Nht Xd 2.2

[Boerd]

My system is/was Vienna Acoustics Baby Beethoven speakers , REL R 505 sub, Primare integrated amp (I21) and the Classic SqueezeBox 3. Cables are made by Cobalt for speakers; audioquest for the RCA link between SB3 and the integrated amp. I bought my system in 2005 (except the SB3 which I bought in 2006).

All my music is lossless stored on a computer (more than 700 CDs that now sit in the garage) and played wirelessly through SB3; this way there is no mechanical noise from the player (like a CD/SACD player would have). Of course the computer that stores the music is in a different room - all those noisy computer fans I can't stand...
The MSRP cost of the VA/Primare/REL system is 3995$ (VA) + 1995$ (REL) + 1495 (I21) + 130$ (10 AWG Cobalt cables) + 8.25% CA taxes = 8.243$
I am as happy as I can be with my system BUT (here I go) I am always reading reviews about and listening to (too many) speakers; including some I couldn't afford.
Long story short, I heard about the NHT XDa an active crossover system with DEQX crossovers and Power Physics amplifier(s) in 2006 but it was just a few months after I bought my system so I wasn't very interested. Plus, at that time "digital" amplifier was a bad word, a profanity in the boutique oriented audiophile world and NHT is not quite an exotique brand - they are down to earth guys.
Here we are today in 2009 with the economy in the toilet and NHT slashes prices - XD Active 2.2 is down to 2999$.
In the meantime I read quite a bit about class D amplifiers and learned they are (or at least could be) actually pretty good. So I order the NHT XD Active 2.2 in special dark, factory-direct.
Now I have both the Beethovens/Primare/REL + the NHT XD Active 2.2.
I also had to order a preamp and I chose the Parasound Halo P3 – I heard it many times and I like it. That set me back another 850$ (tax included).
I was thinking - if a don't like the NHT I will sell them on Audiogon (yes I will loose some money but there is no place that let's me audition them). If I like them better than my current setup (I thought that was unlikely) I might keep both. After all, the VA/Primare/REL combination is as good as I can afford.
Or so I thought. The only speakers I like better than my Beethovens and under 15k$ are the Martin Logan Summit X. Now that is way above budget and my wife wouldn't approve either way (don't you bring those UFOs in our house, OK?). Speakers more expensive than that make no sense to me. A lot of doubtful (pseudo) technology go in such esoteric and expensive speakers - my 2c. Also - do not try justifying me k$ cables - it makes me laugh.
See this
http://www.audioholics.com/education/cables/top-ten-signs-an-audio-cable-vendor-is-selling-you-snake-oil
on one of my (our) preferred websites.

So, how do 8243$ spent at Magnolia HiFi stack up against 4100$ ( 3247$ is 3k$ + taxes then add 850$ for the Halo P3) spent buying factory direct gear from NHT + the Parasound P3 preamp?
Looks and appearance first:

The VA are some gorgeous lookers - the kind of finish you rarely see. If you look at the binding posts in the back then it'll be clear for you - the Austrians from VA mean quality. And that is not only outside, to be seen; read up on their website about their crossovers... Unless you are willing to spend a lot more I'd say the VA Beethovens are as good as it gets for a mortal's audio system.
The Primare amplifier is also a beautiful amplifier, simple, elegant and classy.
The RELL sub is also very nicely finished - a true black piano high gloss - really nice.

The NHT XDs speakers are very nicely finished - on par with the VA. I even consider the dark red chocolate/black piano high gloss finish better than the VA/RELL. The spikes that come with the stand are in a beautiful gun metallic color (and no, I don't like guns) - nicest spikes I've seen in a long time. Now there are two things I am not really thrilled in the looks of the NHT XDs:
a) the cable that comes standard is not that cool looking
b) there is a sticker on the back of the speakers with their serial #. Nicer/better finish and look than the VA yet a piece of sticker on their back!

Now the XDa (XD's amplifier) is not very nice looking - plastic front plate. Nowhere close to the Primare look.
The XDw are very nice looking - better looking than the RELL.

