NHT 3.3s -- too big for my room?

Carl:
Contact me regarding available NHT 3.3's. BTW, Bryston would be a good match, along with the older Classe amps, i.e Classe 15 or 25.
Dave

I have owned the 3.3 for the past 8 years and at present Iam using a bat VK200 amp.This is a 100 watt amp and is more than enough to drive these speakers. My room is 15' by 18 'but the back wall has an 8' opening into my kitchen area. Are they to much for your room ? close but I think you will be ok. The fact that they were designed to sit against to the front wall was one of the reasons I bought them. Mine measure 9'' off the front wall.My pair measure 7' 6'' center to center.The only complaint I have is that the soundstage is a little low in height .I would not have noticed this at all but recently after listening to a friends Edgar Horns {which soundstage much higher] it did start to bother me. My solution was to insert a inch and a half spacer between my front outriggers and the spikes. This raised the soundstage about 16'' and Iam a happy camper again. At the prices these go for used there is no way you can do any better . Some of the early production runs had plastic nuts on the binding posts My pair came with metal nuts. By the way the Bat VK 200 is an excellent match for this speaker and several are on audiogon now at good prices.

I have been using the 3.3's for about 3 years. They do require a large room and plenty of power. Try to give them as much distance from the side walls as you can. Give them no less than 7' apart from one another. Positioning these speakers are difficult. Ive found that moving them by a matter of inches can change their presentation dramatically. Make sure the wall behind the speakers is rigid. The 4BST should do quite well but a 7B or 14B would be a much better choice.

Forgot. The Bryston should be plenty of power and they don't manufacture them (NHT 3.3's) anymore. Check out their new Classic 4's if you have a dealer near you. They ship in a couple of weeks.

I have mine in not the most optimal room (14' X 14') about 5 inches from the back wall and a little over three feet from the side walls. I power them with modified Forte 7 monoblocks, 75 watts Pure Class A and other times with my Threshold SA/3, 50 Watts pure Class A. I have used larger powered amps, but have settled on these(best sound yet) until I have a larger room and fined better sounding equipment($$$$$). Love it!!!!! They are heavy!!!! 125lbs each. Get someone to help move them around.

Regarding power... I wonder if my Bryston 4BST will be enough for these?

The only thing I might hesitate about is the 3.3's bass output. I've heard those speakers extensively in my friends system (much larger room) and they put out some of the lowest, most detailed bass I've heard. His system was the upper tier of Levinson gear. They're really impressive in that respect. They're nice speakers though...require some serious power to make'em sing. He had his right up against the back wall and they threw a very wide sound stage. Beautiful piano black finish too. Heavy as all get-out. I didn't know they were still made. I've seen them being sold used once in a while for around $1.5 - 2K. I'd speculate those bass traps are going to be very necessary in a room the size of yours.

Marco

Can't see why they won't work if you set them up as recommended. Your room is plenty big.

Appreciate the input! I'm not sure the 3.3s are even made anymore, so finding a dealer could be tricky. I'm looking, tho. I'm also looking into the Audio Physics line, as well, as they, too, have side-firing subs. That's a big part of the appeal of the NHTs... I need extension to 20hz, but am tired of integrating a sub, and ideally, want stereo subs. The room is small enough that two stereo subs is just a bit too much stuff! I'd like a single pair that is truly full range.

Well then they might work, the trapezoidal shape is an advantage, and I forgot, but I believe the front baffles are canted inward so that the back of the speaker is flat on the wall but the front is toed in towards the listening position. That also will help on the side reflections, but you might have to adjust the width of the speaker placement or your listening position to account for that toe-in. Still wonder about the extra bass, though, as the 3.3s had tremendous bass extension, one of their strong suits. Any way the owner/dealer can let you try them in your room? Or maybe you can set them up near corners where you go to hjear them to see.

Anyway, I'm only speaking theoretically, hope some NHT owners can add their experience.

They can't go against the longer wall. I do have the room heavily bass-trapped, however, especially in the corners. And the trapezoidal shape helps tremondously with side reflections (which also have traps at the mirror points). I'd actually be happy if these speakers could go up against the front wall -- the Contour 1.3SEs need to be pulled out from the wall, and as a result, they are a little closer to my listening position than I'd like.

I'm not sure; the problem (advantage in some rooms) that I can see is that the NHTs were designed to go back against the wall, so if you put them against the short wall they may have problems with sidewall reflections and perhaps too much bass reinforcement because they'd be near the corners. Can they be put on the longer back wall?