Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Anyone compared axiom centers to NHT classics?

Has anyone compared these two brands? I know it is important to sonically match speakers across the soundstage, but I haven't been able to afford the vp150 I have been lusting after. I saw a huge clearance on the NHT classic 2 and 3's, and wondered how they would compare to my M22's?

Have you considered the VP100 or VP150 from the factory outlet to save 10%?

As you stated it is best to keep the same brand across the front, so it may be difficult to find an Axiom owner using NHT centers.

I guess the easy answer is to order both and keep the one I like, however it could be unfair to compare the vp100 (~250 list) to the classic 3c (~700 list).

Is that the clearance price on the classic?

Why not get another m22 for the center, that would perfectly match you mains?

No the classic 3c was 199. I cannot fit a vertical speaker under my screen, so it has to be a vp series.

Dang, your screen must be pretty low. If I didn't have a stage below my screen I could fit a 3rd m80.

Yeah, it's like 7" from the bottom of my screen to the cabinet below it. Even the vp's will block a tiny bit of screen when I slump down in the sofa. The sacrifices we make for 106".

I've got a 130" 2.35 screen (10ft wide), but my ceiling is 9ft high.

Ok, I had a chance to pop over to the local Soundsaround and had a listen to the NHT classic series.....in a nut shell get the VP100 or splurge for the VP150.

The NHTs are clear sounding and would most likely match the M22s fairly closely but it sounded to me as though they were trying too hard to give bass out of the samll cabinets, it came across as boomy and detracted from the overall sound of what is a nice looking and sounding speaker line. I could detect some rattling/vibration sounds coming from the cabinets as well. I guess uping the crossover would help eliminate some of what I heard.

This was by no means a scientific comparison and obviously not A/B. It was just myself in their rooms playing their music and DVDs. This was just a side excursion while waiting for my son to finish his class. I spent about 45 min listening and the speakers were played through various Pioneer amps.

I almost walked out of there with a new Denon 2308ci only $750 and a Samsung 50" 1080P plasma for $2200

Don't slouch, sit up straight!

I think Mojo link to the mom's overture got to me.

A year ago, that's almost what I paid for my 32" LCD Sammy .
I should have waited .

Thanks Jake, that helps a lot. I may just get the vp100 unless I can find a killer deal on a 150. Maybe someone is upgrading to the dual 22's for a center.

Yeah, I paid 1800 for my 32" xbr1 LCD a year ago too. Now I am lusting after one of the 46" 1080p lcds for around that price.

Hi price3,

In a general way, NHTs have, over the years, been reasonably linear speakers, except for one caveat--I've always found the upper octaves to be somewhat aggressive, even strident.

They are not as smooth and linear as the M22s, but they don't have pronounced colorations, so the blend would likely be okay.

I formed this judgment based on various press auditions as well as NHT samples, one of which I still own (it's not one of the models you mentioned. I think it's a "zero" or "Super Zero"--something like that).

I have not heard any recent NHT speakers. The ones I heard were designed by Ken Kantor, the founder of NHT, who is no longer involved in the design.

Regards,

[offtopic]



Mojo, you should just get a 1080p projector, you will not be dissapointed. The New Sanyo 1080p LCD projector is selling for around $2500 CAD...that is seriously insane!

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Well, I did actually get in on the clearance price, hopefully I can get a vp model here during the trial period to make a fair comparison. Anyone live near Clemson, SC?

Robb,

I made the conscious decision to stick to wall-mounted TVs and I see no reason to move away from that. I made this choice because I didn't want a projector above my head with its associated fan noise and I felt I'd have more choices with TVs rather than projectors over the years. Also, I don't need a huge screen like what you have because I sit relatively close to the action. Aesthetics came into play too. And at the time I was doing my research, projector/screen systems didn't have the PQ that a TV did. The quantity and convenience of inputs/outputs also wasn't there with projectors. PQ and I/O may have changed by now.

Hijack over.

Mojo, with your room being virtually identical to mine, having a support post approximately 10 feet from the wall wouldn't allow for a projector (as far as my research) because of throw distance. As far as I've read, to get a large screen size with a projector, you require a long throw distance and my support beam like yours would be in the way. Is this not correct?

I'm not sure Wheelz. I've heard that they make "short throw" projectors now but I don't really know how short. And that's right...my post is exactly 10 feet from the wall.

There are projectors that can do 100" at 10 feet, and also others that can be mounted below the level of the beam but farther back, unless it would be too low for your setup then. I believe that no projector can make a decent picture with room lights on however, but that's just my opinion and I own a projector. The reason I think this is because the darkest black a projector can make is the color of the screen in the ambient light.

That was another reason that I didn't buy a projector. We like to play table tennis and watch the TV at the same time and I always lose when I play in the dark .