I like listening to baroque (I love organ) music and all kind of fast, ear blasting punk/heavy metal. This (strange) combination music I like makes me hard to please when it comes to sound reproduction.

Sound comparison:

The VAs sound very relaxed with good imaging and clear mids while the highs sound silky smooth and mellow. They almost sound like they are meant to play Baroque music (even organ - with the REL subs) and Jazz. There is a sense of calm and precision (made in Vienna/Austria, remember?) in the sound of these speakers that gives you years of enjoyment listening to them.
The bass integration with the RELL is pretty good and the RELL never rattles and never booms - a sealed subwoofer, the only type of sub I like.
I could go on and on about their sound qualities but I'd rather skip to the critique part.
The high bass - low mids sounds a bit lifeless even with the RELL - almost missing a bit of energy/speed. At low levels there is plenty of details but when turned on a bit too loud the speakers distort a bit and the sound is not so relaxed anymore and no, it is not the amp; the knob is around 30 out of 75 when this is noticeable (there is some decent reserve in the amp). During my 4 years with this setup I noticed the piano sounds a bit boxy at times, especially in the low mids. As good as they are these speakers will not rock the house - they just don't play that clear at (acceptably) loud volume.

NHT.
On par with the best I ever listened to then some. I have listened to a lot of gear in the 10-15K$ range and even above - Mahler from VA 13k$, Amati from SF 28K$, Summit and Summit X from ML 10 respective 14 k$, the 801/802 from B&W, old/new Tannoys, etc.
NHT is nothing less. If anything the NHT are better.
The XD system can rock very LOUD and can play jazz very relaxed. With the 2.2 and the filter that sets the system to go down to 20Hz you can listen to organ music and it sounds real. You put the filter for high SPL and you can rock the house and still have plenty of bass down to 25Hz.
The best part - these speakers do not distort at (very) loud volume, they can rock and sound effortless, play organ effortlessly and have all the detail. And this comes from somebody who went to quite a few concerts and operas.
The mids are very fast - I dare to say on par with the best electrostats - don't take my word for it, try them out.
The bass is fast, never boomy and never rattles. The highs are crisp, detailed never too harsh but never mellow.
And the speakers, both bass and monitors are sealed.
Again - unbelievable sound, precise, effortless and fast.
Instruments like piano and the organ never sounded more life like, ever. Large orchestras, rock bands never sounded so crisp.


After listening to the NHT I decided I have to part with the VA Beethovens/Primare/REL (Audiogon anybody?) - they were dwarfed by the NHT XD.

Now, in all fairness below are the things I don't like in the NHT XD active setup:
There is a the setting for the XDa that allows you to start the XDa with a music signal. During quiet passages the amp shuts down - annoying. The easy way I fixed that was to use the external trigger setting instead. I plugged wires from my preamp's trigger output to the XDa trigger input. It takes 1 minute and a simple wire to do that. Read your preamp manual to locate the 12V trigger output and send that to the trigger input in the XDa. Ok - this was easy.
Another thing is that whenever XDa starts there is a small sound pop in the tweeters.

 

[TLS Guy]

My system is/was Vienna Acoustics Baby Beethoven speakers , REL R 505 sub, Primare integrated amp (I21) and the Classic SqueezeBox 3. Cables are made by Cobalt for speakers; audioquest for the RCA link between SB3 and the integrated amp. I bought my system in 2005 (except the SB3 which I bought in 2006).

