NHT 2.5i...your advice/input greatly appreciated

I had a pair of these, in fact my hifi journey really took off with them. I suspect the NAD will be a good match tonally, but my experience with these speakers (and NHTs in general) is that they like GOBS of power. They will sound OK with a modest integrated but you won't really hear what they're capable of until you hit 'em with a good 100 watts or more of high current power. Just my opinion. See what you think...and if you ever get into home theater, the 2.5i will kick ass (but will also reveal inferior upstream components).

The 2.5i is an excellent speaker but, as the poster above says, you will probably need about 100 a channel. I think the NAD 370 would be a better match than the 320. I have heard this combo numerous times and I always thought it sounded pretty darn good.
I use the 2.5's in my home theater setup and love them. You almost don't need a sub!

Hey there,

I have tons of experience with NHT (been a 'fan' and owner of numerous models since the beginning). As far as powering these speakers, you should be more concerned about amperage than wattage. I had my 80 wpc Unico running them for a while and believe me, they put out all the clean spl's that you could ever want in a normal sized room. Having said that, I do concur that the NAD370 would be a better match as far as power requirements are concerned.

Also, the NHT's like their equipment more on the warm side... if not, your cat will be climbing the walls because of the unforgiving highs (I really loved most of my NHT's using a solid state amp and tube or hybrid pre amp to smooth them out a bit).

I had mine in a room that was 11.5 x 14 and they were just too much - the bass became too boomy and bloated in my room and no matter what, i couldn't do anything about it (I even tried stuffing the ports with medium density foam, which helped, but didn't cure the problem). This, apparently, was a common complaint about the 2.5 and 2.5i's. So, if your room is on the small side, consider yourself forewarned (The 2.5i's differ from every other NHT model in that they are ported - bad move on NHT's part)

Now, with respect to their performance for movie viewing - Excellent. Clear, articulate, dynamic and big-sounding. Really outstanding performance, in my opinion, for home theatre (and many, many visitors who have passed through my condo agree).

With respect to 2 channel audio, they are also very good (provided they have breathing room). They image like champs, focus very well and they really clearly delineate where musicians/ instruments are located in space). The NHT's upper drivers really have the ability to 'float' an image, given the proper material.

I'll put it this way: I sold mine and regret it. Now, I'm looking for a pair of the 1.5's (top part of 2.5i's) for my small-ish room (2nd system). I'm staying away from the 2.5i's only because they're too much speaker for the room in which they'll be placed.

hope this helps

Thanks.

This will be a dedicated 2-channel system for music.

My room is good sized 15x32, speakers at the short end.

Does the price seem reasonable? They are a few years old.

Could I do better in this price range?

If that price is in U.S. dollars, it's not bad (works out to just over 700 Canadian, which is what I got for mine last year - then again, I let mine go too cheap)

In terms of overall performance, it really depends on what it is you're looking for. They are not the most subtle of speakers nor are they the most resolving of inner details (although they ARE very good at doing so). But, I must say, overall, these speakers are good at reproducing a very wide variety of music (which to me, is a large part of their appeal). AGain, I stress that the amp and preamp MUST be high current and smooth sounding in order to get the most out of these speakers (and I reiterate that a tube preamp works wonders, coupled with a high current, solid state power amp).

Sure, there are speakers that do better in some ways than the NHT's, but for overall performance and for a wide variety of music, these babies are solid (again, provided you have breathing room for them)