Major innovative break through: The new NSMT Loudspeakers reference speaker

@teajay  - Terry, did you listen to the Stenheim's in your system or another?  I haven't heard the Stenheim or the NSMT so I am just curious if there were other components involved which may or may not have impacted your opinion.

Teajay reviews are spot on, When I visited and listen to the ps 12 Tekton in his system , the review match what I heard. As a reviewer I trust Him.My friend benefited from the product He reviews. Only those gear we can afford.

@lalitk   Yes-ish. Reviewers bring information about products they are excited about. That is a good thing. I know certain reviewers prefer a sound that I don't. I have heard Wilson speakers and it is not for my ear. So all of this is for entertainment/education and the assumption for all is you have to hear them yourself.  And have fun!

Best

jh

This is John, Teajay is using my logon because his account has an issue. I heard these speakers at his place. I can tell you I have never heard a better sound ever.  I can also say from personal experience that Erol is a stand up guy, and understated if anything. He tries to build green because he cares not as a marketing gimic. Actually if you talk to Erol you will quickly understand he is the opposite of hyperbole.  He is a craftsman making the speakers in the US and he is honest. 

Best
JH

While I appreciate teejay’s time and efforts in reviewing gear, reviews are nothing more than one’s perception of a particular gear performance within the context of their system. Their commentary or hyperbole should be taken with grain of salt :-)

Hey fsonicsmith1,

I did not see your post about my review before because I was writing my response to it. I'm still glad I responded and answered your concerns. However, with your last post I now see where you really are coming from. Here's my rebuttal.

1) With your statement that I put "sound above craftmanship" because I written very positive reviews historically about  Tekton Design speakers, own a pair of Ulberth speakers, shows your negative bias that many have towards this brand.

2) I started writing reviews for fun and sharing here with members on the GON which lead to being offered a professional reviewing position. I consider the GON my "home" and have many great friends here. If I find a product that I think is superlative during the reviewing process I share it here. I get many Emails that give me feedback that this information is very helpful to fellow members who share my taste and believe in my honesty. 

3) Thank you very much for comparing me to one of the greatest "screwballs" of all time on the Gon. Coming from you this is a compliment. If you liked my writing I would be concerned I had lost my way.

Thanks, Teajay

Hey Sounds_Real_Audio,

I'm a little mystified about your question, " how do they sound". I believe I get into great details trying to explain what this speaker sonicly produces specifically in my review.

Did you read the review?

Thanks, Teajay

Hey fsonicsmith 1,

Excellent points/concerns regarding the review of your Zen Acoustic speakers by Fitzpatrick. So let's get to the "case at hand". For you to apply your overall perspective to my review I believe is disingenuous for the following reasons:

1) As stated all NSMT speaker cabinets are hand crafted in-house by Erol and he uses different hard woods depending on the model. 

2) Never made a statement, or implied, that the drivers are built in-house. Erol uses very high grade drivers from different sources. He will test scores of different transducers until he gets the measurement and sound he is looking for. If you contact Erol he will discuss with you were he scores his drivers and answer your other questions too.

3) I do not believe I use either hyperbole (exaggeration) or misinformation in this review or any of my reviews. My readers know what my personal taste is and what I'm looking for in the performance of a speaker. If you have a similar tastes you will probably immensely enjoy the speaker, if not you won't. 

4) You are correct in pointing out my omission of not sharing what other amplifiers I used to evaluate the NSMT System Two speakers. If you look at the end of the review you will see a list of all my in-house equipment. I have other terrific solid state amplifiers along with a great SET 300B amplifier and the System Two sounded superlative with all of them. The monitor's sensitivity is 94 dB so even low watt SET amps drive it with ease. Add on the band pass active subwoofers you got a very easy load for any amplification that you want to use.

Thanks, Teajay (Terry London)

@johnah5 

I looked at the website before posting. All that diatribe about green eco-building tells one nothing about the real construction of the cabinets. And there is nothing-at least that I found-as to where and from whom the drivers are sourced. I don't really care. My post was to point out Stereotimes' penchant for hype, hyperbole, and exaggeration.

