Price Paid:  $220.00 from Acoustic Sound Desig

Summary:
Like many folks searching in-wall / in-ceiling speakers I rely quite a bit on user reviews on sites such as this because there is nowhere locally that I can audition these speakers. I will do my best to describe my experience with NHT IC-3's.

I was looking for Rear Surround in ceiling speakers primarily because I didn't have a place to put bookshelf speakers and I liked the idea of conceiling them in the ceiling. I also would use them for multi-channel stereo listening as well.

My speaker system is NHT 2.5i front speakers and NHT AC-2 center Channel. Sony 8" Sub. My multi channel amp is a Yamaha htr-5960 (115Watts/CH). The largest Drivers are in the NHT AC-2 which has a pair of 6 1/2 woofers. So when considering the size of my in-ceiling speakers I reasoned that I should select a speaker size that is equal to but not larger than 6 1/2". I Didn't want the rear speakers to over power the front speakers. Beacause of this and the recommendation from NHT Tech Support; I chose the NHT IC-3 because of it's 6 1/2 " woofer. This was tough because there were no user reviews of the IC-3, but there were a few favorable reviews for the IC-4 with the larger 8" woofer. I took the plunge on the IC-3 and I am very pleased.

The build quality of these speakers is Top Notch! Beautiful to look at from the front to the exposed electronic components on the rear. You can tell a lot of thought went into the design of these speakers. The grill fist flush and are snug fitting to the point where I had to carefully insert a safety pin into the grill to pry it out for removal.

Speaker Placement: I searched the web for recommended rear surround ceiling speaker placement and I found one that said to place them about the same distance apart as the front lt & rt speakers and then slighty behind the listening position if possible. I borrowed a friend's Roto-Zip Tool with a Circular Cut-out attachment to make the cut-outs for the speakers. It worked great. I used a Stud finder to locate the studs so I woudn't install the speakers where a stud was.

Installation: The retaining system on the these speakers works very well. I found that the screws for the retaining clamp system were extra long (to accomidate various thiknesses of walls) and I used my dewalt corless dril/driver with a long #2 Phillips bit to run the screws down while being careful not to overtighten when it got tight. Also, be carefull not to let your screw driver slip and damage the speaker cone or tweeters!

The Sound: Very nice with detailed Highs that aren't overly bright. The bass response is very good with punch. I listened to the speakers in 2-channel stereo mode and also in Surround Mode.

In Suround Mode I watched Jurrasic Park III and was very pleased with their performance. In one scene where the airplane briefly jets from behind to in front of you, you could easily hear the rear to front transition. The off-axis sound is very good as well.

In Stereo I listened to Steely Dan, Sting, Ufo & Pat Travers. The mids and highs sound accurate and detailed. the highs are accurate and not too bright. The lows are very good and compliment the mids and highs. The overall sound is well proportioned.

I did notice one minor characteristic that I think should be mentioned. The bass does seem take on some of the wall characteristic in its sound. The only way I can describe this is that bass may not be as detailed as it might be in a tuned box enclosure. I think it acually helps the bass frequency go lower. Some folks may like this. I should point out that this characteristic was only noticeable when I was only listening to just the two IC-3's in stereo with no other speakers.

Perhaps another way to describe the in-wall bass responce of these speakers would be if you had a blind listening test of these speakers and boxed speakers, I suspect most listener's would be able to guess which speaker was the in-wall / in-ceiling speaker. Personally, this in wall sound is not an issue because it doesn't bother me and also I don't notice it in multi-channel stereo or in surround mode when watching movies.

However, for a highly critical listener, if you had the option of going with a boxed speaker or the In wall speaker, I think you would have a little more accurate bass from a boxed speaker.

In summary I am very pleased with the IC3's and think it's an excellent in-ceiling speaker and works great for my application. I hope this review is helpful for those looking to possibly purchase these speakers. Lights Out! Scott

Strengths:
Great Value.

Excellent Quality & Design.

Simple Mounting Design.

Detailed Excellent Ovarall Sound.

Weaknesses:
Bass can take on a (very suttle) in-wall sound characteristic that may not be as detailed as a boxed enclosure speaker.

Similar Products Used:
First In-wall / In-ceiling speaker for me.