Help with NHT 3.3 s

I agree with others that it's likely to be a room and placement problem. What kind of wall is behind the 3.3s? If you are getting bass in other rooms, it's leaking out of the listening room. I would bet you have a standard, modern, junky wallboard wall behind them. (I have the same junk in my house.) You could move to a house with real plaster walls, build a brick wall behind them, or more realistically if remodeling is a possibility, reinforce the wall behind them with additional layers of sheetrock. If none of that is possible, experiment with positioning and add more materials that will absorb higher frequencies. I would also suggest consulting a book on acoustics; e.g., Alton Everest's volume. I hope this is helpful or at least throught-provoking.

NHT recommends placement of the speakers against the back wall, and a listener distance of 1.5x the distance between the two speakers. With the slanted baffles, this placement should work for almost any room, at least for the sweet spot, but is quite different from other speaker placement formulas that are optimal for other speaker lines. -Kirk

Try to get your hands on the "magic formula" for speaker placement. I think I saw it in Stereophile Guide to Home Theater. I haev also seen reference to it here. Try a search for speaker placement. I believe one the premier loudspeaker manufacturers has it on their website, but I am not sure which one (maybe Dunlavy?). The formula helps you identify optimal speaker palcement based upon length and width of your room.

Hi,

Thanks for the input from all of you! I will consider all
the info from this & other e-mails and see how it goes.
I am really impressed with the sound already & playing
with them more today produced better results. Just goes
to show how much it takes to get it perfect. (which I knew)
Also I think with the bigger Rowland mono's, it will open
up even futher in heft. Problem was initally coming off
Wisdom Adrenaline 75's I think!?

Very quick & detailed speaker...wife loves them :o) and
she has heard a lot, and usually does not comment much,
except for the Wisdoms.

Thanks again for all the help.

Bob.

If I'm not mistaken, the 3.3's were designed to be placed right up against the rear wall. I have a pair of VT-1.2's. I too have found that listening height makes a big difference with NHT's. Also, I think what you are hearing around the room is mid-bass boom, not real bass. I'm guessing that in your listening postion "sweet spot" you can sense bass response (in your head), but don't really feel it (rumbling in your chest). Here is a test. While seated in your prime listening position, try planting your feet on the listening area floor and touching the sides of your chair/couch. If there suddenly seems to be more bass rumble, you're really feeling and hearing mid-bass boom. NHT's typically produce true, honest bass response when positioned to factory spec. Good luck and happy listening.

I get the impression you are standing in all other positions when getting good bass, but when you sit in the sweet spot there is no bass: do you think its a height problem with your listening position. How is the bass when you sit behind the listening position, instead of standing? How is it when you stand in the listening position? You may be having some cancellation in the low frequencies at that exact point. If its height related you could experiment with raising the listening position and or speakers (put concrete or marble slabs under them). Just my thoughts.

Bob,
I'm using 3.3's myself, biamped with a Sunfire stereo amp (300 w/p/c), and 2 channels of a Sunfire Cinema Grand (200 w/p/c to the mid/tweet). My room measures 16' x 24' x 9' tall at the low end, tapering to 13' at the peak of the ceiling. Mine also flank a bigscreen, with about 10" of clearance on each side. Those woofers need room to breathe. Your TV might be reflecting a great deal of that LF info right back into the driver itself, cancelling the bass at it's source.

I was a bit disappointed with the bass response at first, but then you have to realize that these speakers are NEUTRAL sounding. They don't "add" to the recording. Try moving your equipment rack to one side of the room or the other, and give those woofers some space. I think that might clean things up. Not only that, but the equipment might react a little better without having to combat the vibration and magnetic interference produced by the drivers being so close to the components!

If you want the extra "slam" that isn't in the original recording, you might try a PAIR of Mirage BPS-400's. It worked for me! Great for home theater. And adds an extra ocatave of "bottom" that the 3.3's can't seem to eke out on their own.

Good luck.
David.