A subwoofer for my NHT SuperZeros


I'd like to get more use out of my Super Zeros, which I like very much, by adding a subwoofer. My room size is 14 by 20 with cathedral ceiling and right now I'm using a low cost NAD integrated amp. I plan to upgrade next year to the Creek 5350SE. I listen mostly to music--female vocalists like Dianne Krall and to light jazz--and rarely to home theatre.

My budget for the subwoofer is in the $500 range. I had been leaning to an HSU subwoofer but am concerned about their ability to match well with the SuperZero which struggles to put out anything below 80hz. I wonder if that might also be a problem with other subwoofers in this price range. Stereophile likes the PSB Alpha Subsonic 5, priced at $449. Y'all have any advice for me?

Bill
bmatth3790

Showing 1 response by gunbei

I've owned the same great little pair of SuperZeros for over seven years now and originally purchased them with the NHT SW2P/MA1 subwoofer/amp. I felt it was a very good match sonically, they were definitely designed to work together.

Originally, I ran the speaker outs from my NAD receiver to the MA-1 amp using it's internal crossover and ran the split highpass signal to my SuperZeros with lowpass going to the sub. I also experimented with running the SuperZeros full range and adjusting the MA-1's variable lowpass filter to blend with them. Either way I thought it was a good match.

When I moved into home theater four years ago I gave the sub and amp to a friend and purchased the SW3P/SA3 combo. I'll probably be selling this unit soon as I just bought a Talon ROC 2002.

I think you should stay with the smaller NHT subs such as the SW2P, SW2Pi, or even the SuperSub because they were designed to mate with the small, quick SuperZeros and SuperOnes. The SW3P doesn't have speaker level inputs as the previously mentioned do, and the 12" driver may be a bit slow to integrate with the SuperZero's little midwoofer.

I'm now deep into the audiophile hobby, but I refuse to get rid of the little SuperZeros that started me off.