Just bought a pair of these for $100!! (Thanks to the not-necessarily-true bad reputation of Nuance!) Excellent condition but with a few dings on the cabinets. Very happy with the purchase though, like them a lot! Very unique. Absolutely massive and impressive presence. Very clear, excellent midrange, tunable powered sub is a nice touch. NEED POWER. Midranges are huge. Higher powered amps help to even out the midranges with the tweeter. Sub is pretty decent at lower volumes - but you do need to adjust the crossover and volume differently for pretty much every different song you play.. I have read that they actually make an excellent (huge) center speaker in a HT setup. Makes sense to me with the brightness. Definitely going to try it. These shine when used at low volumes up close, or at distance like in another room at louder volumes, this is when they are at their best.

I do see why they get a bad rap; they are not plug and play out of the box and won't sound great with all receivers/amps. But you can definitely get them sounding great. Need at least a 150w x 2 amp imo. Tweeter are overly bright with anything under 100w. Woofer is the weakest link imo; gets drowned out at higher volumes and is just not a deep, clear thump. Either just a cheap woofer, or seems like the cabinet is overly ported. Another reason for the bad rap I think is because these just aren't a 'swiss army knife' of speakers - they don't sound great with certain music, such as bright 80s/90s rock with no bass, but other music sounds AMAZING on them - such as 70s rock needing a powered sub boost like Zeppelin. I find the Zeppelin recording quality pretty terrible so it makes for a great speaker test, and it sounds better on these (below 1/2 volume) than any other speakers I have listened to. Not as good above 1/2 volume because the brightness comes out and the bass fades. Warm alternative music like Pearl Jam sounds awesome on them also.

Nicely built ... CANADIAN yeah ..... nice looking ... Nice sound ..... ok you haters .... i made a video just for you .... this tell’s it all .... dont forget to go watch https://youtu.be/kj6OSuEyRYw not the super rich guy’s perfect speaker But for normal people like some of us .... nuance is just wicked And YES .... they are almost unbreakable ... they can can take almost any power amp ..... They where a pioneer in canadian audio market .... and the company has been bought by klipsch so .... klipsh is a pretty amazing speaker ... i doubt they would buy some shit lol ..... i recommend

All the haters wasting their time trying to prove this is a bad produt

My Nuance towers cracked 2 windows in my place already...days in....clear and crisp....loud and subs will shake yur walls.....people who never owned dont know....plain simple...these towers are awesum....my old klipsch dont even come close....these are older towers but sick...ill never let theses go...

Nuance Spatial 3S

I’ve read and heard how awful nuance are, they sold them in big chain stores, they only demo them with Q sound cd’s, the are way over priced and built with cheap drivers, their horrible sales tactics (that’s just big chains tactics)…etc, etc… I am by no means an expert, I have been into audio gear for over 25 years and have owned everything from low end crap to top of the line and I will say that some of the so called low end crap destroyed the expensive top end gear. For example my little sansui 881 can hold it's own against the monster sansui G6000. and will pretty much destroy any surround sound receiver today in a two channel set up...anyway....on with it......

Well my curiosity got the better of me, A friend who I trade vintage audio gear with a lot emailed me telling me that he picked up a set of “kick ass” Nuance Spatial 3s and was telling me how good they sounded.
I was very skeptical because of all the negative feed back this brand was receiving online. I for one have never heard of them before this so I missed all the crap people were saying about them.
Anyway for $200.00 (CDN) I have them in my house. So I plugged them into my vintage Nikko set up and tested them first against my sound dynamics R818’…..wow! The spatial 3s sound better, and have a lot more bass. The imaging in stereo is amazing; the bass is rich and deep the highs are crisp and clear at low or high volumes. And they can handle gobs of POWER! Not sure what they are rated? I’ve read that they have no rating?
I was very disappointed at how much of a difference I could hear between my beloved SD 818s and how the hated nuance brand sounded better. So I went ahead to do more comparisons, they ate pretty much all of my speakers the only set that I had that could hold it’s own against these speakers were my 1982 Paradigm model 11s, I mean the 818s still sound fantastic but the nuance did sound better. For some strange reason my 818s sound better driven by my old sansui 881 receiver? They really come alive on this old unit. Even though the nikko is a much better set up.

