amp to mate with NHT speakers
Dave wrote:
I picked up a pair of NHT Super Zeroes about six months ago for a very
reasonable price. I had read the glowing stereophile review of these tiny
5" x 9" micro-speakers which likened their sound to loudspeakers costing
upwards of eight thousand dollars, and was pleased with the prospect of
bringing something into the livingroom which a) cost next to nothing and b)
sounded good and which was c) unobtrusive enough to please my
aesthetically-minded significant other. In fact she was ecstatic as I
lugged the Klipsch Cornwalls down the hallway even going so far as to offer
to help. The speakers are being driven with an old beast of an amp, a
Technics SU-8099 rated at 120wpc RMS. I've been very pleased with the
amplifier with other speakers, it's very neutral sounding and (I thought)
drove the horn speakers quite well, not sounding excessively bright or edgy
as horn speakers are wont to do.
When I first hooked up the speakers (with a powered Velodyne subwoofer), I
was astounded at the absolute clarity of the upper midrange, especially on
piano. From these little computer-speaker-looking boxes! I listen to a lot
of female vocalists and piano and these speakers are designed to reproduce
this range admirably. However, now that the honeymoon is over, I am finding
them extremely bright. I've never owned a pair of speakers I'd describe as
bright although I've read about it enough on this forum and others.
Extended listening periods are "fatiguing", another term I've thankfully
avoided personal experience with. I've read that this excessive brightness
is a trademark of Ken Kantor and NHT, and I wonder about others'
experiences.
If the speakers themselves are 'bright', or (as may actually be the case; does anhyone have a
good set of anaechoic measurements for the SuperZeros?) the geometry of room/listener produces
a 'bright' sound at the listening position, the best bet is to apply room treatment and DSP
'room correction', rather than getting a new amp. Any amp 'warm' enough to
tamp down a 'bright' speaker, must have a rather poor frequency response.
--
-S
A wise man, therefore, proportions his belief to the evidence. -- David Hume, "On Miracles"
(1748)
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