic Fours, Super Two, 2.5i & VT-1a, as well as several center channels. Other speakers I own are Infinity Quantum 3 & 5, AR3a, B&W DM7MK2.

I picked up these NHT VT-2 Speakers on Craigslist for 300$ in good condition. I was put off by their large size at first, they are easily bigger than the Classic Fours despite having the same size sub driver (10"). I checked to make sure all the driver produced sound and that none of the coils were rubbing on the mids and woofers before buying them and taking them home. Wile getting them home I noticed that something was knocking around in one of the cabinets so before I listened to them I disassembled them (I repair speakers as a hobby so this is normal even for non rattling speakers sometimes). After getting them apart I found that the glue that held the ports for the sub in place had become dry and separated in both cabinets allowing the port tube to fall into the cabinet in one of them, and become loose on the other. This was a very easy repair and I considered myself lucky that a used speaker of the is age had a problem this minor. The Drivers and components in these speakers were very average in appearance (unimpressive). Normal stamped steel baskets and ferrite magnets of normal size. The mid drivers are shielded. The hi freq driver is the ubiquitous Super Series 1" Dome. The crossovers used a combination of air and iron core inductors and electrolytic caps. I repaired the port tubes and reassembled them.

This is when the magic happened, and the reason for my 5 Star review. When I hooked them up to my equipment and began playing music through them I was presented with as sound I will try to describe for you in words(if that's possible). Detailed yet smooth. Neutral & musical. The low end was subtle yet present with no "boomy ported speaker" qualities. I could instantly tell that these speakers imaged (placed sounds in a 3D space) as well as any but the most high end speakers I have had the pleasure of hearing. In spite of having a some what high crossover point on a side firing 10" driver, the low mids were tight and natural (I test this illusive quality with Jaco Pastorius). These speakers will play loud. I don't normally listen at high levels but these speakers made me want to. With my equipment they are not harsh at all but the highest volume levels. The low range extension is quite good and they come across as true full rangers. They don't need a sub.

I realized at this point I had a speaker that was worth some time and work. I pulled them apart a second time and had a closer look at the crossovers. There is a lot going on here because the mid and high freq drivers have two modes selectable by a switch on the front of the speakers Audio mode (lower crossover points and higher order slopes) and Video mode (higher crossover points with lower order slopes). The manual says the image is smeared in video mode to allow the move screen to be used to pinpoint sound location instead of audio. I concurred that in video mode the magical imaging did indeed vanish. My primary interest is music so I replaced only the components in the audio circuit. I used Mills resistors and 1% poly caps throughout(exceptions are the high value caps in the sub circuit where I used electrolytic and a high value cap in the mid circuit where a 5% poly was used) and then reassembled.

I have had these speakers in my main system for over a year now and love them. This is a speaker where the the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. I still don't know why these speakers sound so good, but they just do. With all kinds of music they continue to be neutral and faithful to the marital wile at the same time having a sound their own.

I will say these benefit from bi-amping and that is how I run them. At low levels the bass can be a bit low in the mix and bi-amping helps tune this to room and preference.

I enjoyed these so much I contacted NHT and asked them about the speakers. Their response is quoted below.

From the NHT FaceBook page-----> "The dual midrange drivers were used because we wanted the speakers to be able to deal with explosions and loud movie soundtracks information with low-low distortion. A common large molded faceplate was designed to hold the dual 5.25" mids and 1" tweeter (same tweeter as SuperZero, SuperOne, Model 2.1) as close as possible (in the midrange cleavage) to be a point source as possible. This allowed us to get the tweeter about 1/2" closer. We use the spike kit from the 2.5.

A good story about the VT-2 was when we introduced it at CES we set up a home theater vignette in the Saraha bi-level complex in one of the rooms and borrowed a Pioneer Elite big screen to put between it . We brought in a nice coffee table, couch, etc to make it homey. I think we used some nice electronics from Acurus. When we fired it up it sounded like crap. We check phase, calibrated the system, moved the speaker, on and on and couldn't get it to sound good. The engineers pulled out the crossovers, etc and we were getting close to show time and it still sounded bad. Finally Ken Kantor suggested we remove the coffee table and whammo - the system killed as we expected it would. The problem was reflections from the coffee table both directly from the speaker and from the room ceiling was smearing the speakers response and image something terrible. We ended up putting the table back and covering it with a bunch of magazines haphazardly spread on it top to randomize the reflection. We sold several thousand models of the VT-2 and they almost never fail... Most are probably still in service..."

detail and imaging great bass (when bi-amping) looks vocals are amazing!

