NHT Classic Four and Absolute Tower Loudspeaker Preview

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admin

Audioholics Robot
Staff member
NHT's Classic Four and Absolute Tower loudspeakers aim to challenge the notion that an attractive loudspeaker offering excellent sound quality must come with a premium price. With MSRPs of $2,700 and $1,260 respectively, their price points are firmly in the "affordable by normal people" category. Still, the market is flooded with companies claiming great sound for little cash. What sets the NHT's apart from the competition? Keep reading to find out.


Discuss "NHT Classic Four and Absolute Tower Loudspeaker Preview" here. Read the article.
 
Adam

Adam

Audioholic Jedi
The Classic Four has been out for years, hasn't it? I thought that previews were for new gear - not to say that you haven't previewed other old gear and I just didn't notice... :)
 
Steve81

Steve81

Audioholics Five-0
The Classic Four has been out for years, hasn't it? I thought that previews were for new gear - not to say that you haven't previewed other old gear and I just didn't notice... :)
Yes, both towers have been around for several years at this point. Of course, while most previews tend to be focused on new gear, it's not a hard and fast rule, particularly when it's felt something interesting has been overlooked.
 
Steve81

Steve81

Audioholics Five-0
Or you get a new sponsor. :p

Btw, I'm a big NHT fan, so I'm just playing with you.
I've heard rumors to that effect ;)

Fun fact: I lived in Benicia, CA, (and some of the other nearby towns in the SF area) for a few years; unfortunately I didn't know much about NHT at the time.
 
gene

gene

Audioholics Master Chief
Administrator
Or you get a new sponsor. :p

Btw, I'm a big NHT fan, so I'm just playing with you.
Yes you uncovered a real mystery here. We signed on a new advertiser and wanted to post a few teaser articles to prep people for more formal reviews. Here is a shocker for you, a video review with Hugo and myself is coming next :D
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
A few years ago the NHT Classic Four was only $900 each or $1800/pr. I remember Audio Advisor had them on sale for $800 each. Now they are $2,700/Pair? Inflation much? :D
 
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alphaiii

Audioholic General
A few years ago the NHT Classic Four was only $900 each or $1800/pr. Now it's $2,700? Inflation much? :D
Yeah, unfortunately all of their speakers went up quite a bit from where they were when NHT first came back as an ID company.
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
Yeah, unfortunately all of their speakers went up quite a bit from where they were when NHT first came back as an ID company.
Well, I am not talking about 20 years ago. I am talking about a matter of 3-4 years ago. :D

Back in 1992, I bought the SuperZero for $90 each. You can still get these on sale for $60-80 each.

But the Classic Four really went up.
 
hk2000

hk2000

Junior Audioholic
Today's NHT- Not so much.

For me, since they abandoned their Focused Image Geometry technology (21-Degree Baffle), they lost their edge. I've listened to several of their new designs including the Classic Four, and I still haven't heard any thing even close to their 3.3. I used to love NHT and I still use the 2.5i which sounds great but the new designs leave quite a bit to be desired.
 
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alphaiii

Audioholic General
Well, I am not talking about 20 years ago. I am talking about a matter of 3-4 years ago. :D
Hah, so am I... I'm talking prices in 2009-2010-ish, after NHT reopened as an ID company (which happened late 2009 IIRC).
 
zieglj01

zieglj01

Audioholic Spartan
Hah, so am I... I'm talking prices in 2009-2010-ish, after NHT reopened as an ID company (which happened late 2009 IIRC).
While NHT is a good company and makes nice speakers - I now consider them for
the most part, over-priced. I will not pay the current list price for the Classic Two,
or Absolute Zero.

I believe they are using the SuperZero as a leader item.

Maybe this marketing push here, will help them to gain more sales.
 
A

alphaiii

Audioholic General
While NHT is a good company and makes nice speakers - I now consider them for
the most part, over-priced. I will not pay the current list price for the Classic Two,
or Absolute Zero.

I believe they are using the SuperZero as a leader item.

