Just drove 3 hours to pick up my unicorn…
daddyjt
Posts: 2,491
"Conservative Libertarians love the country, progressive leftists love the government." - Andrew Wilkow
“Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
“Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Comments
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Pffft.....I could have driven 2 miles to the local Wal-Mart to get moving blankets. Man, some people's kids...
Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
Oh! I know, I know.....
*Raises hand*
Do I win a prize? 😀
Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
You have the most impeccable taste in music.....please allow me to digress....
I know what you have, keep the rest of the forum in suspense....
That doesn't rhyme but roll with it.
It is what it is.
Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
Ever since a lowly little pair of NHT 2.5 speakers blew me away about 10 years ago, I’ve been on the hunt for the flagship 3.3. I’ve been running the 2.9 for the past 6 years or so, and I love them so much I picked up a second pair for parts longevity. Prior to last week, the closest pair of 3.3 I’d seen was Portland, which is a good 12 hours each way. This pair popped in Idaho Falls (3hours each way) last week, and I convinced the seller to pull the ad for a $100 PayPal deposit - I pick them up Saturday for his asking price minus the $100 deposit, or he keeps my $100 if I no show. A bit risky, but I was banking on the good nature of most folks. The speakers were listed for $900, which is a bargain. Most pair that go in CA, IL or NY usually sell for $1,500-$2,000. The same math that works AGAINST me living kinda rural and not seeing great gear for sale all that often also works FOR me, in that the lack of potential buyers tends to drive prices down a bit. Super nice guy - we chatted audio for an hour or so, and he pledged to look me up next time he’s in the SLC area.
They need a little cleaning, and yes he had the stabilizing feet and the grills (in flawless shape), but both were removed for transport.
"Conservative Libertarians love the country, progressive leftists love the government." - Andrew Wilkow
“Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn -
Those are interesting. They certainly have a lot of cabinet volume for the woofers. do the woofers fire toward the center rather than to the sides. I've wondered if my LSi15s would be less placement dependent if their woofers were firing toward the center.Stan
Main 2ch:
Polk LSi15 (DB840 upgrade), Parasound: P/LD-1100, HCA-1000A; Denon: DVD-2910, DRM-800A; Benchmark DAC1, Monster HTS3600-MKII, Grado SR-225i; Technics SL-J2, Parasound PPH-100.
HT:
Marantz SR7010, Polk: RTA11TL (RDO198-1, XO and Damping Upgrades), S4, CS250, PSW110 , Marantz UD5005, Pioneer PL-530, Panasonic TC-P42S60
Other stuff:
Denon: DRA-835R, AVR-888, DCD-660, DRM-700A, DRR-780; Polk: S8, Monitor 5A, 5B, TSi100, RM7, PSW10 (DXi104 upgrade); Pioneer: CT-6R; Onkyo CP-1046F; Ortofon OM5E, Marantz: PM5004, CD5004, CDR-615; Parasound C/PT-600, HCA-800ii, Sony CDP-650ESD, Technics SA 5070, B&W DM601 -
Nice!
I've been rocking a pair of modified NHT SB3's in my office rig for years.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Those are interesting. They certainly have a lot of cabinet volume for the woofers. do the woofers fire toward the center rather than to the sides. I've wondered if my LSi15s would be less placement dependent if their woofers were firing toward the center.
Yes, they fire to the center."Conservative Libertarians love the country, progressive leftists love the government." - Andrew Wilkow
“Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn -
Ah nice! I've always wanted to hear a set of the big boys.
I picked up a pair of the smaller towers for my dad for father's day and they sound excellent, particularly at the used prices!- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit. -
Awesome! I have owned the 2.9 for over 10+ years, amazing speakers. The 3.3 are legendary.
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Congrats.
I've had my NHT 2.5i's whole system for years.
I almost sold the towers a year or two ago but I wanted too much for them.
I love their sound, too. The towers have been on one of my walls for a couple of years now, and I listen to them once in a while. The Triton ones are on speaker A, and the NHTs are on speaker B. What a treat! Believe it or not, the NHTs come close to pleasing just as much as the Triton Ones when switching back and forth. I have to turn the volume up on the NHTs, but when I do, they impress!
I heard some NHTs with the flat fronts in a big pawn shop and they filled that shop for years. They wanted a high price, so they sat there playing a radio station for years. I LOVED their warm crisp sound.
Again,
Congrats on a long wanted fulfilment.
Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them. -
Side note... If you can figure out approximate dimensions I can cut you a felt strip to replace the missing foam strip.
Just send me $5 for shipping- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit. -
Congrats. Would love to hear a pair.Things work out best for those who make the best of the way things work out.-John Wooden
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Very nice! Congratulations!
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Just got them cleaned-up and in place this afternoon. They are not a lot of fun to move around - they are almost 3’ deep, and weigh 125lbs each.
Initial listening was eye-opening to say the least. I expected deeper bass (these have sealed 12” woofers, as opposed to the 2.9 having a sealed 10”), but other than that I wasn’t expecting much of a difference. Wrong. The highs especially have more clarity and better separation between high-hat, crash and ride cymbals, and tambourines and wood blocks are on a whole new level. These are going to be fun…:-)
"Conservative Libertarians love the country, progressive leftists love the government." - Andrew Wilkow
“Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn -
Side note... If you can figure out approximate dimensions I can cut you a felt strip to replace the missing foam strip.
Just send me $5 for shipping
That is very kind of you - thanks!
