Dual subs - NHT

ViperZ

Looks like Christmas has come early for me... After searching for over a year, I hauled in the 80+lb box into the living room... logo on the box says "Now Hear This!".
I am a happy owner of now two NHT SubTwo subwoofers. Each sub features dual-10" drivers and Carver-designed 500W RMS Class A/B amplifier in a piano-black sealed enclosure. The best thing about all of this is that a single stand-alone NHT sub controller can control TWO subs.
These subs are fast and very musical. The reason why I want to have two? Our living room is very sound "unfriendly" and I cannot do anything to fix it (it's a condo after all).
I will run these subs just for fun against Paradigm PW-2200 v.2 and Velodyne ULD-15, but I am not doing any formal reviews. I haven't been THIS excited about my HT in a loooong time.

zzzz.. Forgot where I bought the spikes/cones for the first SubTwo, so will have to research isolation cones one more time, but that's such a small problem .

http://www.nhthifi.com/current/products/vintage/subtwo.html

rallyshark

Congrats! Sounds like fun! Looks like those have a pretty good frequency response for a sealed sub(that's not the size of a love seat at least). I bet the bass sounds great. I only wish I could use something like that. My crappy **** house won't even allow me to crank my sub up without EVERYTHING rattling, which sucks:(

RuSsMaN

Dude, Ronco that **** and be done with it. You won't find a more musical subwoofer. The 1059 and 1259 drivers are legendary. My old audio friend Charlie Gold had a pair of these with some Focus monitors on top, it really doesn't get much better.

That's one of the few things I kick myself for moving down the road.

Cheers,
Rooster

ViperZ

rallyshark wrote: »

Congrats! Sounds like fun! Looks like those have a pretty good frequency response for a sealed sub(that's not the size of a love seat at least). I bet the bass sounds great. I only wish I could use something like that. My crappy **** house won't even allow me to crank my sub up without EVERYTHING rattling, which sucks:(

Rally, have you tried spiking your subs? I bought cone isolation spikes for the first sub a while ago, and the sub became pretty much completely isolated from the floor - nothing in the room was shaking any more as a result. As a side benefit, the bass response became much more pronounced.

ViperZ

RuSsMaN wrote: »

Dude, Ronco that **** and be done with it. You won't find a more musical subwoofer. The 1059 and 1259 drivers are legendary. My old audio friend Charlie Gold had a pair of these with some Focus monitors on top, it really doesn't get much better.

That's one of the few things I kick myself for moving down the road.

Cheers,
Rooster

Russ, what is Ronco? I am always open to suggestions on how to improve.

I also never heard Focus monitors. Would these be better than say NHT 1.1? I had an idea to upgrade everything to NHT from the SubTwo times, but don't want giant towers like 2.9 or 3.3.

I really like how neutral the NHT speakers are, there is pretty much no coloration to the sound, and I love the piano black .

dorokusai

Nice subwoofers!

Ronco = "Set it...and forget it!!!"

rallyshark

ViperZ wrote: »

Rally, have you tried spiking your subs? I bought cone isolation spikes for the first sub a while ago, and the sub became pretty much completely isolated from the floor - nothing in the room was shaking any more as a result. As a side benefit, the bass response became much more pronounced.

I'll have to check that out! I would love an improvement in that area. What kind would you suggest and where could I get them?

ViperZ

I lost the contact info for the guy from whom I bought mine, but they were simple brushed metal cones, ~1" high and 1" in diameter.

I am looking for another set for the 2nd sub and dug out these:

http://www.amazon.com/Dayton-ISO-4C-Black-Chrome-Isolation/dp/B0002KR1Q4/ref=pd_bxgy_e_img_b

http://www.dedicatedaudio.com/inc/sdetail/2973

I might get a couple of sets of "dedicated audio" ones. I really like the idea of thick padding, so I won't damage/make the imprints in the piano black finish.

unc2701

Nice! Played with some 1259's while back... cross them LOW.

Seem to remember a really cool TL design for that driver- now I'm going to have to go find it again...

ViperZ

unc2701 wrote: »

Nice! Played with some 1259's while back... cross them LOW.

Seem to remember a really cool TL design for that driver- now I'm going to have to go find it again...

I am having a slight "problem" with current crossover design. According to the spec, Master Audio soundtracks have frequencies up to 120Hz in their .1 (subwoofer) channel soundtrack, so by crossing over at 80Hz (where I usually do it) I'd lose that little teeny bit of info (on subwoofer track, between 80 and 120Hz)... Right now I have NHT low-crossover disabled and let Audyssey in the receiver pick the crossover point (which it set at 120). The subs don't sound overstressed, but it just doesn't feel right... I don't have that warm fuzzy feeling

unc2701

Onkyo bass managment has always given me headaches... Especially on dual duty: music& movies.

