Hi,
Glad you guys found our measurements. It's a very good speaker -- I have the pair here. Really, the only issue is the lack of bass -- it's fairly lightweight. But it has a spectacularly clear midband and good high-frequency energy without sounding bright.
Our reviewer Diego Estan's subjective observations are here:
https://www.soundstageaccess.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/1035-nht-c3-carbon-fiber-loudspeakers
Doug Schneider
SoundStage!
If you watch Amazon they have the same speaker in gloss black, it changes price often, I purchased a new pair for $540.(270 each) it has been that low many times.For 1.
I also found them to be bass shy compared with other monitors I have around. The 6 inch woofer is also not particularly robust and I would cation adding any bass boost if you playback at higher volume. The drivers were deff on edge in my use cases with no added bass eq.The bass seems like a paradox, given that your reviewer found extension into the 30s, and I called it at about 50Hz in my (larger) room, though I also found enough output to pressurize a mode at ~30Hz. (Quasi- anechoic and listening position measurements available here.) It seems the bass perception comes from a leanness in the upper bass (say 75-150Hz). They fill out nicely with room correction!
While the thought didn’t occur to me at the time, given the voiced in leanness and wide even dispersion I bet C3 is a really good candidate for a Lyngdorf style setup: up against the wall to wall to maximize boundary reinforcement, with room correction to clean up the upper bass.
I find that the more power you throw at the C-3s, the better they sound.
The bass seems like a paradox, given that your reviewer found extension into the 30s, and I called it at about 50Hz in my (larger) room, though I also found enough output to pressurize a mode at ~30Hz. (Quasi- anechoic and listening position measurements available here.) It seems the bass perception comes from a leanness in the upper bass (say 75-150Hz). They fill out nicely with room correction!
Think life would be made good by adding a subwoofer? What other speakers would you consider in this $700ish class that one might consider alongside? I'm thinking about comparing B&W 607s with them.
Think life would be made good by adding a subwoofer?
What other speakers would you consider in this $700ish class that one might consider alongside?
I think you will find the NHT C-3 to be far superior to the B and W 607 and even the more expensive 606. In my opinion, the C-3 is more in the league of the B and W 700 series, which would run from around $1,500 to $2,500 per pair for stand mounting loudspeakers. I have had B and Ws in the past and found them to be overrated and overpriced. Other options better than the B and Ws in my opinion are the Ascend Sierra 1 and 2 and the Revel M 16. Ascend is an internet only company like NHT and I believe all of their loudspeakers are assembled in the United States, which is rare at this price range. Ascend, NHT, and Revel get high marks for accuracy on this site; B and W not so much.Think life would be made good by adding a subwoofer? What other speakers would you consider in this $700ish class that one might consider alongside? I'm thinking about comparing B&W 607s with them.
Thank you!
I finally got my C3s earlier this week. They were stuck at UPS for 9 days! First world problems, admittedly.
I just finished a 10 speaker $300ish shootout and didn't come away fully satisfied. I threw these in the mix at twice the price (on sale) and while it blows up my shootout, i'm much happier for it. I don't have a lot of experience in "higher end" speakers, but these are incredible. I've never heard such clarity and transparency. Instead of hearing a hifi recording of music it sounds like the actual music coming out of thin air. No distracting tonal coloration, just music.
I intend to ship one off to Amirm for measurement next week.
Also FWIW, i did a comparison of close mic'ing the woofers on these four speakers. I was curious about where the C1s rolled off and how it compared with the C3s. I threw in the other two ported speakers (Q150 and Atom SE) for fun.
Are these measurements and your 10 speaker shootout posted somewhere?
Sure, it's here: https://www.avsforum.com/forum/89-speakers/3139232-300ish-bookshelf-shootout-another-one.html
The thread has gone to shit, but perhaps there are some nuggets in there.