Back when I got my first pair of 2.9, the rubber diffraction strips were rotted away (a common problem with the speakers). I called the factory in Benicia CA (NE of the Bay Area) and after a few transfers I ended up talking to one of the engineers. I asked him if the strips really were necessary, and he said they are essential to the design, and that the speakers were “worthless” without the strips. Well - “do you have any spares” I ask? “Nope - the material is no longer made”. Chit. BUT he says, “There is a wool/felt weatherstripping that has virtually identical acoustic properties…”. He refers me to McMaster Carr, and I sourced 10’ of the stuff for around $30. I have made about a half dozen pair of the strips for myself and a few other friends that have the NHTs. As it happens, I had one last pair kicking around…:-)
"Conservative Libertarians love the country, progressive leftists love the government." - Andrew Wilkow
“Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn -
Wow
I never seen that one before
It’s very deep of a speaker
Congrats!Magico, JL, Emm, ARC Ref 10 line, ARC Ref 10 phono, VPI, Lyra, Boulder, AQ Wel, SRA Scuttle Rack, Bluesound -
Congrats! Big fan of NHT bookies here--Have pairs of 1.3A, SB1, and SuperZeros here.
Enjoy.Jay
SDA 2BTL * Musical Fidelity A5cr amp * Oppo BDP-93 * Modded Adcom GDA-600 DAC * Rythmik F8 (x2)
Micro Seiki DQ-50 * Hagerman Cornet 2 Phono * A hodgepodge of cabling * Belkin PF60
Preamp rotation: Krell KSL (SCompRacer recapped) * Manley Shrimp * PS Audio 5.0 -
Nice! I read in stereophile that they need to be all the way back against the front wall for the bass to be properly reinforced.George / NJ
Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
Onkyo A-8017 integrated
Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
iFi nano iDSD DAC
iPurifier3
iDefender w/ iPower PS
Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform -
Congrats, glad you're enjoying them.Yamaha RX-A2070, Musical Fidelity M6si integrated amp, Benchmark Dac1, Bluesound NODE 2i, Audiolab 6000CDT CD Transport, Parasound Zphono USB Phono Preamp, Fluance RT85, Ortofon 2M Bronze, Polk L600's, L400, L900's, RC80i's, SVS 3000 Micro, Audioquest Interconnects and Digital Cables, Nordost Silver Shadow Digital Cable, Cullen Gold and Crossover Series Power Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha 12AWG OCC Speaker Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha Analog Interconnect Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha 11 OCC Custom Power Cable, Signal Power Cable, Furman PL-8C 15 Power Conditioner, Sony 65" 900F, Sony UBP-X700, Fios, Apple TV 4K, Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables.
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Gardenstater wrote: »Nice! I read in stereophile that they need to be all the way back against the front wall for the bass to be properly reinforced.
I have seen that direction as well in the manual, and I did try them much closer to the back wall initially. However, pulling them out to their current 8” from the back wall resulted in a much better bass sound - punchier and zero boom or bloat. Against the wall was just a bit too much bass, and I’d rather adjust with speaker positioning that resort to signal modification (tone or equalization)."Conservative Libertarians love the country, progressive leftists love the government." - Andrew Wilkow
“Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn -
I remember a lot of praise for NHT back in the 80s/90s, but somehow, I've never heard a pair. I guess there weren't many dealers in my area because they don't show up used often.
Glad you found a set that makes you happy.
For rig details, see my profile. Nothing here anymore... -
Cool speakers. But what I'm really diggin' is the whiskey collection!SystemLuxman L-590AXII Integrated Amplifier|KEF Reference 1 Loudspeakers|PS Audio Directream Jr|Sansui TU-9900 Tuner|TEAC A-6100 RtR|Nakamichi RX-202 Cassette
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Very nice!
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The mini bottles became a thing on our honeymoon to Vegas 34 years ago because, believe it or not, they are not legal to sell in UT. So we “smuggled” a few back with us, and now it’s a thing whenever we go to Vegas to look for any new ones. I actually need to build a new (bigger) rack for them (maybe a winter project)…
"Conservative Libertarians love the country, progressive leftists love the government." - Andrew Wilkow
“Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn -
I see some nice tequilas in there!"This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
"Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon -
Very nice. Glad you're enjoying them to be a significant improvement.
Are those front baffles angled?
Not enough Gorilla Tape used during transport, imho.I disabled signatures. -
Maybe the bass will improve the more the woofer spiders become more flexible.
I just purchased a set of Infinity RS7s, and there wasn't much bass—odd for an 8" woofer. I left them playing for days (2+), and sure enough, they sound fantastic now. The midranges on the RS7s have a huge surround, but they don't flex much at all, even after much use. Maybe this surround and the spider on these midranges need 100 hours or more. 
Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them. -
Bey, bud....this is just food for thought.
Let the speakers exercise themself, naturally to your system. Let them get used to the new load and break in....
THEN, get back to us with your observations.
I can tell you with complete confidence that my speakers were not, "flexed" before I got them.
Rock on wid'yo'bad self....
Tom
~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
Very nice. Glad you're enjoying them to be a significant improvement.
Are those front baffles angled?
Not enough Gorilla Tape used during transport, imho.
Best inside joke of the month (if you know, you know) 🤣🤣
Yes, front baffles are angled in at about 30 degrees (guess)."Conservative Libertarians love the country, progressive leftists love the government." - Andrew Wilkow
“Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn -
Nice. That's an interesting speaker design, overall.
I disabled signatures.
