I first heard the SuperZero when NHT introduced it at the 1993 Las Vegas WCES along with their new flagship 3.3 ($4000/pair). But while the 3.3 really…
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But that was then and this is now. Ken Kantor, NHT's designer/founder, has totally redesigned his smallest speaker—the cabinet is the only thing left from the older Zero—giving it high-performance drivers, a better crossover, and real speaker connectors. And while NHT never claimed that the original Zero was anything but a decent budget speaker, they're calling the SuperZero a true high-end component that just happens to cost very little.
The MA-1 offers two ways to mate the SW2 subwoofer with a pair of speakers, and was designed to allow the use of other manufacturers' speakers as well as NHT's own models. Via the MA-1's speaker-level inputs and outputs, the signal from a system's main amplifier is taken to the MA-1 and crossed over passively at 100Hz to the main speakers. The MA-1 also sums the two channels and sends the signal to the active low-pass crossover, whose feed to the subwoofer is then adjustable in terms of level via the front-panel level knob and crossover frequency—50Hz, 80Hz, or 110Hz (footnote 3). (The MA-1'…
You're not going to get great sound from the NHTs unless you treat them like a "real" high-end speaker, though. Just because they're cheap, don't be fooled into thinking that all the high-end attention you lavish on "real" speakers is a waste of time with the SuperZeros. Chuck the grilles. Give the NHTs a good pair of solid, stable stands, with a bit of Blu-Tack under the speakers' corners. Toe them in so they directly face you.
If you treat the SuperZeros like just another cheap speaker, that's the kind of sound you'll hear. But while most cheap speakers never really improve no matter…
It's now been eight years since a Rega P3 turntable passed through my listening room. While the new P3-24 superficially resembles the P3 (and virtually every other Rega 'table), the company has made some significant changes, including upgrading to the high-quality, low-voltage (24V), electronically adjusted motor used in the more expensive P5, P7, and P9. As in those models, an electronic circuit trims the phase angle of the P3-24's motor coils, thus substantially reducing motor vibrations. In 1998, during a factory tour, a Rega engineer demonstrated the circuit's effectiveness to me. As he…
Because the P3-24 is neither isolated nor mass-loaded, what you set it on may have a noticeable effect on the sound. My review sample was placed atop a Finite Elemente Pagode stand, whose solid maple shelves sit on damped points in rigid maple frames fitted with resonance-distributing tuning forks.
It takes but a few minutes to set up a P3-24 or any Rega, especially one prefitted with a cartridge. But with no leveling facilities, you'll have to make sure that whatever you place it on is itself level. Rega continues to use an O-ring interface between the RB301 tonearm's stainless-steel…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-speed belt-drive turntable with AC synchronous motor and glass platter. Wow & flutter: unspecified. Speed accuracy: unspecified. Rumble: unspecified. Includes RB301 pivoted tonearm with one-piece, cast-aluminum armtube: Spindle to pivot: 222.8mm. Effective length: 240mm. Spring-actuated downforce, sliding-magnet antiskating system.
Dimensions: 17.5" (450mm) W by 4.5" (115mm) H by 14" (360mm) D (height includes dustcover, feet).
Finish: Black.
Serial Number Of Unit Reviewed: 00405.
Price: $895 with tonearm; add $200 for Elys 2…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Continuum Audio Labs: Caliburn, Cobra, Castellon turntable, tonearm, and stand. Music Hall MMF-9.1 turntable, Graham Phantom tonearm; Lyra Titan i, Einstein TU-3, Rega Exact 2, Goldring Elite cartridges.
Digital Sources: Musical Fidelity kW DM 25 transport & DAC, BPT-modified Alesis Masterlink hard-disk recorder.
Preamplification: Manley Steelhead, Einstein Turntable's Choice, whestTWO, Aqvox Phono 2 CI phono preamplifiers; Musical Fidelity kWP, DarTZeel NHB-18NS preamplifiers.
Power Amplifiers: Musical Fidelity kW monoblocks.…
My home, which overlooks a dairy farm, is easy to see from a mile away, invisible from the end of its own driveway. Elevation: 1345'. Population: 3.
My computer speaks to the world through a 56kbps modem and a telephone line. It takes about five minutes to load the local forecast on Weather.com, and YouTube is something I can enjoy only when I visit other people's homes. (I signed up for a satellite Internet service called Wild Blue, but was astounded to discover that what they peddle as e-mail is in fact g-mail—and so buggy that it doesn't work through the user's own e-mail…
Unsurprisingly, the handset was designed more as a game controller than a consumer audio interface: With its dual pistol-grips in my hands, I could imagine myself zapping aliens, or engaging in hand-to-hand combat with some bloodthirsty fiend who hates my freedom. Sadly, imagining was all I could do—I didn't connect the PS1 to a television set or monitor screen, without which the Sony lacks a visual readout of any sort. Lucky for me, six of its 14 buttons can be used for basic audio-only functions: start, stop, skip forward, skip backward, and so forth (see illustration). In another lucky…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Obsolete gaming machine used as a CD player. Formats supported: CD, CD-R. Analog output jacks: RCA, proprietary A/V multipin. Digital output jacks: none. Power consumption: 17W.
Dimensions: 10.75" (275mm) W by 2.5" (65mm) H by 7.5" (190mm) D. Weight: 3.2 lbs (1.5kg).
Color: Grayish.
Serial Number Of Unit Reviewed: SCPH-1001 U6513204 (auditioning), SCPH-1001 U7163475 (measurements).
Price: $25. Approximate number of dealers: 1496.
Manufacturer: Sony Corporation of America, 550 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022. Tel: (800) 345-…