NHT C3 Review (3-way speaker)

[bennybbbx]

I do now tests with 86 hz, 800 hz and 500 hz crossover and correct all with dirac demo i have. the 800 hz crossover i think sound better as 500 hz. Have more clarity with 800 hz i hear on many songs. the best i think is 86 hz crossover. I use linkwitz 24 db crossover. . I have in the past a self build magnat 3 way speaker also with around 500 hz. miss in compare to headphone clarity too. now i know its maybe because 500 hz crossover. so i think that NHC c3 have this high crossover freq is a good choice

 

[MDINNO]

Find it very hard to believe that this speaker scored higher than the Ascend Sierra 2. In fact I don't believe it. My friend has the Sierra 2. I have the NHT SB3, which Stereophile scored very well and is on par with the C3. We compared both of them side by side going back and forth on soundtracks. It was no contest the Sierra was just better all around. Bigger soundstage, better imaging and detail and much better bass. Also played louder. SB3 is an excellent speaker but was just outclassed by the Sierra.Plain and simple. You have to listen to speakers and compare them rather than just going off of a spec sheet and analytics. Everything changes once you get them home. You can throw all the graphs out the window. As a matter of fact I don't think the C3 would even outperform the Sierra 1. They are that good.

 

[jhaider]

Find it very hard to believe that this speaker scored higher than the Ascend Sierra 2. In fact I don't believe it. My friend has the Sierra 2. I have the NHT SB3, which Stereophile scored very well and is on par with the C3.

No. SB3 is, like Sierra, an obsolete design plagued by midrange dispersion disruption. C3 is a more sophisticated design with even dispersion due to the midrange dome.

Whatever sounds better is subjective, and I take little stock in preference scores either. However, C3 is the best engineered loudspeaker of those three, and that is not a close call.

 

[MDINNO]

Well, I heard what I heard when we compared the speakers. I think I was pretty civil about it. Whatever the sophistication the Sierra's are the best bookshelves I've ever heard. I'm saving up for the Sierra Towers. I wish I could give the NHT C4 a listen but not much is out there on them. Being more sophisticated isn't enough for me although the Sierra's aren't exactly made in China like the NHT's Some pretty high quality custom parts make up that speaker.

 

[Beave]

No. SB3 is, like Sierra, an obsolete design plagued by midrange dispersion disruption. C3 is a more sophisticated design with even dispersion due to the midrange dome.

Whatever sounds better is subjective, and I take little stock in preference scores either. However, C3 is the best engineered loudspeaker of those three, and that is not a close call.

In comparing their measurements (Ascend Sierra 2 and NHT C 3), the directivity index looks better for the Sierra 2 than for the NHT C3. Sound power looks better too - no dip right around 1kHz that is seen in the NHT response.

The normalized horizontal directivity also looks better (more consistently wide, without the hump around 3kHz that is seen in the NHT response).

 

[MDINNO]

In comparing their measurements (Ascend Sierra 2 and NHT C 3), the directivity index looks better for the Sierra 2 than for the NHT C3. Sound power looks better too - no dip right around 1kHz that is seen in the NHT response.

The normalized horizontal directivity also looks better (more consistently wide, without the hump around 3kHz that is seen in the NHT response).

Also much better bass. Very compelling when you actually hear it. I'm anxious to hear the 2EX upgrade because it's supposed to be a step up from the Sierra 2 which is kind of scary. There's a reason why these speakers are so expensive. They don't play around.

 

[SMc]

Also much better bass. Very compelling when you actually hear it. I'm anxious to hear the 2EX upgrade because it's supposed to be a step up from the Sierra 2 which is kind of scary. There's a reason why these speakers are so expensive. They don't play around.

Yes, at about twice the C3 street price.

 

[txbdan]

Being sealed, the C3s do lack low end. That might be the main source of preference in listening comparisons. The sealed enclosure's low end roll off does make for nice/easy sub integration, though.

 

[MDINNO]

In comparing their measurements (Ascend Sierra 2 and NHT C 3), the directivity index looks better for the Sierra 2 than for the NHT C3. Sound power looks better too - no dip right around 1kHz that is seen in the NHT response.

The normalized horizontal directivity also looks better (more consistently wide, without the hump around 3kHz that is seen in the NHT response).

All these analytics and not one stat will tell you about soundstage, Imaging, if a high hat sounds realistic. I've said it before and I'll keep saying it you can get the most perfect measuring speaker and once you fire it up in your home it can sound like crap. That's the problem with this review site here that everyone has a problem with. It's an onslaught of speakers with great reviews simply because the analytics don't measure up.

 

[jhaider]

All these analytics and not one stat will tell you about soundstage, Imaging, if a high hat sounds realistic.

What makes you think that?

I've said it before and I'll keep saying it you can get the most perfect measuring speaker and once you fire it up in your home it can sound like crap.

If so, that points to a setup or user competence issue. Alternately, it could be some practical real world flaw not measured in the industry standard battery, such as amp hiss in powered speakers or ground loops in a setup.

 

[MDINNO]

What makes you think that?



If so, that points to a setup or user competence issue. Alternately, it could be some practical real world flaw not measured in the industry standard battery, such as amp hiss in powered speakers or ground loops in a setup.

Best reviewers of speakers are musicians and people who just have an ear for what to listen for. They can tell you how realistic the high hat sounds. How realistic the cymbals sound. The soundstage and imaging. Whether if a speaker needs to be toed in or out. No graphs or numbers will ever be able to tell you that. I come here for entertainment purposes because I just like to laugh at the reviews and comments. The best speakers in the industry are shot down here. It's a joke.

 

[dfuller]

The soundstage and imaging. Whether if a speaker needs to be toed in or out.