Every magazine and webzine is guilty of it to a degree. I do think this particular webzine stands at the extreme end of the spectrum. Obviously Terry London puts sound above craftsmanship-otherwise he would not tout the Tekton product. If components are routinely being replaced to the point of "disposable product", it is not an issue. If longevity matters, quality craftsmanship does matter.

Mr. London CHOSE to come onto this forum and promote his forum and his review. I find that practice a bit off-putting. Particularly combined with an attempt to grab attention by with a title "Major innovative break through". Reminds me of Kenjit but Kenjit thank goodness does not claim to be a professional reviewer (or maybe he does). C'mon. There is neither a major innovation or a major break-through to be seen here.

That sounds like a huge, mega, gigantic breakthrough......how do they sound. 

Guys, here is the link to NSMT website.  You can read about cabinets, drivers and anything you want to know about NSMT speaker parts and construction just follow this link.

https://nsmt-loudspeakers.com/

Terry London, it is fascinating to me that every audio webzine seems to have its own "house character". I would characterize you and your brethren at Stereotimes as having a tendency to heap hyperbole upon the ordinary.

For example, this review; https://v2.stereotimes.com/post/the-acoustic-zen-adagio-loudspeaker/

In the above review, the author stated;

"The cabinetry is furniture grade and the finish on both, the figured maple and mappa burl, is highlighted with a high gloss lacquer. Aesthetically they’ll make an excellent addition to any listening room and if you can place them in the vicinity of a window that receives the early morning sun, visually you’ll be in for a special treat. After admiring the craftsmanship for an extended amount of time, I plugged them in the system."

Well, I owned these speakers and the cabinets were not furniture grade, they were instead mass produced cheaply constructed cabinets from China that had some form of inferior chip board that easily crumbled with stress (for example, at the base where spikes could be inserted) disguised with a high tech paint job.

And in the above review one was lead to believe that the drivers were made in-house when anyone with half a brain would know such to false-I knew that going in.

So now let's come to the review sub judice. Where are the drivers sourced from? Where are the cabinets manufactured? How are the drivers secured to the cabinet (nice to know since drivers do come loose from time to time and/or need to be replaced)? These things DO matter. And I am sorry, Sir, but a competent loudspeaker review imho involves rotating at least one and preferably two different amplifier designs into the review so the reader can anticipate how their own amp will pair with speaker under review.

@holmz,

Our bandpass subwoofers are single reflex designs.

Many thanks to Terry London and Stereo Times for Terry's thorough and insightful review of our Clairvoyant loudspeaker systems. Here is the link to the review: https://stereotimes.com/post/nsmt-loudspeakers-the-system-two-clairvoyant-monitor-and-sub-duo-active-bandpass-subwoofer-by-terry-london/

Hey everybody,

The glitch was quickly fixed, so the review appears on the current list of new reviews.

The review on the NSMT System Two speakers earlier today was posted on the Stereo Times website. There is a slight glitch for now, I'm sure it will be corrected shortly by the owner Clement Perry, that the review appears in the archives section under speakers, instead of on the front list of current reviews. So, you have to click on the archives section under speakers to assess it.

I hope you all enjoy the review, I explain as clearly as I could why this is a terrific speaker in so many superlative ways. You can start with the monitor and add on later the two different band pass subwoofers as your budget allows. If your shopping in this price bracket, between $7500 to $15,000, you owe to your self to audition this design before you make your next purchase.

Thanks, Teajay (Terry London)

Hey holmz,

I'm pretty knowledgeable, but first to admit I am not a designer or electrical/acoustic engineer. With your concerns/questions about band pass active subwoofer design I recommend you give a call to Erol to discuss. I'll also ask him if he would want to put something on this thread addressing your questions.