All my music is lossless stored on a computer (more than 700 CDs that now sit in the garage) and played wirelessly through SB3; this way there is no mechanical noise from the player (like a CD/SACD player would have). Of course the computer that stores the music is in a different room - all those noisy computer fans I can't stand...
The MSRP cost of the VA/Primare/REL system is 3995$ (VA) + 1995$ (REL) + 1495 (I21) + 130$ (10 AWG Cobalt cables) + 8.25% CA taxes = 8.243$
I am as happy as I can be with my system BUT (here I go) I am always reading reviews about and listening to (too many) speakers; including some I couldn't afford.
Long story short, I heard about the NHT XDa an active crossover system with DEQX crossovers and Power Physics amplifier(s) in 2006 but it was just a few months after I bought my system so I wasn't very interested. Plus, at that time "digital" amplifier was a bad word, a profanity in the boutique oriented audiophile world and NHT is not quite an exotique brand - they are down to earth guys.
Here we are today in 2009 with the economy in the toilet and NHT slashes prices - XD Active 2.2 is down to 2999$.
In the meantime I read quite a bit about class D amplifiers and learned they are (or at least could be) actually pretty good. So I order the NHT XD Active 2.2 in special dark, factory-direct.
Now I have both the Beethovens/Primare/REL + the NHT XD Active 2.2.
I also had to order a preamp and I chose the Parasound Halo P3 – I heard it many times and I like it. That set me back another 850$ (tax included).
I was thinking - if a don't like the NHT I will sell them on Audiogon (yes I will loose some money but there is no place that let's me audition them). If I like them better than my current setup (I thought that was unlikely) I might keep both. After all, the VA/Primare/REL combination is as good as I can afford.
Or so I thought. The only speakers I like better than my Beethovens and under 15k$ are the Martin Logan Summit X. Now that is way above budget and my wife wouldn't approve either way (don't you bring those UFOs in our house, OK?). Speakers more expensive than that make no sense to me. A lot of doubtful (pseudo) technology go in such esoteric and expensive speakers - my 2c. Also - do not try justifying me k$ cables - it makes me laugh.
See this
http://www.audioholics.com/education/cables/top-ten-signs-an-audio-cable-vendor-is-selling-you-snake-oil
on one of my (our) preferred websites.

So, how do 8243$ spent at Magnolia HiFi stack up against 4100$ ( 3247$ is 3k$ + taxes then add 850$ for the Halo P3) spent buying factory direct gear from NHT + the Parasound P3 preamp?
Looks and appearance first:

The VA are some gorgeous lookers - the kind of finish you rarely see. If you look at the binding posts in the back then it'll be clear for you - the Austrians from VA mean quality. And that is not only outside, to be seen; read up on their website about their crossovers... Unless you are willing to spend a lot more I'd say the VA Beethovens are as good as it gets for a mortal's audio system.
The Primare amplifier is also a beautiful amplifier, simple, elegant and classy.
The RELL sub is also very nicely finished - a true black piano high gloss - really nice.

The NHT XDs speakers are very nicely finished - on par with the VA. I even consider the dark red chocolate/black piano high gloss finish better than the VA/RELL. The spikes that come with the stand are in a beautiful gun metallic color (and no, I don't like guns) - nicest spikes I've seen in a long time. Now there are two things I am not really thrilled in the looks of the NHT XDs:
a) the cable that comes standard is not that cool looking
b) there is a sticker on the back of the speakers with their serial #. Nicer/better finish and look than the VA yet a piece of sticker on their back!

Now the XDa (XD's amplifier) is not very nice looking - plastic front plate. Nowhere close to the Primare look.
The XDw are very nice looking - better looking than the RELL.

I like listening to baroque (I love organ) music and all kind of fast, ear blasting punk/heavy metal. This (strange) combination music I like makes me hard to please when it comes to sound reproduction.

Sound comparison:

The VAs sound very relaxed with good imaging and clear mids while the highs sound silky smooth and mellow. They almost sound like they are meant to play Baroque music (even organ - with the REL subs) and Jazz. There is a sense of calm and precision (made in Vienna/Austria, remember?) in the sound of these speakers that gives you years of enjoyment listening to them.
The bass integration with the RELL is pretty good and the RELL never rattles and never booms - a sealed subwoofer, the only type of sub I like.
I could go on and on about their sound qualities but I'd rather skip to the critique part.
The high bass - low mids sounds a bit lifeless even with the RELL - almost missing a bit of energy/speed. At low levels there is plenty of details but when turned on a bit too loud the speakers distort a bit and the sound is not so relaxed anymore and no, it is not the amp; the knob is around 30 out of 75 when this is noticeable (there is some decent reserve in the amp). During my 4 years with this setup I noticed the piano sounds a bit boxy at times, especially in the low mids. As good as they are these speakers will not rock the house - they just don't play that clear at (acceptably) loud volume.

