|
Speaker Asylum General speaker questions for audio and home theater. |
|
|
|
Speaker Asylum General speaker questions for audio and home theater. |
|
In Reply to: Decision Time posted by jadevo on July 2, 2015 at 07:24:29:
Sometime during the Spring 1990 quarter, I regrettably purchased the $349 Paradigm 5SE. It had those crummy push-in-and-lock spring-loaded connectors, which only accepted bare wire, or, at best, pins. And it sounded soft and boring.In September 1990, as I was preparing to go back to UCSC for my sophomore year, I received the new issue of Stereophile, where RH reviewed the NHT 1.3. When I did start the 90-91 school year, I brought that issue of Stereophile with me. I walked across a bridge, and went to the campus radio station, KZSC, where my friend/classmate Roger worked (doing what, I know not). There, I snagged this promo CD copy of Nelson's "After The Rain."
Though it was $500, the 1.3 was infinitely superior to my Paradigm 5SE. The NHT 1.3 had real 5-way binding posts. Though its gloss black finish was easily fingerprinted, it was light years better-looking than the usual vinyl-clad boxes of yore. If your stands were too short, you could flip the NHT 1.3 upside down. The NHT 1.3 wasn't critical, about distance from the back wall. In my parents' 15x15 chamber of horrors, with stone wall, the 1.3 did NOT, unlike other speakers, boom.
Sonically, the 1.3 made other speakers sound woefully congested, uneven, bloated, retarded, and just plain inaccurate. The 1.3 did a far better job in making music interesting and compelling. What a novel concept!
Just as the NHT 1.3 would have been the ideal budget speaker for my parents' place, it would have been absolutely killer, in my college apartment [during my senior year, I had the $200 Pinnacle PN-5+].
In 1994, I was back at home, and bought NHT's SuperZero for my tiny bedroom. That partially made up for me not getting the 1.3 a few years earlier. And in the mid-to-late 90s, when the 1.3 was no longer available, my brother took a gloss white NHT SuperOne to UC Davis.
Yes, I've played around with the old NHT 1.3 in various homes. In the early-90s, it was killer with the ol' blue-and-black Kimber 4TC. So imagine how much better a 1.3 would do, with the current-production white-and-clear 4TC on a Cable Cooker!
If you can find one, the NHT 1.3 is a LOT of fun! Because it has decent focus, resolution, control, and cleanliness, it does well with TV and video game sound. I preserves vocal articulation, so you don't have to strain, in order to make out dialog.
The Audiophiles' DJ,
-Lummy The Loch Monster
Edits: 07/02/15 07/02/15
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Follow Ups
- I've Always Lamented Not Getting The NHT Model 1.3 - Luminator 22:11:06 07/02/15 (2)
- Whatever happened to NHT? - J.Mac 09:31:05 07/04/15 (1)
- They are still around in Benicia, CA - Zipcord 07:27:20 07/06/15 (0)
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
