The NHT SB2s are an excellent bookshelf speaker & awesome value on the used market . They are a little power hungry so keep that in mind but with a quality amplifier powering them they are an amazing set of speakers . Great output , power handling , detail & bass for its size & build quality is above average . Out of several sets of speakers whether bookshelf or towers these have been one of my favorites !

They need quite a bit of power to sound their best

Good looks/finish; great value; get the important things correct.

Purchase to new to fully examine these other than in a 2 channel system.

The product reviewed is the SB-3. Having owned the NHT Super Zero's for some time now (in my office at work with NAD electronics), it was a simple task narrowing the field for apartment sized loudspeakers. The powers that be at NHT definitely have their act together, always offering an incredible value no matter what model you purchase. The SB-3 disappears quite nicely into your environment. I have placed mine on appropriate stands to get the tweeter at ear level while sitting, and put them away from the rear and side walls. Since I feel the speaker is the most important element to a great sounding system, these easily fit the bill, and are fairly priced to say the least. Purchase these and have your Bose friends wondering what the heck they were thinking.

Detail, highs and mids, with enough puch, the high gloss finish

probably the sensitiviy (but depends on your AMP)

I just recently got a pair and I hooked it up to my Primaluna Prologue One. Just out of the box these pair really sings. The imaging, depth, precision of the mids and highs are great. The black piano gloss finish is spectacular; the Binding posts are regular though. I am using all DIY Cables from power cords to the interconnects as well s the stands. I did some serious listening lately and played Patricia Barbers' "You don’t know me" And it sounded like the singer is right there in my room. I also played various types of music from Marc Antoine’s "Latin Quarter", Eagles' "I can’t tell you why", Al Jaruea's "After All" to even TLC's "No Scrubs". The guitars are realistic, the Eagles track was lively. Al's voice was chestier and the low frequency from TLC's was defined considering the lowest the SB2 can go is 51Hz. I know these speakers are not so efficient but my Push-pull Tube AMP was able to handle it well. I just can’t wait till the sound escapes out of the brake-in period. I believe there is still some more to expect from these pair. I recommend this product to those who have a tight budget who wants full ranged speakers than the SB1. I could say I did not make a mistake buying this and it will really make you think twice in getting a sub-woofer. But of course listening is subjective.

Similar Products Used:

Trinagle titus 202, B&W 300 series

Bass: for this size is exceptional Build quality Easy placement All round great performance

The black gloss finish is difficult to maintain but looks very cool.

THIS REVIEW IS FOR THE SB 3 Very pleased with the performance of these wonderful little speakers. Even at full retail you can't go wrong. The sealed design makes placement easy, without boomy bass that a ported design would produce. A very dynamic speaker that has weight along with quality bass that digs supprisingly deep for a bookshelf. Plays loud without distortion. Highs are not harsh yet the speaker is detailed along with exceptional imaging. Highly reccomended!

Similar Products Used:

B & W 602 S3, Dynaudio 52se, Quad 12 L and many other floorstanding speakers.

Imaging, Warm, smooth sound, midrange, highs, clear, good looking

I bought the NHT's and gave the JBL S26 to my son. No comparison in the clear, rich sound of the NHT compared to the JBL. With the NHT's I heard some things on recordings that I never heard before. The imaging and midrange are far better than anything that I have ever owned before. Tight bass, killer mids and highs. Makes the JBL just sound "boomy". I have them hooked up with a Yamaha RX-V620 and a PSB 12" sub. Also AudioVideo Logic will send them anywhere for $300, shipping included. Next purchase is a pair of SB-1 for rear channels.

Similar Products Used:

JBL S26, JBL ProIII

warm sound smooth sound stereo seperation imaging seem solidly built just an excellent sounding speaker

bass is not good for "nu metal", techno, hip hop plasticky enclosure

I was out browsing around for speaker stands when I came across this open box pair of nht sb2 speakers. I had heard them on display and they sounded pretty good with the H/K amp and cd player at the store. They were asking 200 for the pair. I eventually haggled them down to 100 for the pair. I figured they would make a decent pair of surrounds for my home theater which has (had) all JBL studio series up front. I got them home and decided to hook them up as the front channels with my str-da4es reciever and monster cable m1.2s wiring. well needless to say they are still there. my jbl studio s26 have been relegated to the surround channels and the n-24s have been moved to back surround duty. It was amazing the difference in sound from the nht to the jbl. subjectively the nht is a much stronger performer in both the midrange and highs with a much warmer more natural sound and less harshness and silibance on the highs! On a lesser note it does give up some bass response to the jbl's larger, ported enclosure, but seems to blend with my sub better. the bass performance however is not altogether unimpressive. with its acoustic suspension design it is a nice tight clean and controlled bass just dosent go too deep or too loud. you can listen to them in straight 2ch mode and get an extremely satisfying sound though, especially in a smaller room or at night when you dont want to wake the neighbors with killer bass. the nht has far superior stereo seperation and imaging compared to the jbls. even for their list price of 400 i dont think ive heard anything i liked more. I recently listened to set of jm lab cobalt 706 bookshelf speakers hooked up to some very expensive equipment and also was not impressed. because these speakers were open box im not sure if they are all "broken-in" yet but if not they already sound fantastic. my only complaint so far is the cabinet solidity. it dosent seem to be as substantial as it could be...semms to be some kind of composite but if your rap on it with your knuckles it vibrates a little...anyway i think nht spent what they saved by having a spartan enclosure and exterior on the excellent design and drivers...no regrets. and one more note...these babys like power, they are 86db sensitivity but i noticed the h/k amp in the store (60w/ch) didn't really do what they were capable of...i'd recommend at least 80w or high current discrete amplification

Similar Products Used:

jbl s26 jbl n24 jm lab cobalt bookshelf boston acoustics vrm60other bookshelfs under $800