NHTC Series C-3 Premium Home Theater 3-Way Bookshelf Speaker - Clean, Hi-Res Audio | Sealed Box | Aluminum Drivers | Single Unit, High Gloss Black

I purchased a pair of the NHT C-3 bookshelf speakers at the remarkable price of $536, plus sales tax, and this might be the best value I've ever encountered in new equipment.The fit & finish is terrific, easily competitive with much more expensive speakers, and the cosmetic change from the rounded top & bottom of the earlier Classic Three makes for a simpler, more-refined appearance. The finish is prone to acquiring fingerprints, so you'll want to wear cotton gloves to remove the speakers from their packing.Sonically, the C-3 has all of the attributes you'd expect in a high-quality standmount, with excellent stereo imaging and soundstage presentation, but this system also has a remarkable continuity that - especially in a larger room - makes the transition from one driver to the next nearly seamless in this 3-way design, with the overall effect more closely suggesting a flat panel-type loudspeaker than a small-box dynamic. The sealed acoustic suspension design also permits the 6.5" woofer of the C-3 to perform well into the lower frequencies found in most unamplified music recorded with limited processing; this comes at a decrease in system efficiency, but makes for a speaker that is commendably balanced throughout its range.If there's a limitation, it's in the maximum spl that the speaker can attain - it's not going to blast you out of the room - which is not much of a sacrifice to make in favor of the natural response and musicality provided by the C-3 under normal listening conditions. The C-3 will play reasonably loudly, but put these speakers safely away for parties, and drag out some garage sale Cerwin Vega boxes for rocking the house.Note: this evaluation is based upon the C-3 speakers in a fairly large room - 23'x18' with a 16' ceiling, where the music has a chance to breathe a little bit, and from a listening position far enough back as to allow for 2nd and 3rd reflections. The speakers were also driven by a 200 watt/channel McIntosh integrated amplifier, a very stable power source for this low impedance (4 ohm, minimum) load. Although the Mac might be a much more expensive design than what one might normally expect to be connected to sub-$1000 speakers, it demonstrates the truly fine performance that can be had with the C-3, and that utilizing higher end equipment with these speakers would not be money wasted.A Google search will show the NHT C-3 review from Home Theater HiFi, which provides an excellent summation with measurements & specs.To sum up, these are very attractive speakers with an enjoyable, natural musical presentation that's in line with much more expensive designs; the C-3 could be one of the best hi-fi bargains around!

Update 6 months in: I just paired these up with a Rogue Audio Sphinx v2 and Chord Mojo, and the result is wonderful. These aren't "warm" speakers - they are revealing and detailed, assuming you have the space to let them breath and the power to drive them. The combo with the Sphinx and Mojo is easy on the ears while being super detailed. With the Sphinx's strong damping factor, the bass coming out of these things is stunning and clean. I'm enjoying music at any volume and of any genre. It's sad to see a 2 star review here from someone who doesn't understand speaker efficiency and is pissed about broken cosmetic stuff. These speakers won't make a bad system good, but they seem perfectly capable of growing better with every improvement up the chain, the sign of well-made, transparent stuff.Original Review:I was pleased with these out of the box, but now, two weeks in and some obsessive tweaking behind me, I finally hit on the potential of these speakers and I'm happy to give them 5 stars. They are incredibly revealing. Put on a bad source, and you'll be frustrated with how they sound. Then switch to a lossless, high-quality recording, and you'll see they are capable of incredible clarity, depth, and bass for their size. In other words, they don't seem to polish the music, just present it in remarkable clarity. I had to play around with many positions to get them right (they didn't sound good more than 10 ft. apart with a big hit to imaging), but once they were dialed in they created a totally convincing phantom center and I felt like I could see exactly where each instrument was placed. The sweet spot is amazing, and they still manage to fill up the large room with clear sound that's pretty good from any position, due to the wide dispersion.

The fit and finish are great. They are solid and fairly heavy speakers for their size. The lacquer black paint is really nice. I had the speakers paired with a Denon PMA-1600ne and a Marantz PM7000n integrated amplifier. I felt the bass was very tight. Not a lot of bass since the speaker is sealed but the bass was solid and fairly natural sounding. Definitely not lacking and in no way boomy or bloated. I also felt the midrange was very clean and natural sounding. Those were the pluses. I felt the treble was too bright. For me. Some reviewers say it is clear. It is clear but maybe too clear. You hear everything in the highs. For me, listening to the speakers became fatiguing. I had my amps set to flat response but I ended up having to turn down the treble into the negative numbers for me to listen to them. Lastly, they are not the most sensitive speakers so if you buy them, you really need to have an amplifier with a lot of power. They like power. The Denon had plenty but the Marantz was adequate. You will definitely notice that you have to turn up your amp's volume more than with other speakers. If you have a built in room correction on your amp or receiver I think you should let it calibrate your room with these speakers. Maybe it can adjust it so it tames the treble. So, in summary, I think the fit and finish, paint, bass and midrange were really pleasing, but the treble was just too bright sounding for me.