NHT.
On par with the best I ever listened to then some. I have listened to a lot of gear in the 10-15K$ range and even above - Mahler from VA 13k$, Amati from SF 28K$, Summit and Summit X from ML 10 respective 14 k$, the 801/802 from B&W, old/new Tannoys, etc.
NHT is nothing less. If anything the NHT are better.
The XD system can rock very LOUD and can play jazz very relaxed. With the 2.2 and the filter that sets the system to go down to 20Hz you can listen to organ music and it sounds real. You put the filter for high SPL and you can rock the house and still have plenty of bass down to 25Hz.
The best part - these speakers do not distort at (very) loud volume, they can rock and sound effortless, play organ effortlessly and have all the detail. And this comes from somebody who went to quite a few concerts and operas.
The mids are very fast - I dare to say on par with the best electrostats - don't take my word for it, try them out.
The bass is fast, never boomy and never rattles. The highs are crisp, detailed never too harsh but never mellow.
And the speakers, both bass and monitors are sealed.
Again - unbelievable sound, precise, effortless and fast.
Instruments like piano and the organ never sounded more life like, ever. Large orchestras, rock bands never sounded so crisp.


After listening to the NHT I decided I have to part with the VA Beethovens/Primare/REL (Audiogon anybody?) - they were dwarfed by the NHT XD.

Now, in all fairness below are the things I don't like in the NHT XD active setup:
There is a the setting for the XDa that allows you to start the XDa with a music signal. During quiet passages the amp shuts down - annoying. The easy way I fixed that was to use the external trigger setting instead. I plugged wires from my preamp's trigger output to the XDa trigger input. It takes 1 minute and a simple wire to do that. Read your preamp manual to locate the 12V trigger output and send that to the trigger input in the XDa. Ok - this was easy.
Another thing is that whenever XDa starts there is a small sound pop in the tweeters.

Be careful! NHT is going out of business, which will cause trouble for you if need parts. This will greatly affect resale.

You like classical music as do I. I have not heard those particular NHT speaker, but I have heard quite a few of their models over the years. I never heard an NHT speaker I liked. They are far too shouty and forward.

I would think very carefully before you pull the trigger on this one.

I suggest you visit dealers that have B & W and brands like Spendor.

I spent last Friday wasting dealers time. I was highly impressed by the current Spendor range. Excellent value for money. You have to be careful. I auditioned some Wilson Audio series 2 Grand Slams, at $50,000 the pair. The dealer is trying to offload them for $30,000. They were simply dreadful speakers. Huge with no balls. When you tried to drive them, they sounded distressed and the sound stage collapsed. I tried to play the opening of the Aho symphony No 12 with the Laplander drumming and brass choirs.

The drums had no crack or life to them, yet the two Mac 500 watt mono blocks were pinning their meters! Nothing like what happens on my rig or my friends B &W 800 Ds. On my rig that wonderfully engineered surround SACD puts you right in Sibelius Hall.

 

[Boerd]

Be careful! NHT is going out of business, which will cause trouble for you if need parts. This will greatly affect resale.

You like classical music as do I. I have not heard those particular NHT speaker, but I have heard quite a few of their models over the years. I never heard an NHT speaker I liked. They are far too shouty and forward.

I would think very carefully before you pull the trigger on this one.

I suggest you visit dealers that have B & W and brands like Spendor.

I spent last Friday wasting dealers time. I was highly impressed by the current Spendor range. Excellent value for money. You have to be careful. I auditioned some Wilson Audio series 2 Grand Slams, at $50,000 the pair. The dealer is trying to offload them for $30,000. They were simply dreadful speakers. Huge with no balls. When you tried to drive them, they sounded distressed and the sound stage collapsed. I tried to play the opening of the Aho symphony No 12 with the Laplander drumming and brass choirs.

