My own NHT journey started with a lowly pair of 2.5 (2nd from the left in the group photo below).  I think Tim ( @PhilDent ) was with me for the “Great Speaker Shootout” of 2019.  These lowly little NHTs with a 1” tweeter, 6.5” mid and 8” ported side-firing woofer Flat-out beat Infinity Kappa 9, Polk SDA SRS 1.2 (fully modded), Legacy Focus 20/20, Polk LS70, Klipsch RF7, B&W 805, and Carver ALIII.  We were stunned.  I mean really, it was difficult (to say the least) to believe. 
 

This particular, and my first pair of NHT speakers happened upon me by chance.  I was picking up a Carver M500t that was advertised on the local classifieds in Missoula MT.  When I showed up to buy the amplifier, I learned from the woman selling it that it was part of her husband’s system - sadly he had just passed away.  I was buying the amplifier for $300.  She asked if I was interested in the rest of the gear - an AMC preamp, Sony 5-disc cd carousel, and the NHT 2.5 pair. I said “sure - how much? “  She said “just take it all”, as she was moving to a retirement home, and had no need of any of it, as the home forbade anything other than counter-top radios.  She even had all the boxes (including the speaker boxes).  As I loaded up and drove away, conscious struck, and I hit the ATM for an addition $200 and took it to her.  She teared-up and said she was going to miss sitting and listening to music with her husband, and thanked me profusely for the additional funds. 
 

I like to think that my “good deed” helped lay the groundwork for my happy relationship with NHT speakers.  More to come….

The Niles speakers have served me well, but they are getting pretty long in the tooth. I'm hoping for a great Amazon Prime Days deal on either Klipsch AW-650s or Polk Atrium 8s.

Any thoughts, suggestions, other recommendations?

Klipsch AW-650 on Amazon

Polk Atrium 8 on Amazon

I hope the sale goes through, because I can deliver them to Osage Beach MO. That gives me an excuse to eat at my favorite BBQ joint in MO, Half Sauced BBQ.

https://halfsauced.com/

Now, as much as I like my NHT 3.3s, I'm considering parting ways with them.  I don't know how serious I am though. They're the main fronts in my HT setup, and if I do sell them, I want t replace them with some Martin Logan ESL's that are at least one bump up from the ones in my 2.1 channel system, and those won't be cheap. I wouldn't let the NHT's go cheap either. Like I said, I like the NHTs very much, I just like the Martin Logan ESL sound more.

Comments/Suggestions?

I also pulled the Velodyne DD18, and added 2x SVS SB4000 subs.  This is where the headaches started.  
 

Headache #1 - In order to get the Marantz SR6015 receiver to apply the Audyssey calibration to the subs correctly, the main speakers must be set to “small” - even though my RF7 mains are more than capable of playing down to 40hz.

Headache #2 - Integrating two subs is a royal PITA.  do you tune them together or separate?  Do you make adjustments in the Marantz, or in the EQ suite of each sub via the mobile App?  
 

Headache #3 - what frequencies do you boost for the “punch” of movies, and then how do you restore some sense of fidelity for music listening?

As a solution to all of these headaches, I purchased a Velodyne SMS-1 on the local classifieds. Anyone that has used one of Velodyne’s DD series subs has experienced the electronic tuning interface.  It’s a brilliant system that feeds a sweep tone (and on-screen GUI) into an input of your pre/receiver, then utilizes a microphone to measure the sweep tone, displays the results on screen and allows a plethora of adjustments via an 8 band parametric EQ.  The SMS-1 takes this electronics suite and puts it in a stand-alone component that goes in the equipment rack (mine is on top of the power conditioner on the left).

Well….  Even with the SMS-1, I wasn’t getting anywhere near the bass response I wanted.  My frequency graph looked more like a hockey player smile than anything resembling a straight line, and I had no “punch” or “impact”.  So I decided to move my Velodyne DD18 into the room (back left corner), bringing me to 3 subs in a 17’ X 13’ room.  The DD18 has its own electronics suite, so I just fed it from one of the “through” outputs of the SMS-1.  I set the DD18 low pass at 45hz - just looking for it to fill in the lowest of the Lows.  I was still not getting what I wanted, when it hit me - phasing.  I have the Klipsch RF7 mains playing down to 60hz, the SVS pair playing up to 80hz, and the DD18 playing below 45hz.  So I switched the SVS pair 180 degrees out of phase.  Boom - everything fell into place.  I now have a VERY flat bass curve.  I “think” that the SVS pair is now cancelling out any overlap they have with the RF7 mains, and the DD18 is cancelling out its overlap with the SVS pair.

another benefit of the SMS-1 is SIX (6) presets. So for movies, I have a couple settings with various bumps at 40hz, 50hz and 60hz, and for music a couple that are pretty flat.

heres the curve (I didn’t take a shot of the pre-phase shift, but trust me - it was BAD…

Here’s the scoop … I have been looking for vintage speakers, not sure what, but something that when I see them I will know.  Big … not too big …

I stumbled upon a set of Pioneer DSS-9’s.  Began reading up on them to know I probably shouldn’t mess with them.  

Famously brittle woofers with polymer graphite cones and dual voice coils.

Super sexy Beryllium tweeters

I have never had a set of monkey coffins before … I liked what I heard … and I made a rash decision.

Speakers are in decent shape with the exception of the missing woofer rings.

They looked to have been re-foamed before and it appears to be pretty messy. Which leads me to the question, can they be re-foamed again?

I don’t dare touch them as I don’t have the steadiest hands.  My search will go out to a few speaker specialists (already tried to contact Midwest Speakers).  Any other recommendations would be appreciated … I would like these to be done right.

