I haven't heard the nht Absolute towers. But I've heard the Ascend CMT-340SE and the Aperion 5 series.
I like the Ascend speakers the most, personally. That SEAS tweeter is really excellent. A real cut above the competition in my book. The CMT-340SE excel at loud, clear, transparent playback. They're best suited to a slightly larger room size though. They have very wide dispersion that can be a tiny bit of an issue in a small, untreated room that would create strong side wall reflections. So a small room needs acoustic treatments for the CMT-340SE to be a good choice, IMO. In a larger room though, they are expansive, clear and excellent. You could almost get away with not using a sub for more casual music playback, but I would certainly want to pair them with a great subwoofer (or 2 or 4
) for the best overall system performance. They're fairly large spreakers, but they're still technically bookshelf speakers after all. They don't troll the depths of deep bass. The matching stands only make them
look like towers
I'm also a fan of the CMT-340SE Center. Despite its W-T-W layout, Dave's custom work on the crossover seems to mitigate most of the bad effects of laying out the drivers that way. It's still not perfect for off axis listeners. But for the primary seat, it's a darn good center.
The Intimus 5 series speakers are also very good. They're a bit forward of neutral in the midrange, lending them a sort of "powerful" type of character. The tweeter is good, but not great. It can get a little strident in the "screechy" 6-8kHz range, and really cranking up the volume can start to make it sound a little "crunchy" and a touch harsh. I'd say the bass is maybe the most impressive thing in the towers. It's punchy, tight, tactile and impressive sounding. It doesn't delve super deep. Again, I'd definitely want a great subwoofer to match with them. But there's more of an obvious impact in the bass vs. the Ascend speakers. Basically, the Ascend are more neutral and strictly accurate. The Aperions have a little more character to them, but it's almost all pleasing. So there's definitely room for personal taste to come into play. I happen to pay more attention to the tweeter, so the Ascends appeal more to me, personally. But someone who wants a punchier bass line and a little more obvious detail and forwardness in the midrange would probably like the Aperions better.
I really like the Aperion Center though. The vertical tweeter-midrange driver layout means a more uniform projection of sound, especially for off axis listeners. And that little bit of forwardness in the midrange really brings voices and dialogue out so that they're clear and highly intelligible.
Not an easy call. And that's without me even throwing the nht speakers into the comparison! I still really like the idea of an in home audition. But I get not wanting to potentially pay return shipping and have to deal with returns
I'll say that you likely wouldn't be disappointed with any of them. But there ARE audible differences, so personal taste is not a moot point in this case. And your room and placement of the speakers and seat will have a large impact as well. So one of these choices might really stand out as being better for your particular room. Awfully tough to tell that without hearing them in that room though.
Regardless, I hope you'll come back and share your experiences, thoughts and final decision with us! So many people just disappear after they buy. Half the fun is bragging about your new toys, isn't it?
