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inverted onto its stand, the cover that
protects the drivers can be swapped for a
fitted grille. Each XdS connects to the
XdA with a color-coded cable terminat-
ed, on each end, with a clearly labeled fit-
ting bearing four banana plugs.
The 57-lb XdW comes fully assem-
bled, requiring only the attachment of
its IEC power cord and XLR signal
cable (both provided). It also has its
own power switch and level control; I
found the latter correctly calibrated to
match the XdS in my room.
The XdA’s rear panel has left and
right RCA and XLR inputs, L/R RCA
and XLR woofer outputs, two sets of
four binding posts, one for each L/R
amplified output, and AC power and
switching facilities. Although that’s all
that’s needed for general use, there are
also: a mike input for the future addi-
tion of room EQ functions, a USB port
for software updates such as modified
EQ and crossover curves, and options
for remote switching and/or signal-
sensing for turning the unit on. The
XdA’s front panel, stylish in black and
silver, has indicators and pushbuttons
for each channel that adjust the system
EQ for the proximity of the XdS satel-
lites to walls, corners, and other large
objects, such as video monitors.
Because all cables and parts are
included and all the necessary EQ is
already programmed, the system was up
and running within half an hour of my
opening the first carton. In fact, most of
my effort was expended in removing
my resident floorstanding speakers so
that the Xd could have room to breathe.
Beautiful looks
My oh my, but this is one beautiful
speaker system. Even before turning it
on, I could appreciate that NHT has put
a lot of effort into making the Xd wel-
come in the home. Each XdS becomes
one with its base, and the elliptical
XdW is a refreshing relief from the
usual cubes and cylinders. While the
two-tone scheme may not appeal to
everyone, the Xd is spectacularly fin-
ished and definitely furniture-grade.
Other finishes are promised; if they’re
executed as nicely as this one, the WAF
bugaboo should be gone forever.
At first, I put the XdS’s about 7'
apart and about 2' from the front wall.
The unported XdW was dead center
between them but closer to the wall.
Damn, it looked nice, and the maroon-
and-cream color scheme worked well
with our bubblegum-pink walls.
Fed by the L/R outputs of the McCor-
mack MAP-1 preamplifier, the Xd sys-
tem was plagued with a low, buzzy hum.
Because the hum came only through the
XdS satellites and not the XdW, I didn’t
conclude that it was a ground loop until
after lots of cable-swapping, AC rerout-
ing, and fooling with ferrites. NHT’s Jack
Hidley thought the ground loop came
from cable TV or a satellite receiver, but
neither was the case because I’d discon-
nected both. However, he did say that
“the PowerPhysics switching amplifiers
have an H bridge output. The conse-
quence of this is that there will be half of
the rail voltage (70VDC) on the plus and
minus speaker outputs of the XdA all the
time.” I suppose that might make the Xd
more sensitive than other systems to the
leakage of rail-borne noise. Nonetheless,
the simple solution suggested by NHT
was a ground cheater on the XdA’s AC
cord. It worked.
When I set the XdA to turn itself on
only when it sensed an audio signal, it
responded in 3–5 seconds; the XdW,
which is always in this mode, took
about 3 seconds more. This is not a
problem, but you’ll become aware of it
when you put on your first CD and
don’t hear its first notes. I was more
bothered by the XdA shutting down
after several minutes without signal,
which occurred during testing when I
took 10 minutes to analyze the results
of one signal sweep before taking
another. All of this can be avoided by
setting the XdA to be permanently On.
Beautiful is as beautiful does
My first impression of the Xd system’s
sound was that it was clean and well-bal-
anced but somehow lacked great projec-
tion and weight. Imaging was stable and
discrete, with a wide, deep soundstage
into which the XdS speakers themselves
almost “disappeared.” To get more satis-
fying performance, I tried fiddling with
the XdA’s speaker position control,
which equalizes the system to compen-
sate for the XdSes’ distances from room
boundaries, but the differences, though
easily discernible, were not effective.
Later, when I got the graphs showing
the boundary-compensation EQ, it was
clear why these settings would not affect
this range: All of those adjustments
affect only frequencies above 200Hz.
This was resolved in two ways. First,
I measured an in-room response that
dipped several dB in the upper-bass
range centered on 130Hz. This detract-
ed from the general impression of
weight, warmth, and richness of sound.
While the crossover slope between the
XdS and XdW may be a very steep
48dB/octave at 110Hz, there is still sig-
nificant signal overlap between the
woofer and satellites; the positioning of
the woofer is important. A lower fre-
quency, of course, would compromise
the power-handling limits of the XdS’s
5.25" driver. I found that moving the
XdW forward so that it was the same
distance from the listener as the satel-
lites filled in the integrated response, as
confirmed by instrument and ear.
www.Stereophile.com, November 2005
ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT
DIGITAL SOURCES Simaudio Moon Orbiter, Denon DV-5900 universal players.
PREAMPLIFIER McCormack MAP-1.
POWER AMPLIFIER Bryston 9B-SST.
LOUDSPEAKERS Paradigm Reference Studio/60 v.3, Studio/20, Servo-15
subwoofer; Revel Ultima Studio; B&W N802D.
CABLES Interconnect: Harmonic Technology Harmony Rainbow, Crystal Cable
Cinemax, Kubala-Sosna Fascination. Speaker: Kubala-Sosna Fascination.
AC: Kubala-Sosna Emotion.
ACCESSORIES Echo Buster room treatments, RealTraps. —Kalman Rubinson
NHT Xd
BECAUSE ALL CABLES AND PARTS ARE INCLUDED
AND ALL THE NECESSARY EQ IS ALREADY
PROGRAMMED, THE XD SYSTEM WAS UP AND
RUNNING WITHIN HALF AN HOUR OF MY
OPENING THE FIRST CARTON.