It's like being "on a break" in a relationship or "seeing other people" it isn't officially the end but in reality it usually is. Think of how the dealers feel. They have support this brand for years, made it a priority and then when they need NHT the most, it isn't there for them. They will have to sell all of their demos at a huge discount (because many customers will read that as NHT is out of business) and pick up a new line to fill the void. How big of a check are their dealers going to have to write to start doing business with a new manufacturer? Can the average Mom and Pop audio store afford it right now? They just torched a lot of bridges. If they do come back everyone in the industry will be wary of doing business with them again for quite some time. Very strange.

Yes, this is a shame. One of the first high end systems I heard in someones home, was a pair of NHT 2.2 tower speakers with those side firing woofers and powered by a Krell KSA - 100 amplifier. A very nice two channel sytem, very good bass, nice mid`s. Hopefully they can come back soon.

You might want to read the article about this on this very website:
http://www.stereophile.com/news/nht_takes_a_break/

Jason-

Thanks for trying to dig a bit deeper into the story than the press release. But that's just Mr. Byrne trying to further spin things. While it doesn't look like he is immediately abandoning end users (but this might be the first step) he has cut loose dealers to fend for themselves.

Buddha-

I don't know but my main concern is that by abandoning dealers he is negatively affecting NHT's ability to do business IF the doors ever do open again. If money is tight enough that they have to close the doors or go out of business where does the company get the money to open them back up later other than outside investors? What investors will want to put money into a company that has virtually no dealers and that has created that much bad blood in the dealer base?

It all reminds me of the Planet of Magrathea in Douglas Adam's "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" that went into hibernation when business was slow and expected it's market share to be there when it returned. Their position in the market won't wait it will be gobbled up by others like Polk, Paradigm, Energy, Epos, etc. etc.

mrlowry, a Hitchhikers reference? Oh man!! Those books & radio & tv are cool! Goofy, but cool! Anyway, I hope they can come back. I still love my Super-Zeros & SW-2 Pi sub. They seem to be a good company. I wish them the best. So long & thanks for all the fish!!

They should have gone direct a long time ago when they started to build in China.

Who goes to a dealer today? A rich newbie, someone you have to sell a home cinema first. Look, the audio dealers still in business today made their money a long time ago; they are old, cantankerous and not very sexy. They are even repellent!

NHT has a better chance to sell their speakers directly on line.

I bought my 3.3s (and my CLSs) new at The Sound Lab in Naperville Illinois many years ago. I listened for the first time to the small tower Genesis there, as well as the Hales Concept Vs that I loved so much that I almost bought a pair even so I was running out of room for speakers... The owner was a trader at the Board of Trade who figured out that an audio store would entitle him to buy audio equipment at a discount. Everybody was young and educated. It was fun going there. I would hang out there almost every Saturday like in the old days when I was going out shopping and listening to vinyl every Saturday Gallerie du Lido in Paris.

It was the only time I had fun at a dealer. I thought French owned Audio Consultants in Evanston was awful by comparison. Here is an audio store where it is always dead silent when you walk in. They will not turn on their equipment unlesss you write your name address phone number on a register for a formal audition with a saleman sitting next to you all the time. The salesmen seem so unhappy that you want to get out as fast as you can.. and go on the internet.

Why go through all the headaches of manufacturing when you can sell/lease the name to a holding company that will manufacture overseas with the same badge? All you will need is a small administrative footprint to make money.

What is it with Audio consultants always sitting next to you, its impossible to feel comfortable with a sales guy starring at you.

I don't know if you are old enough to remember the excitement of listening and buying vinyl.. It was the same atmosphere at Sound Lab. Music was playing in every room, not everybody was buying but the staff was relaxed and playful, as much excited as we were. The place was always crowded. I felt sorry everytime I went to Audio Consultants.

This is really sad news - NHT makes great products and provides great service hopefully they can find a niche in the crowed audio marketplace. I have owned many speakers over the years and my favorites are the M00 active monitors, used in a 12x16 room with S20 sub, they are very special - hopefully they continue producing them as stated in the article. How about a Stereophile review?