3 words for you: In Room Measurements. You think professional mixers and audio engineers don't do that? Because we do. In fact, it's crucial. The only way to get good results repeatably is to measure frequency response from listening position. Measurements can inform whether you need to play with toe-in to get good results, or if it won't matter much.

The best speakers in the industry are shot down here. It's a joke.

Well, clearly they're not so great then if they fail so miserably at the basic well understood principles of what makes a speaker sound good. The goal for a speaker is to reproduce the input electrical signal as accurately as possible.

All these analytics and not one stat will tell you about soundstage, Imaging, if a high hat sounds realistic.

Incorrect. They will tell you lots about that, if you know how to read the graphs properly. It's no coincidence that the most accurate sounding speakers are also the ones that have earned top marks here.

 

[jhaider]

Best reviewers of speakers are musicians and people who just have an ear for what to listen for. They can tell you how realistic the high hat sounds. How realistic the cymbals sound. The soundstage and imaging. Whether if a speaker needs to be toed in or out. No graphs or numbers will ever be able to tell you that.

Don’t conflate your lack of familiarity with the science with the limitations of measurements. Everything you discuss above (within the limits of the recording) ascertainable by a knowledgeable person from axial FR, listening window FR, horizontal polar map, and dynamics/linearity testing.

The best speakers in the industry are shot down here. It's a joke.

Best according to whom, exactly. A speaker with a 7” woofer and a strip of wiggling oven foil on a flat waveguide is a flawed configuration that’s more a torture test for the design engineer than something to enjoy music through.

 

[Beave]

Jay's disdain for ribbons never ceases to amuse me.

What speaker uses a 7" woofer with a ribbon?

 

[jhaider]

Jay's disdain for ribbons never ceases to amuse me.

There’s nothing wrong with ribbons per se. They’re just nothing special, often ascribed magic power by dumb audiophiles, and usually badly used. Sometimes (Philharmonic BMR) comes to mind, as do some of Rick Craig’s designs) a ribbon can be adapted well into a loudspeaker.

What speaker uses a 7" woofer with a ribbon?

Ascend comes to mind.

 

[Beave]

The Ascend woofer isn't 7". It's closer to 5 1/4".

 

[Shazb0t]

The best speakers in the industry are shot down here. It's a joke.

That's actually completely wrong. See D&D, Genelec, Nuemann, Revel, KEF, etc. There's only one real joke here and it appears to be pretty obvious to everyone else..

 

[Jim Matthews]

I find it very suspicious how the Denon 3700 gets shot down but one call with Denon all of a sudden it gets high praise. Erin's Audio Corner is much more fair and accurate. Trust me these reviews are the joke within the industry.

"Trust me..."

 

[BYRTT]

I find it very suspicious how the Denon 3700 gets shot down but one call with Denon all of a sudden it gets high praise. Erin's Audio Corner is much more fair and accurate. Trust me these reviews are the joke within the industry.

Come on, you get superior measurements for free here so suggest use them if you believe in science and then simply jump over the subjective part of the review would actual be a easy way to be here, that said its hard to figure out if you posted here for nothing other reason than a ASR provocation.

Respect your personal acoustic opinion of the illusion comparing Ascend Sierra 2 verse NHT C3, that said if you really understand graphs there is one curve called DI (Directivity Index) that should tell you Ascend Sierra 2 and NHT C3 miss quallity in they both perform a jagged DI curve, so for me it looks that when you tell Ascend Sierra 2 is the best book shelves you ever heard and it reproduce realistic high hat sounds its nothing than a illusive coincidence because of acoustic design flaws/compromise for those two speaker systems clearly tracked/proven reading their DI curves.

Below is few constructive comments comparing objective graphs for NHT C3 verse Ascend Sierra 2 side by side:

Bandwidth corners is wider for NHT C3 than Ascend Sierra 2 and they both perform none smooth jagged curves be it the important DI curve or whatever other curves printed in the Spinorama plot.

In Ascend Sierra 2 sounded so wonderfull to your ears you could try bandwidth limit NHT C3 using below 4x PEQ's and see if especially low end will improve and suit much better to the local room enviroment.

Having a none smooth DI curve means there is design flaws/compromises going on, clear seen below where both NHT C3 (left column) and Ascend Sierra 2 (right column) have their curves EQ smoothed, whenever one try smooth the Listening window curve (best for nearfield listening) then the jagginesh from DI curve will be a replicated mirror in PIR and Power response curves, or whenever one try smooth the Power response curve (best for farfield listening) then the jagginesh from DI curve will be replicated in the Listening window curve.

Below two ones show much better or smoother DI curves than above two ones, they picked special out because they have nearly same bandwidth's as above two ones ..

 

[tribesdude]

Best reviewers of speakers are musicians and people who just have an ear for what to listen for. They can tell you how realistic the high hat sounds. How realistic the cymbals sound. The soundstage and imaging. Whether if a speaker needs to be toed in or out. No graphs or numbers will ever be able to tell you that. I come here for entertainment purposes because I just like to laugh at the reviews and comments. The best speakers in the industry are shot down here. It's a joke.

To me it seems like you either do not understand the measurements and the science behind audio (no offense, and tbh I am a novice myself), and therefofe demean/belittle what you do not understand. That or you don't believe in audio science period. Looking at your past posts, seems like (to me) that you don't like this site and its reviews because it shows products that you think are amazing (some ascends and nht) are average/below average and that there are far better speakers out there (and better per dollar as well). People, for some odd reason, tend to defend the products they own even though it's just one purchase (just a product, in this case a speaker)...

On another note, I am guessing you are Zorba from avs?