Based on my experience, ported, acoustic suspension, or infinite baffle subwoofers (have had highly regarded and very expensive models in-house for review) come no where close to the natural pressureization of my room delivering a spatial presentation that is a more accurate illusion of live music. Secondly, the blending of the upper bass frequencies with the lower midrange is more seem-less giving the "power range" foundation that allows a system to have a sense of authority/control.   

Teajay (Terry London)

@teajay i was pretty sure that as the order goes up the group delay went up, and the things that went along with slowness, muddies, and the other subjective things.

And why people like transmission lines, infinite baffle and sealed boxes.

WinSD does give group delay for a variety of boxes and used the driver’s Theil-Small parameters.

Hey Holmz,

Actually, the transient response is quite quick/accurate with Erol's band pass design. Don't quite know were you got the assumption that a band pass would be slow at all. I'm sure when the review comes out you will enjoy the extensive information on Band Pass technology.

Teajay (Terry London)

I get into a lengthy explanation of why band-pass designs are rare and sound significantly sound superior in many ways to the normal designs mentioned above in the review.

 

@teajay  please do.
I am attracted to BP designs, but thought that the transient response was generally considered to be a bit slow? (Maybe I am thinking of the higher order ones?)
And the group delay is rolled up in all that as well.

Hey Stringreen,

You are correct Vandersteen has models with built-in active subwoofers. Many other companies build their own subwoofers to integrate with their own speakers. 

However, one of the innovative factors in the new NSMT System Two speaker is that Erol is one of the few designers who is brilliant at designing band-pass active subwoofers, instead of port loaded or acoustic suspension that has to be controlled electrically with either the cross-over or digital shaping. I get into a lengthy explanation of why band-pass designs are rare and sound significantly sound superior in many ways to the normal designs mentioned above in the review. 

Vandersteen has had a powered sub integrated with his speakers for many years

Hey gregjacob,

Erol is a real gentlemen to work with. I hope you decide to choose to have a pair of Monitors shipped to you. I believe you will never send them back. By the way I live 30 miles outside of Chicago, if you ever want to visit to audition the System Two you are more then welcome. This goes for all GON members. 

Teajay (Terry London) 

One issue with the NSMT speakers is the lack of availability to audition them.  I called Erol (very nice). He said NSMT no longer has a listening room at their location (!).  He added that there used to be quite a few places across the US where their speakers were available to listen, but not anymore.  I was actually considering detouring by N.C. in the coming weeks on an upcoming road trip to visit NSMT and have a listen, but he made it clear it is no longer an option.  After a lengthy conversation, he did say that he was willing to ship me the upper (primary) module so that I could listen to it and decide if it is what I'm looking for.  I'll add that it is nice that you can buy the modules separately and build up to what you want. As of this writing, I haven't committed to having him send it but will weigh it. The website and phone call have left me a bit hesitant.  

Hey Ozzy,

I never stated that my Tekton design Ulberth speakers were the "greatest", but that they were superlative speakers at a very reasonable price. They were finally replaced after four years with the NSMT Loudspeaker Model 100 speakers because they out preformed the much large Ulberth speakers on all sonic parameters.

It took Erol Ricketts (designer) of NSMT another four years to design and build a new reference model, the System Two that qualitatively is better then my Model 100s to an amazing degree. This does not make either the NSMT Model 100 or the Tekton Ulberths null and void, both are still very high-level excellent transducers. It just proves that time and technology marches on leading to higher levels of performance. As I shared please look at the review for all the details of why I'm excited to share what the NSMT System Two speakers have to offer sonicly, and while not inexpensive they compete with anything on the market today, regardless of price.

Teajay 

Terry, but I thought you considered the Tekton speakers to be the greatest?

How would these compare to them?

ozzy

I confirm 100% everything Teajay said in his review. I walked into his house when he had Janet Monheit's Honey Suckle Rose track playing and I have never heard that level of 3d holographic sound.  That tone was crystal with full bass and this was the small subwoofers as the larger ones hadn't arrived.  I would recommend these.  Absolutely the best sound I ever heard and I have heard the NSMT 100's at Teajay's/

John Hoffman