Now as for the quality…yes the sound dynamics seem to be built better and used better drivers, however the cabs are identical, the build is very close to my 818s. As for the price new for a set of nuance I’ve read that these versions sold for $2000.00-3000.00 ? Now I do think that price is a bit high but than again I never buy brand new speakers, why buy new with all the great deals that can be found for used stuff on your local kijiji. Yes I would pay up to $300.00-350.00 for these used. I was lucky and got them for $200.00 and they are worth every penny. For all you haters, have you actually owned these speakers? Or are you comparing them with a $10,000.00 speaker system?
For people that are looking for a great speaker for rock, reggae/hip hop & metal buy these if you see them for under $300.00

over all i am extremely impressed with these speakers.

-The wrapped series used 1" Mdf so they could recess the drivers to give the flush look when wrapped with the sock material.... thus more solid construction and better base from the subs.

- Subs are very powerful and good quality

- The n-100, n-200, and n-300 subwoofer modules are weak compaired to the subs that they are paired with

- Overpriced for the overall quality

Ok, well I never got a chance to read all 116 Reviews above mine. After about 30-40 of them I get the impression that anyone who ever owned or still owns a set of Nuance speakers loves the sound and look of them. I have to admit that I was skeptical when I was thinking about buying my first pair. I have owned huge Polk Audio, Bose and Boston Accoustic systems, some were up to the $15,000 range. I would have to say that once I hooked them up I was extremely impressed and they exceeded any other system I had owned prior! And no I am not trying to justify the massive price tag on these, because I paid $600 for a pair of the 6' Baby Grand 3ELX's. Thats right $300 each, so I have no reason to be on here sticking up for a product, while my peers think I am justifying not getting ripped of because I sure didn't. The Nuance system I have consists of the following and I have included the prices as well

Fronts - Baby Grand 3ELX $600/pr
Sides - Baby 2 Grand Universe $500/pr
Rears - Spatial Baby 360mk2 $250/pr
Center - Spatial CEN S Pro-B $150

Now yes I got some awesome deals on these, and I never could justify $8000 for a pair of these. But I do have to frown on the people that really cut them up. Yes they used an unfair scheme to trick you to thinking 2 speakers where coming from everywhere with Q sound, but hey that was 1991... who cares!!! We have speakers coming from everywhere now. 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, 8.1 systems etc......

They are are great speaker inside and out, way over priced originally. If you get them for a decent buck enjoy them. All in all they sould be classed in a movie reference speaker class, since I do admit playing music through them is not as good as a movie!

Similar Products Used:

Polk Audio
Bose
Boston Acoustics
Infinity
Celestion

amazing sound, extreme clarity, like listening to music for the first time through open ears