The drums had no crack or life to them, yet the two Mac 500 watt mono blocks were pinning their meters! Nothing like what happens on my rig or my friends B &W 800 Ds. On my rig that wonderfully engineered surround SACD puts you right in Sibelius Hall.

Actually I talked to one of the NHT owners - they are back and they are going the factory-direct route. They had some problems under the previous ownership but now the guys that owned this company for many years are back and ready to roll:

http://nhthifi.com/current/nht-whatsnew.html

BTW - I live in Northern CA and I have a B&W dealer right in my village and I have listened to B&W 801 and 802. Now I can't afford the 801s anyway but I was just too impressed by the NHT Xd's 2.2; unlike anything else.
The Spendor - I haven't listened to any recently...

 

[TLS Guy]

Actually I talked to one of the NHT owners - they are back and they are going the factory-direct route. They had some problems under the previous ownership but now the guys that owned this company for many years are back and ready to roll:

http://nhthifi.com/current/nht-whatsnew.html

BTW - I live in Northern CA and I have a B&W dealer right in my village and I have listened to B&W 801 and 802. Now I can't afford the 801s anyway but I was just too impressed by the NHT Xd's 2.2; unlike anything else.
The Spendor - I haven't listened to any recently...

That is interesting news. However if they are going to succeed in the direct Internet sales arena, they had better have a home evaluation period with the right of return, or they won't be in business long.

 

[croseiv]

Any pics?

 

[Boerd]

Any pics?

OK - I modified my signature to point to a few pictures (photography is clearly not my talent)...

 

[Boerd]

That is interesting news. However if they are going to succeed in the direct Internet sales arena, they had better have a home evaluation period with the right of return, or they won't be in business long.

NHT offers 30 day trial stuff...

 

[Matt34]

OK - I modified my signature to point to a few pictures (photography is clearly not my talent)...

They do look nice, I'll give them that.

 

[Boerd]

It's been almost 2 months since I have the NHT XD and I'm still scratching my head while listening to the XD 2.2 ... They sound that good. In the meantime I just went back to Magnolia HiFi and to my local B&W dealer and listened again to the 10-20k$ speakers. NHT does sound better and here is my guess why:

1) Active digital crossover instead of the stone age passive crossovers. This means slope of 100Db between tweeter and mid, 48 Db between sub and monitor
2) All drivers are in phase and that is again due to the active crossover DSP
3) Both the monitor speakers and both subs are acoustic suspension
While some may not see the value let me remind you that the port in the bass reflex boxes introduces a lot of distortion. The noise coming from the port can't be made IN PHASE with the rest of the system, can it?
Also the air inside of an acoustic suspension speaker acts like a spring that helps control better the driver's cone.

Anyway - I must sound like a NHT fanatic (which AFTER buying the XD 2.2 I am) but just give it try if you are in the 3k$ range for a stereo system (remember XD 2.2 includes 1600W amplification).

 

[Boerd]

They do look nice, I'll give them that.

Thanks!
I cannot say it enough - photography is NOT my strong talent
The pictures I put on the web do not do any justice to the XD 2.2 - I'll ask a friend to take some better photos and I will post again.

 

[Boerd]

NHT XD 2.2 hissing mod.

For the past few months (06/09) I have a NHT XD 2.2 active crossover speaker system.
I did a lot of google searches about these speakers; one day I found this:
http://www.audioconsultingservices.com/nht_mods.html

My Xd system sounded very good from the beginning even with the (slight) hissing - this hissing does NOT increase with the volume and I could barely header it from about 6 feet.
I sent an email to the ACS people and got back a bit of useful info about the mod.
The hissing is coming from the DAC - ANY dac makes switching noise. Now the cleanest fix is to put some resistors after the DAC to lose 6Db and turn up the digital volume inside the DSP. This takes out 6Db of noise.
Now the cost for the mod is 200$ and after thinking a few days I went for it - this is something you can measure and HEAR the difference.
After I got my XDA back I can only hear the hissing from 2-3 feet even late at night in a quiet room so it works as advertised.
I tested the speakers at very low levels and very loud levels - the sound is just crisp, dynamic and very natural.
I highly recommend this mod to any XD owner.