Maybe this marketing push here, will help them to gain more sales.
I do agree on them being overpriced at retail. They run alot of sales though, like the recent for the Two at $199 each.

But I'm not a fan of that strategy. I would prefer that they figure a price that gives the margin they want, and stick to it (like Aperion and Ascend for example)...

I get that people like the Super Zero... and it's probably the highest margin speaker they sell... but I was just not that impressed, even for $80 each.
 
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unbridled_id

Audiophyte
Yea...wish the 3's were still 700 and they had 30% off sales . Wish all prices remained as they were...you know ....no inflation of any kind.
 
zieglj01

zieglj01

Audioholic Spartan
For me, since they abandoned their Focused Image Geometry technology (21-Degree Baffle), they lost their edge.
I owned a pair of their focused geometry bookshelf speakers in the past. They were
nice for the price - however, the bass was somewhat boomy. > That bookshelf was
using some cheaper parts at the time - like a stamp frame woofer basket. They still
did a decent job.
 
hk2000

hk2000

Junior Audioholic
I owned a pair of their focused geometry bookshelf speakers in the past. They were
nice for the price - however, the bass was somewhat boomy. > That bookshelf was
using some cheaper parts at the time - like a stamp frame woofer basket. They still
did a decent job.
That's odd but possible- boomy speakers can also be a result of speaker-room interaction. They did use "economical" parts, but I'm not sure that would affect the sound quality more so than the reliability, quality and durability of the speaker. You can even see it in their current as well as previous generation Super-Zero's 4" driver- that thing looks like it came right out of an old transistor radio:D and yet they've always been highly regarded. I think the designs they had were very sound indeed. I know I wouldn't trade my 2.5i's for any of their current speakers or most other speakers for that matter.
 
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unbridled_id

Audiophyte
A few years ago the NHT Classic Four was only $900 each or $1800/pr. I remember Audio Advisor had them on sale for $800 each. Now they are $2,700/Pair? Inflation much? :D

Yea...remember when they had the chocolate brown 4's going for $999 a pair ? I really liked that brown color, but I guess it didn't move enough to justify keeping them.

Byrne had a "blog" on the NHT website that he hardly ever contributed to and it eventually was deleted after not being posted in for well over a year.

Doesn't seem like they have much in the works... but the classic series while being around for awhile still is what it is. It appars as if NHT is set with their pricing structure despite the persistent advice they get. I wish them well, and while I was interested in perhaps getting a set of classic two's last year I went with KEF Q 300's and am pleased with the price I paid and their performance.
 
I

ichigo

Full Audioholic
Well, I am not talking about 20 years ago. I am talking about a matter of 3-4 years ago. :D

Back in 1992, I bought the SuperZero for $90 each. You can still get these on sale for $60-80 each.

But the Classic Four really went up.
Since the Federal Reserve's Quantitative Easing program started in 2009, the money supply has gone up from 800 billion to over 6 trillion, with over a trillion dollars being printed each year. The consequence if this policy is Silicon Valley is no longer the weathiest part of the country, but all counties surrounding Washington are now the wealthiest in the nation. This happens when selective insiders get all this money being printed at 0% interest, and then charge the end user 20% when it's loaned out on credit.

But the primary cause of increasing prices is money printing by the Federal Reserve. It serves the government well to inflate its debt, and to enrich Washington insiders. The rest of us pay higher prices. As far as who to blame, it comes down Richard Nixon for taking us off the gold standard, although certainly everyone after him can share in the blame for not adhering to the constitution which banned paper currency (before 1971 all of our currency used to say "silver certificate" or "payable in lawful money" (gold) so technically it was not a paper currency but just receipts for gold and silver).

Anyway, the government is not dumb. They know the people don't like this. Why else did the Department of Homeland Security buy a billion hollow-point bullets recently? According to the Defense Department, the entire U.S. military only blows throw about 17 million bullets a month. Department of Homeland Security is getting ready for a hot war with the American people that they obviously believe could last a decade.
 
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