Are you a collector Chip, or did you stumble upon a deal?
A couple of points to clarify:
1) positioning of a volume control should not be used as a measure of an amplifiers muscle. Manufacturers do not always use linear volume controls in their products. This means that while Amp A while be done producing usable power and start clipping around the 12o'clock point, Amp B can still be delivering stable power beyond that point. Non linear controls are typical.
2) Tone controls are subject of great debate. Introducing any control into the audio path will degrade the signal. However, as you point out, our environments are not perfect, and sometimes wee need to compensate. I have my controls set to neutral.
The PT speakers are about 4db more efficient than your NHT's so that could play a major part.
Regards,
BBIBH