 

[Seth=L]

It's been almost 2 months since I have the NHT XD and I'm still scratching my head while listening to the XD 2.2 ... They sound that good. In the meantime I just went back to Magnolia HiFi and to my local B&W dealer and listened again to the 10-20k$ speakers. NHT does sound better and here is my guess why:

1) Active digital crossover instead of the stone age passive crossovers. This means slope of 100Db between tweeter and mid, 48 Db between sub and monitor
2) All drivers are in phase and that is again due to the active crossover DSP
3) Both the monitor speakers and both subs are acoustic suspension
While some may not see the value let me remind you that the port in the bass reflex boxes introduces a lot of distortion. The noise coming from the port can't be made IN PHASE with the rest of the system, can it?

Port noise can be completely avoided in a properly designed ported box, and will deliver superior performance all around. However, most subwoofers aren't designed or built well enough to avoid port turbulance and noise. Sealed is fine and is a cheap way of getting around port noise, it does come at the cost of reduced output and extension. However, if it has enough low end muster for your needs and doesn't distort then you are A OK!

Also the air inside of an acoustic suspension speaker acts like a spring that helps control better the driver's cone.

Kind of, but it also puts stress on the cone.

 

[Boerd]

Port noise can be completely avoided in a properly designed ported box, and will deliver superior performance all around. However, most subwoofers aren't designed or built well enough to avoid port turbulance and noise. Sealed is fine and is a cheap way of getting around port noise, it does come at the cost of reduced output and extension. However, if it has enough low end muster for your needs and doesn't distort then you are A OK!

Well, if 15K$ sealed subwoofer built by Velodyne is cheap for you ...
http://www.velodyne.com/products/product.aspx?ID=3&sid=390t288d
Or maybe this top of the line J&L sealed sub is cheap:
http://home.jlaudio.com/products_subs.php?prod_id=370

On the other hand this ported sub:
http://www.svsound.com/products-sub-box-pb13ultra.cfm
comes with 3 foam plugs to go lower in frequency.

Ported design is a way to get high(er) volume; you get an enclosure to sing along with the drivers.

The NHT XD was rated class A by Stereophile (they reviewd the 2.1 that was 6k$ at the time):
http://stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/1105nht/
It was also reviewed by audioholics.com and the word "cheap" never came in discussion but you probably have some 20-50k$ speakers so yes - in this case I guess the Xd is cheap.
But go on and audition the XD at a friend - I bet it doesn't sound cheap at all.

 

[Seth=L]

The JL subs are fantastic for their size, that Velodyne is fantastic a waste of money. The reason those JLs are so good is because the driver is very overbuilt and can take the torture of that small sealed cabinent while being pounded by a large amplifier. The motor structure is outstanding. A proper ported box designed around the JL W7 series woofers will yield higher performance overall compared to the sealed versions JL sells for home audio use.

As I said before, most ported subwoofers have port noise (probably even the SVS). I am not sure if you have ever seen a transmission line design before. Transmission line enclosures are ported but there is no port noise or turbulance at the port on a properly designed and executed transmission line design. The problem with transmission line enclosures is size and complexity of design and build. That of course drives cost up signifcantly and most people aren't interested in such an ubstructive device, so it's uncommonly seen in subwoofers because of the frequency range they are meant to handle, where as a tower speaker may employ a transmission line design (like some of Salk's speakers) because the waveguide doesn't need to be as large to accomodate the driver compliment.

 

[TLS Guy]

The JL subs are fantastic for their size, that Velodyne is fantastic a waste of money. The reason those JLs are so good is because the driver is very overbuilt and can take the torture of that small sealed cabinent while being pounded by a large amplifier. The motor structure is outstanding. A proper ported box designed around the JL W7 series woofers will yield higher performance overall compared to the sealed versions JL sells for home audio use.