My people call it Ping Pong
Yes, it is a very fun game, much better than the pool table so many people have in game rooms. My 32" LCD gets used 10x more than my projector, but if I were buying today it would be 42 or 46" just based on price reductions. I thought 42 was too large for 720p also.

I went ahead and ordered a FO vp100 to compare with the NHT classic 3c, and will be keeping the one that best fits my system. The axiom is a good bit more efficient, so I will be sure to level match. Any input for source material to help in this comparison, please let me know here or in the other thread I started.

For music in PLII, try Diana Krall:Love Scenes. Tracks 2 and 11 are good. In track 2, listen to the difference in quality of the popping cork. Also, she should sound as if she's right there in your room. In track 11, listen for her to be front and centre with her bassist behind her.

For movies, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction or True Romance are good bets.

I wanted both but my wife felt we needed a spare bedroom downstairs. I feel I won that one because she agreed to a pinball machine or an arcade table . Now I just have to decide on one or the other...or maybe both .

Pinball machine. No, arcade table. No, pinball machine... tough one, man.

As my wife says, you have "first world problems."

That way I don't have to think about my real problems .

I don't have Diana Krall, but as much as people recommend it to test things maybe I should. I do have all of Tarantino's stuff, any specific scenes you can think of?

If I could find an Aadams Family pinball machine that would be my choice, I wonder how much upkeep those things require. They have a lot of moving parts...

I'm partial to the older pinball machines, myself, but they're all a lot of fun.

I can't think of any specific scenes. There's a lot of talking in those movies by various people so any scene should be good.

I like older machines myself and I am concerned about the upkeep.

Yeah, one of my former clients had a machine from the early 70s. It was broken a fair amount of the time, but when it worked, it was a blast. I can't remember which title it was, but it had a yellow cowboy/cactus backdrop.

I received the NHT speaker last night and set it up, the vp100 isn't here yet. I am replacing an old Infinity center with the "polycell" tweeters that matched my old mains from the early 90's. Nothing like holding on to old technology huh? Since my son was asleep, I just listened to some tv shows at a moderate volume with the Audessey turned off. Perhaps I shouldn't have asked for opinions before hand, but Alan's review seemed accurate at first listen. The NHT 3c is a beautiful speaker, and the glossy paint job and cabinet design are a league ahead of the black vinyl axioms, but the treble seemed a bit harsh, almost sibilant. I know random tv shows aren't a good source, so I will reserve judgement until I can get a proper setup going.

They are very pretty aren't they. I found the mids/treble not to be a problem when I had a listen in the store, for me it was the bass. The cabinet had a resonance and the bass seemed disconnected from the very nice and smooth mids/treble. I thought it would match the Axioms as long as the crossover was set to eliminate the resonance, but then again it could have been the source material causing it.

I am going to keep the crossover at 80. Hopefully the axiom will come soon so I can get serious. Do you think it would be better to listen to only the center or the front three? I suppose if I like the NHT better overall I will sell the m22's and try to find some classic 3's to match the center, but I am kind of hoping it turns out the other way.

Crossover at 80 is good and I would see how well it blends with the Axioms and then by itself as well and then back and forth with the Axiom center to compare their individual sounds.

price3, try to go into this with an unbiased approach.
I see many decisive opinions of conclusion being thrown at you which are influenced by so many variables it makes the head spin.
Just try listening to the speakers yourself and make your own judgements.
That is most of the fun.

Any suggestion for a listening mode for center only listening? I have the Onkyo 705 so it has a lot of modes, but mono movie sounds a bit weird.

DPLII.

I have gone so far as to unplug(love those banana plugs) the mains to just hear what the centers are doing, during normal HT watching and DPLII or even multichannel stereo mode.

Price, it's unclear, but if you literally mean to listen to the center speaker only, then there's no apparent reason to do so(other than experimenting to compare the sound of center speakers). No "mode"(other than straight mono)would be applicable, since you'd be listening to just a single mono speaker.

I did something similar when i wanted to hear what things like DPLII were doing with the surround speakers.
Turn on some music.
Unplug all the speakers except for the QSx surrounds and get a kick out of the sound. VERY interesting!

In final comparison, I chose to keep the vp100, despite the nearly $500 difference in MSRP. ( I got the NHT on drastic sale). The two speakers sounded similar, however the treble was just smoother on the Axiom. While being at the same loudness level, details were apparent in the axioms that didn't jump out with the NHT, such as a singer's breath between notes. As an added bonus I don't have to try to sell my M22's and find other NHT's to redo my system.

Price,

Thanks for letting us know. This is another good example where price and performance are not necessarily correlated.

It's amazing how many times you hear 'more detail' when someone talks about Axioms vs. other speakers, thanks for taking the time to review and post.