Description: Single-chassis CD player with 20-bit delta-sigma DAC and digital outputs (one XLR AES/EBU, balanced; one BNC coaxial S/PDIF, 75 ohms; one TosLink fiber-optical; optional ST-type glass fiber-optical). Analog outputs: one pair balanced XLR, one pair RCA single-ended. Jitter reduction: high-stability crystal-controlled re-clocking for all outputs. Frequency response: 0.1Hz-20kHz, ±2dB. Phase linearity: <0.5 degrees, 20Hz-20kHz. S/N Ratio: 96dBA. Distortion: -90dB (0.003%) at 1kHz. Output impedance (analog): 350 ohms balanced, 175 ohms single-ended.…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
CD Players: Krell KAV-300cd, Mark Levinson No.39.Preamplifier: Conrad-Johnson ART.
Power Amplifiers: Cary CAD-300SEI, Krell FPB 600 and KAV-300i.
Loudspeakers: B&W Silver Signature, EgglestonWorks Andra, ProAc Response One SC.
Cables: Kimber KCAG and WireWorld GEI interconnects, Kimber Black Pearl and WireWorld GEI speaker cables.
Accessories: Audio Power Industries Power Wedge 112, Magro Stereo Display Stand, Foundation 24" stands.
Sound Treatment: ASC Tube Traps, Studio Traps, Bass Traps; RPG Abffusors; micronoetic feline.—Wes Phillips…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The Audio Research CD2 proved well able to cope with damaged CDs. The Pierre Verany test disc has deliberate data dropouts; the CD2 could play up to track 33, a 1.5mm gap in the data, without the sound muting. The player's output level at 0dBFS from its single-ended jacks was 0.7dB higher than the CD-standard 2V, at 2.16V. The channels matched to within 0.05dB at 1kHz, which is excellent. From the balanced outputs, the output offered the expected doubling, to 4.3V. The source impedance was similar to specification at 350 ohms (balanced) and 195 ohms (unbalanced),…
When Ken Kantor helped to found Now Hear This, Inc. (most commonly referred to by its initials, NHT) in 1986, he brought with him a wealth of design and production experience learned from stints with NAD and Acoustic Research. He also brought a desire to build and market products that a wide range of people could afford. NHT began by producing small, two-way designs distinguished by the angled front baffle which remains the company's trademark. The latter is no gimmick, but was designed to optimize the loudspeakers' radiation pattern, a matter of keen interest to Kantor ever since his…
While the NHT 3.3 certainly does the other stuff well, the bottom end of its range sets it apart. I've never heard bass with this combination of true extension and clean and unmuddled mid- and upper bass from any other one-piece loudspeaker—either in this room or in any other. Only on a very few recordings—like the deepest bass on the synthesizer-enhanced version of Also Sprach Zarathustra (from Time Warp, Telarc CD-80106), or the fundamentals of a raging waterfall as reproduced on the final "Rhinefalls" cut from Staccato 2 (Audio (Germany) 101013)—did a first-rate subwoofer, such as the…
Corey Greenberg wrote about the NHT 3.3 in March 1994 (Vol.17 No.3):
In my 1993 WCES report last April, I reported that the most impressive product I'd heard at the Show was the introduction of NHT's new flagship loudspeaker, the $4000/pair Model 3.3. Even under the iffy conditions of a show demo, the big 3.3s just floored me—I had honestly never heard speakers do what I was hearing these new NHTs do. Although the 3.3s had already been snatched up by Tom Norton for review, I made arrangements to get a pair into my He-Man listening room as soon as my plane touched back down in TX.
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Sidebar 1: Measurements
John Atkinson performed the measurements on the NHT 3.3, handing me the file only after I had finished my auditioning. Its B-weighted sensitivity measured approximately 87dB/W/m (B-weighted). Its impedance (fig.1) is quite uniform, both in magnitude and phase angle, verifying NHT's specifications and indicating that the 3.3 will be a relatively easy load to drive. The maximum value of just over 10 ohms at 27Hz indicates the low-frequency tuning point of the system—an unusually low value. This is the -6dB point of the woofer's near-field response (see fig.2). The…
Sidebar 2: Specifications
Description: Four-way, sealed-enclosure, loudspeaker system. Drive-units: 12" polymer-cone woofer, 6.5" polymer-cone midbass, 4" polymer-cone upper midrange, 1" fluid-damped aluminum-dome tweeter. Crossover frequencies: 100Hz (12dB/octave), 320Hz (12dB/octave), 3.5kHz (18dB/octave). Frequency response: 23Hz-26kHz ±2dB (in-room, 1m). Usable bass response: -6dB at 19Hz, in-room (-3dB at 22Hz, in-room). Sensitivity: 87dB/2.83V/1m. Nominal impedance: 6 ohms (4.3 ohms minimum, 10.5 ohms maximum, no phase angle greater than ±30 degrees). Amplifier requirements: 30-…
Harry Partch (1901-1974), composer and inventor of musical instruments, delighted in generating deep bass. Finding most standard orchestral instruments wanting in that department, he built the huge Marimba Eroica, which he described on his A Glimpse into the World of Harry Partch: 27 Unique Instruments (LP, Columbia MS-20576):
"In the right room acoustically, the Eroica is felt through the feet, against the belly, and, if one sits on the floor, it ripples through his bottom. It is very difficult to put on tape, and especially on records, with any fidelity. Adequate playback equipment is…
This was proven time and again. Track 7 of the Patriot Games soundtrack (CD, RCA 66051-2), "Assault on Ryan's House," is a torture test for subs as it contains an overabundance of unusually thick bottom-end information. But the EMB-1200 was unperturbed and uncovered quite a bit of music down there, which added immeasurably to the realism of the sound. The EMB-1200 played the passage with no sign of distortion or stress. The bass remained clean, deep, and solid, with no spurious noises to indicate that the woofer was in difficulty.
The EMB's speed and agility rendered dynamics with…