As I said before, most ported subwoofers have port noise (probably even the SVS). I am not sure if you have ever seen a transmission line design before. Transmission line enclosures are ported but there is no port noise or turbulance at the port on a properly designed and executed transmission line design. The problem with transmission line enclosures is size and complexity of design and build. That of course drives cost up signifcantly and most people aren't interested in such an ubstructive device, so it's uncommonly seen in subwoofers because of the frequency range they are meant to handle, where as a tower speaker may employ a transmission line design (like some of Salk's speakers) because the waveguide doesn't need to be as large to accomodate the driver compliment.

For most ported subs you need a long wide slot vent to prevent port noise. The bigger problem is the system is resonant and can be really critically damped. There are also sever time and phase delay problems. However properly designed they can give reasonable performance with a relatively inexpensive driver in a box that is not overly large as a rule. For me the bottom line is that I have never heard a reflex design that can reproduce the bass strings and tymps of an orchestra with a high degree of fidelity, and that includes very expensive ones.

Sealed enclosures are very inefficient and require very expensive driver, lots of amp power and an equalizer.

Unfortunately the best approaches like aperiodically damped TLs and horns take up a lot of real estate. However if you can devote the real estate to these forms of bass loading they are the top of the mountain.

 

[Seth=L]

For most ported subs you need a long wide slot vent to prevent port noise. The bigger problem is the system is resonant and can be really critically damped. There are also sever time and phase delay problems. However properly designed they can give reasonable performance with a relatively inexpensive driver in a box that is not overly large as a rule. For me the bottom line is that I have never heard a reflex design that can reproduce the bass strings and tymps of an orchestra with a high degree of fidelity, and that includes very expensive ones.

Sealed enclosures are very inefficient and require very expensive driver, lots of amp power and an equalizer.

Unfortunately the best approaches like aperiodically damped TLs and horns take up a lot of real estate. However if you can devote the real estate to these forms of bass loading they are the top of the mountain.

Sadly almost no known manufacturer of subwoofers designs and builds a good ported subwoofer. There are DIY subwoofers, ported mind you, that wipe the floor with many of these sealed, ported, etc... subwoofers, and cost much less.

 

[jamie2112]

Sadly almost no known manufacturer of subwoofers designs and builds a good ported subwoofer. There are DIY subwoofers, ported mind you, that wipe the floor with many of these sealed, ported, etc... subwoofers, and cost much less.

The Kappa perfect 12vq diy is a perfect example of that.

 

[Seth=L]

The Kappa perfect 12vq diy is a perfect example of that.

Yes, it very well is.

 

[Boerd]

Sadly almost no known manufacturer of subwoofers designs and builds a good ported subwoofer. There are DIY subwoofers, ported mind you, that wipe the floor with many of these sealed, ported, etc... subwoofers, and cost much less.

This is true in general not only for ported subs - if you want something done perfectly you'd have to do it yourself Your free time invested in building something saves you a lot of money - plus you have the peace of mind you built it the way you wanted it.
Even though NHT XD 2.2 is not a DYI I like it a lot; and it does sound great, including the subs.
Could you build better subs? I bet you could; (unfortunately for me) I'm just not the DYI type
Also the sealed subs from NHT XD 2.2 are pretty small(er than others) which in my case means good WAF

 

[MrClean]

I've owned my Xd system for 4.5 years and still love it. I am about to add a second sub to get down to 20Hz. My experience has been very similar to Boerd's. The Xds sound superb. I sold my Genesis V/Pass Lab setup and never looked back.

I heard the NHTs at a store that also carried B&W and heard both 801s and 803s and walked out the door with NHT. The salespeople were not in a hurry to let me hear the system, but once I did, they were in a hurry to deal to get the demo out of the store. They knew they could make a lot more money selling a pair of 801s + $$$ worth of amplification to someone if they didn't know how good the Xd system sounded, so it was best to say "we don't have a demo", as demo systems were pretty rare at that point. A few of the local NHT dealers had no idea what I was talking about when I asked to hear it, so I had to drive about an hour to check it out. I was hooked within 5 minutes...

J