Man if I can get these into full restoration, they should sound choice flanking the C19 / TFM4.0.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Scrappy

OK, having said that, I found this 4-year-old video from Axiom Audio, and found it to be exceptional in digging in and explaining "impedance", and further to understand what this means to speakers, how speakers are measured, what "nominal" means, and even how "amps see impedance" and why it matters.   

Heretofore before watching this guy explain impedance, I have found myself lost on one-sentence explanations that were presented by Circuit City and Best Buy salespeople, and internet know-it-alls on so many forums (Not TCS, though 😉 ).

At about 15:00, he explains the issues of mis-matched amps to speakers, heat, and protection or damage.  It made a lot of things make sense..., in my feeble brain.

Let me know what you think after watching this guy..., if you feel like it.

I have bought a house for significantly less than that.

They're 28" deep, 26.5" tall, 19" wide, and they weigh 190 lbs.  Disregard the not for sale sticky note. That was on something else.

I found this on Audioholics:

https://www.audioholics.com/trade-shows/2006-consumer-electronics-show-ces/sv-sound-svs-pb12-ultra-2-subwoofer

So, my question is, What do y'all think they're worth?

Some background, I've been using the Dahlquist DQ-LP1 for years. There is a lot of info on the internet if you want to grab a copy of the manual and schematic. Like the C-1, it has a loyal following including hobbists that have documented numerous improvments over the years. I've collected a lot of info and can post it if desired. I drive 2 subs, a left channel and a right channel. Common practice is to use a mono sub as "low frequency is non-directional".  I was watching a Paul McGowen video on multi subs and he addressed that the frequency of a sub goes from non-directional to directional - he strongly advocated dual subs.  I researched the internet and you can't get a straight story, one of the prevalent therories is that LF sound is non-directionsl under 400hz since that is equivilent to the spacing between the average human ears. Sounds hokey to me.

Here's what I know, I can run a low frequency signal and I can point directly to the sub. Maybe I'm just weird and have a thin head.

IMHO, for 2 channel music, if you feel you need a sub then you want ideally 2 subs. One by the Left speaker and the other by the Right, each being fed by their respective independent stereo channel.

Picture to follow of my layout (room size and layout is not perfect but you work with what you have). You'll see a set of Dahlquist DQ-SW1 subs, with JBL L100t perched on top of them.  I use the preamp signal (4000t), and feed it into the Dahlquist DQ-LP1. The low pass signal (independent L and R) feeds a TFM-24, which feeds the SW1s. The HP goes into a TFM-42 and feeds the JBLs. 

The DQ-LP1 is an old unit. @jeffs and I (mostly Jeff) redesigned the DQ-LP1 (MY-LP1) to improve it. This was not and is not intended as a commercial project, just an interesting personel project. I can post more on the project if interested.

I know to use an active crossover, you need a seperate amp channel for each driver and the power amp is connected directly to the driver. You also need an active frquency divider after the preamp.  

I noticed most of the active unit are hardwired for their crossover frequency.  The F1030 was nice as since you can dial in the frequency, allowing me the option of experimenting with several speakers. As far as speakers go, I have several sets of 2 and 3 way speakers that I could add additional binding posts and a set of switches to bypass the crossover so I could use them on a system with an active crossover, or a conventional system that relies on the speaker's internal crossover.

Anyone have any experience with this route?

Any recommendtions on a reasonable brand/model of active crossover.

Again having a unit that I can dial in frequencies would be important. Many dedicated units are done via hardwired modules - looking at the schematics, some of them are resistor packs.

I can across this a few years ago when I was upgrading my JBL L100t speakers to the L100t3. The upgrade (T to T3) is considered a significant improvement amoung the JBL community. 

I've attached the technal manuals for the T and T3. As you can see, they are wired 180 degrees out of phase.

Common industry practice is that a positive voltage will drive the woofer outward; however, on a T a positive voltage will drive the woofer inward. This was changed on the T3 and is noted on the bottom right of page 1 of the T3 technical manual.

I've been told (I don't know this for sure) that early JBLs (pre T3 I'm guessing) were wired so that a positive voltage drives the woofer in.  This shouldn't cause an issues when running just one set JBLs, but I would think that running them in chorus with other speakers or subs may yeild a phase imbalance.  

Does anyone know any details on this?

hfe_jbl_l100t_technical_en.pdf hfe_jbl_l100t3_technical_en.pdf

I'm considering an M6 or M7 for a center channel with my 3.3s. I currently have a Klipsch RC3, but it's getting a little long in the tooth, and it's a bit too bright. I think the M6 or M7 might pair better with the 3.3s.

Experience, thoughts, ...

Just purchased a TFM35 and a CT16 from 69chevelle. (Thanks!)

I am putting something together for my warehouse.  It is 7000 sq.ft. 70 x 100 x 14t.

The construction is steel.  The ceiling is thick fiberglass insulation bats, vinyl lined.  The walls are corrugated steel sheet.  There will always be a large boat parked right in the middle,  and there will always be some cars and a couple of enclosed trailers taking up volume. In the winter months,  most of the space will be filled in with trailer boats. 

I am looking for suggestions on what speakers might work.  At home. I am partial to Klipsch for sound. Not sure if any of them would work well in such a large open area. 

If needed, could hang short curtains from the ceiling. 

Thanks in advance!

Fred

Little bit of excursion going on . These Goldwood woofers have about 9 hours on them. Starting to loosen up: Bass  response is getting better. I’m in the basement and my ceiling is vibrating… as is the ceiling above that. no smoking voice coils anyways . Not bad for $100 woofers!😆😆😆