NHT 1.5

I worked at an audio shop after graduating. It was a high store that sold to "high-end" people. I've listened to AR 1, Advent, BO, Ohm A's, Band Olufsen, McIntosh, etc.

For the money, the NHT 1.5 (with added bass end) have a spatial glow that equals anything that I've heard.

What you notice first and foremost about these NHT 1.5 speakers is that these speakers express the intricate details of the musical experience. The clean attack of the guitar strings on Eric Clapton's Unplugged, the faint growl in Kurt Elling's falsetto, the milky smoothness of Diana Krall's vibratto...the list goes on.

The 1.5 series serve as the base from which NHT built the rest of the x.5 series. For example the 2.5 is essentially a 1.5 in a floorstanding cabinet with side-firing 8" woofers thrown in to the mix. As such, the 1.5s do not posses powerful low-end bass (the low-end cutoff is at 53Hz. Those listening to low-bass intensive music will not hear everything with these speakers. That being said, the bass that is there is tight and responsive. Listening to the walking bass line and rapid bongo drums on track 4 of Kurt Elling's Live in Chicago , each note and each hit is properly formed, from attack to resolution.

It is well known that lower end equipment, (amps, source, cabling) often introduce noise into a signal. Such was the case when I first purchased my NHTs. I paired these speakers up with an old bottom-of-the line Sony CD player, and a technics amp handed down from my father. These speakers will do no cover-up work for a bad signal, and in fact can become harsh to listen to when paired with such equipment. When I hooked up my new SACD player (Sony DVP-NS500V) the sound came out smooth and delectable, demonstrating that the harshness had not been in the speakers, but in the source. When paired with higher resolution equipment, the transparency and detail afforded by these speakers transforms from an irritant to a god-send. Also worth noting, at an efficiency of 85 db/W, these speakers will require a fair amount of power (at least 65 watts) to sing.

On a non-audio note, these speakers are not video shielded, and as such will gauss your TV screen (the little purple/green distortion on the side and corners). I've found that the speakers must be at least 18" from my trinitron to prevent this effect.

To sum it up, the NHT is an excellent speaker to bring the beginner into audiophilia. It's lack of low-end bass might discourage some, but when paired with high resolution equipment, I would recommend these speakers to anyone with an ear for detail.

NOTE: These speakers were recently discontinued by NHT, in favor of the new SB3 speaker. Because of this, these speakers are available from numerous outlets (onecall.com, hifi.com...) for $275 for the pair. I can honestly assert (and this has been backed up by a couple of my audiophile friends) there is absolutely no finer speaker to be found on the market in this price range.