ViperZ

unc2701 wrote: »

Onkyo bass managment has always given me headaches... Especially on dual duty: music& movies.

It might sound like a waste, but these subs are mostly used for HT (really, equalize bass response in the room). It's about 90/10 for movies/music split.

For music, I almost always use my 2.1 system: Dual 1228 -> CambridgeAudio Azur 640P -> Carver C-1 -> Dynaco ST-70 -> Magneplanar MG-II and Velodyne ULD-15.

rallyshark

ViperZ wrote: »

I lost the contact info for the guy from whom I bought mine, but they were simple brushed metal cones, ~1" high and 1" in diameter.

I am looking for another set for the 2nd sub and dug out these:

http://www.amazon.com/Dayton-ISO-4C-Black-Chrome-Isolation/dp/B0002KR1Q4/ref=pd_bxgy_e_img_b

http://www.dedicatedaudio.com/inc/sdetail/2973

I might get a couple of sets of "dedicated audio" ones. I really like the idea of thick padding, so I won't damage/make the imprints in the piano black finish.

Thanks! Good luck with those crossover settings! I picked the in between and set it 100hz, but my gear is no where near the same ball park as yours:o

danz1906

Congrats-Nice Subwoofers!

ViperZ

unc2701 wrote: »

Onkyo bass managment has always given me headaches... Especially on dual duty: music& movies.

Velodyne SMS-1 has arrived and was setup with my dual NHT SubTwo subs... The difference in bass response is VERY noticeable. SMS-1 adjusted a couple of dips in the frequency response. The bass from the system is now more pronounced and smoooooth. :eek:

buccidiego

Does anybody have a recommendation on whether to get one Polk PSW505 as my Sub or go to the Klipsch Synergy 12 as the Sub for my HT?

My other speakers are:
- RTi12 Front
- CSi5 Center
- RTi8 Rear
- FXi5 Sides

Any thoughts? Thank you in advance folks!

ViperZ

buccidiego wrote: »

Does anybody have a recommendation on whether to get one Polk PSW505 as my Sub or go to the Klipsch Synergy 12 as the Sub for my HT?

My other speakers are:
- RTi12 Front
- CSi5 Center
- RTi8 Rear
- FXi5 Sides

Any thoughts? Thank you in advance folks!

Cannot speak for PSW505, but I once had KSW-12 synergy... Horrible sub, it was more boomy than JBL PB12. The only subs worth looking at from Klipsch line-up are reference series (RSW).

Ern Dog

Viperz- Just for kicks have you heard what it sounds like using the dual NHT subs in place of the Velo for your 2 channel rig? How did it compare?

ViperZ

Ern Dog wrote: »

Viperz- Just for kicks have you heard what it sounds like using the dual NHT subs in place of the Velo for your 2 channel rig? How did it compare?

Sorry, unfortunately, I do not have an opportunity to run them head to head. Velo ULD-15 is at my parents' place, as well as the entire 2-ch rig, and HT is at my condo.
I had to buy a Paradigm subwoofer controller to adjust the upper limit on the Velodyne (it was too boomy going over ~100-110Hz). As soon as I put that controller in place, Velodyne started to sound very sweet. The 15-incher sealed sub with 400 (or 450?) watts amp goes really deep with no distortion whatsoever.
NHTs in my HT are more "lively" should I say, but it's expected (4 10" drivers in sealed enclosures). SMS-1 showed pretty much flat response down to almost 15 Hz :rolleyes:. (my main problem with dips was around 80-85 Hz).

Radridd

unc2701 wrote: »

Onkyo bass managment has always given me headaches... Especially on dual duty: music& movies.

I know what you mean. When I get everything set for music to sound great Movies are over the top.

ViperZ

Radridd wrote: »

I know what you mean. When I get everything set for music to sound great Movies are over the top.

Hahaha, completely agree with you guys on this, but SMS-1 pretty much fixed this problem for me. Given that SMS-1 can control the level of the bass via remote, and that I tuned the system to the movies, I still take the bass level down 2 notches on SMS-1 when I am listening to the music in my HT.

Ern Dog

I used an SMS-1 to integrate a Velo 15" sub and it was valuable.

How would you say NHT subs do for music?

ViperZ

Ern Dog wrote: »

I used an SMS-1 to integrate a Velo 15" sub and it was valuable.

How would you say NHT subs do for music?

My SubTwo subs are definitely on par with ULD-15, except ULD-15 digs slightly deeper. I also compared to Paradigm PSW-2100 v2, Velodyne DLS-5000 and Velodyne DPS-12, and NHT sounded much more musical, but those 3 subs are ported.