big and heavy to move around

I bought this set of Baby Grands from a close friend of the family and only because he was willing to sell them to only a friend of the family. He is that serious about the quality and the fact that these are apparently no longer available. The reason he had to sell them... haha his house is far to small for these nearly 7 foot tall giants and he has 6 more Nuance speakers of smaller size. Other people offered him more than he asked from me and he still would only sell them to me.... gotta say very lucky me !! I have heard many types of high end speakers including altec lansing speakers that now are over 10,000 each.. each !! These baby grands are amazing, I have been missing so much in the music I have listened to I feel like I am hearing everything for the first time. Opera, rock'n roll, symphany .... everything is crystal clear !!! I have lent them to my friends in Edmonton for safe keeping till I can have them shipped to my home in the Phillipines, I will never part with these speakers. I am powering them with a high end techniques amp and I have to say I am still impressed every time I hear them. I plan on getting another set for fronts and keeping these for rears. I have not been able to turn the volume to max on either the amp or the speakers cause I am pretty sure I will blow the picture windows out of the house. Even with the doors closed and standing down the block the sound is amazingly clear. If you want a great set of speakers, and I mean a great set, get the baby grands. These things may be big and really heavy but once you get them in your house you will want to just sit there and listen to every peice of music ever composed. Anyone who has anything negative to say about Nuance has not listened to these speakers. If I had the cash I would ahppily pay 10,000 dallars for a new set of these speakers and I would never look back as I sped home to add them to the set I have now. Hopefully I can find another set.. at least one more cause I will never go without Nuance again. Thanks Nuance for introducing me to amazing sound !!! Excellent quality and sound for the money. Nuance I hope you will make more of these amazing speakers.
A very happy Nuance product owner.
Daniel Sidor

Similar Products Used:

everything from bow's to altec lansing (the old types before digital anything)

NONE

ALL

BEWARE !! DONT BUY THIS!! THIS ITEM IS A RIP OFF!!!

QUALITY IS BAD!! PRICE IS VERY BAD!! I PITY YOU IF YOU BUY THIS!!
SORRY

They don't look completely ugly. sound is o.k.

Way overpriced! poorly designed. And the last store to carry nunce (international stereo) went out of business. could it be because of nuance?

Guys, i feel so sorry for you! I know that somewhere in your heart, you feel like you have been ripped off. and belive me you have been.
Nuance loudspeakers are cheaply designed and sound very average for a speaker in the budget category. I wouldnt pay $500 for a pair of these speakers.
They do not deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as martin logan electrostats( which i own). The martin logans i own create a crisp and balanced soundstage where the artist on the lp or cd sounds like they are playing live infront of you. These nuance speakers just sound average. You proud nuance owners know that this brand of speaker is specifically designed to make stereo shops alot of money on there huge mark-up. Sure, the sales guy that is living with his parents will suggest that you buy this garbage, he makes more money that way.I live in Calgary and if you ever look in the bargin finder or cruise the pawn shops, you will find a few pairs of these speakers with an asking price of about $400 a pair. My buddy had a pair of nuance baby grands and he loves them for about a year. Then he blew a driver in one of his speakers. He had his driver replaced no problem through soundsarround. Then in two months, he blew the same driver. and the driver replacement stopped because soundsarround stopped carrying the speaker. My friend ended up getting rid of these baby grands for $700. And he knew he was very lucky to get that much for them.

Customer Service

not good

Similar Products Used:

Polk audio. sinclare, jbl,

good bass cisp highs for movies reliable

needs a good reciver

these speakers go well with a good set of fronts and subs.Good for movies does require a good reciver to use full potential.Nuance by far are a company that belives in good quality cause i have pounded mine for more than a year and a half and no problems

nice mids, and they can take A LOT of abuse. readily available in pawnshops and bargain finders for good prices

dont sound as nice as many others when comparing list prices, or even the reduced nuance price after the sales pitch. bass lacks volume

I have heard many different things about nuance speakers, and i place them as a descent speaker, IF you get a good price for them. i paid $400 canadian for theese, only as temporarys, until i can afford a full set of paradigm speakers. Im running theese of an old sansui AU-717, until the bose 601's get their surrounds redone, and my Harman/Kardon AVR-430 arrives. The highs on theese ever so slightly bright, but still sound nice, and the bass is fairy quick and tight, but not there in volume. cant complain about the mids. As the money comes in, im going to upgrade to paradigm reference series in 7.1, and retire theese to a pawn shop, or list them on ebay. all-in-all, theese are OKAY, but not audiophile quality by any means. if you can get a pair of theese for cheap enough, take them, but i would never pay the list price for theese, and i dont think anyone ever should. (value rating is for the price i paid, not the list price)

Similar Products Used:

paradigm reference and monitor series, bose 601's