soundstage could be more defined Love Power--I recommend atleast 180 watts. if you don't bi-amp, don't buy! placement can be tricky because of large size

I managed to strike the motherload with a local classified ad awhile ago. i got a pair of nht 2.5is, a pair of vt-2s, a yamaha receiver, and an nht center for $450--(an the invoice so no they did not fall off the truck ;) i listened to the vt-2s and the 2.5is, however right now i am away at college and the poor dorm room properties led it near impossible for me to decide which was better. however, i had the choice made for me when i was offered a trade of a sony crt projector for my 2.5is--so the vt-2s it was! (p.s. yes i know i am crazy to have a pair of nht vt-2 tower speakers and a crt projector in a dorm room) it is hard to use words to describe these speakers, i have listened to many systems and $5k+ speakers. however there is something about the vocals of these speakers; they appear literal. putting on the beatles let it be “the long and winding road” is simply jaw dropping in it the imaging. the soundstage is defined, however i feel that it is not as wide as the polk rta 11ts i had before (thought these sound much better then the polks) during the end of american pie, i have experienced the soundstage extend so much past the right and left channels that it makes your hair stand on end, however i did not experience it with the nhts. overall however if anything one word can describe the vt-2: detail. caveat: to enjoy these speakers you must bi-amp!!! if you do not bi amp them you are wasting your money. the crossover is only 100hz, so the bass does not need a great amp to do the job, but it does need a separate amp. i use an old pioneer integrated amp to do the job, and it works very well. bass: bass is very nice when bi-amping, however it is not lfe quality bass. despite nhts claim that bi-amping the speakers will allow it to serve as a powered sub, it still does not do justice to lfe in movies. this is somewhat strange, as it is dual 10” ported subs—it should be able to do it, but i still prefer my sub for movies. also the side firing sub and rear porting make placement a big deal with these speakers, it is especially hard with the fact that these speakers are almost 5 feet tall and 80 pounds each. putting them near the wall results in a very noticeable bass distortion. nht recommends using the floor spikes to improve bass performance, however i do not have them—i will update this review when i can find a pair and see if it helps with bass.

Similar Products Used:

polk rta 11t b&w dm14

great!

none

Absolutely the truest sound (to me) I have heard. The vt-2's are used purely for audio and the speakers are connected to a Rotel. One of the best "affordable" systems I have heard. Don't ruin it with subwoofer unless you want to break the windows.

Full range speaker, look great and are sturdier than monitor speakers on stands. I prefer the soft dome tweeter to the metal dome tweeters of the newer generation.

maybe size if you don't have a decent size listening room, as you can't put them right against a wall (back, left or right). Do need a fair amount of power, or bi-amped for best results.

I've been listening to these for several years now, and decided to finally write a review. Actually what has prompted me to write this review is that I have just recently bi-amped these with the NHT SA-2 amp. I've always been happy with the quality of the sound from these, and they match very well with the VS-2a which I use for front and surrounds, but if there was one area for complaint, it was that I needed to increase the volume significantly to get much bass response. Not that the bass wasn't good at lower levels, it just didn't match what I got when I had a powered sub. I figured that this was probably due to the power in my receiver. Its not a lightweight by receiver standards (yamaha avr-2095, 100wpc), but everything I've heard from people that reviewed these speakers said that 100 watts was a minimum requirement. I was considering either upgrading my receiver, buying a seperate 5-channel amp, or bi-amping the woofers with a 2-channel amp. I chose the latter, and I can say I'm quite pleased. With the SA-2 I have more control over the bass output (crossover, phase switch, volume comtrol) and has freed up my receiver to only work on the upper and mid-range drivers. The bass output is now whatever I want it to be, and the middle and upper frequencies sound much more detailed as well. I would recommend this upgrade to anyone that owns the VT-2's or other NHT tower speakers. I chose the SA-2 after debating whether to get it or the SA-3 (120 Watts vs. 250), and chose the SA-2 due to the size of my living room (19X18) and the fact that I got a good deal on the SA-2. I'd always been happy with the look and sound of these speakers, but now I'm going back through my cd and dvd collection to hear what I've been missing. If you are not already bi-amping these, or don't have at least 150 watts (real watts, meaning low distortion through the entire frequency range) driving them, then I would suggest trying the SA-2/SA-3 amp, especially if you use these for watching movies, and don't have a powered sub. Gave it 5 stars on the ratings, 'cause if there was something better for the price, I would have bought it.

Similar Products Used:

Listened to PSB, Paradigm, Polk, Klipsch (under-rated speakers in my opinion). Liked PSB for music, Polk for HT based on their value, but NHT for the best mix.