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quality of the XdW’s bass was competi-
tive with any of them. When I piped the
stereo signal through the Outlaw ICBM
bass-management system, all frequencies
below 40Hz were sent to my Paradigm
Servo-15 subwoofer, which added a wal-
lop to the bottom end that the Xd, as
configured here, couldn’t duplicate. Of
course, the XdA provides drive for a sec-
ond XdW, in stereo or dual-mono, and
that might be a better solution if you’re as
much of a bass addict as I am. But the
unassisted Xd did measure nicely to
below 25Hz in my room; normal folks
need not apply for these extras.
The other area of distinction was the
midrange, where the Xd’s presentation
of voices never seemed lacking but rarely
gave me the shiver of eerie recognition
that I get from the B&Ws or the Revels.
On balance, the Xd could go toe to
toe with any of these speakers. Given
its design and physical configuration,
it’s likely to outperform them in real
domestic listening rooms without
acoustic treatment or major spousal
accommodations.
Conclusions
NHT’s Xd is a remarkable system
whose small size and flexibility in
placement should make it welcome in
most homes. Its small drivers do place a
limit on ultimate volume levels, and
adding more speakers on the same
channels might compromise the Xd’s
marvelous in-room behavior and imag-
ing. That limit, however, is well beyond
what even most audiophiles might
need. Add in its clarity and a neutral
harmonic balance unfettered by output
level, and you have a truly outstanding
system that works in the average home.
However, the Xd is more than just a
speaker. All of its electronics contribute
to the result, particularly the digital
equalization and crossover, which make
a felicitous marriage between amplifiers
and speakers that the average audiophile
can only dream of accomplishing by the
usual mixing and matching of compo-
nents. Moreover, NHT has designed the
Xd as a modular, expandable system that
can be configured as necessary for two-
channel and multichannel applications.
The NHT Xd is the best thing to
come down the pike in a long time. I
hope it is a harbinger of designs to come.
The current Xd system, however, is com-
pletely satisfying in itself—its presence in
my listening room is an enhancement
both visual and aural. Because the Xd’s
performance is competitive at the highest
levels, anyone interested in high-quality
music reproduction must hear it. It might
convince you to reconsider a lot of your
accumulated equipment, but beware—if
you bring along your nonaudiophile
spouse, you may have a lot of explain-
ing to do, about why your current sys-
tem is both more complicated and less
attractive-looking.
■■
NHT Xd
NHT’S Xd IS A REMARKABLE SYSTEM WHOSE
SMALL SIZE AND FLEXIBILITY IN PLACEMENT
SHOULD MAKE IT WELCOME IN MOST HOMES.
Posted with permission from the November 2005 issue of
Stereophile
® www.stereophile.com.Copyright 2005 PRIMEDIA Inc. All rights reserved.
For more information about reprints from
Stereophile
, contact Wright’s Reprints at 877-652-5295
ELECTRONICALLY REPRINTED FROM JANUARY 2006
NHT
Xd
POWERED LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEM
W
hen Kalman
Rubinson
reviewed NHT’s
$6000 satel-
lites+subwoofer
loudspeaker sys-
tem in the November 2005 issue
(pp.105–115), he was very impressed,
concluding that “The NHT Xd is
the best thing to come down the
pike in a long time…Because the
Xd’s performance is competitive at
the highest levels, anyone interested
in high-quality music reproduction
must hear it.” I was also impressed
enough by the Xd’s measured per-
formance that I decided I would do a
“Follow-Up.”
5
A “Follow-Up” would also allow
me to experiment with different
crossover filters that NHT’s Jay
Doherty had e-mailed me after the
November issue had gone to press,
and which were claimed to endow
the system with greater dynamic
range.
“E-mailed…?”
The heart of the Xd system is the
XdA, a four-channel power amplifi-
er that uses PowerPhysics class-D
amplifier modules and includes a
digital-domain crossover from Aus-
tralian company DEQX for up to
FOLLOW -UP