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NHT speaker help needed

ronrico

ronrico

Well-Known Member
I recently picked a pair of NHT 1As and a NHT SW1 passive sub. The classy piano black cabinets are in excellent condition (the cabinets that is). The less than excellent part is that the PO removed and then lost the woofers for the 1As. I called the factory to inquire about replacements. The sales guy in the parts dept. must have been new as he told me that the woofers from AR-18s would be identical. Close, but I just couldn't shoe horn the 8" ARs into the 6.5 NHT hole.
Anyone out there know who made the original drivers or what might be used as replacements?
 
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Ken Kantor, the designer of NHT speakers, is a member here. You might want to send him a PM and he may be able to help you.
 
Thanks Sealy. I'll give him a chance to chime in before I pester him directly. Have you had any experience with NHT products?
 
I do indeed! I had the Super Zeros, small but excellent speakers. I currently have the 1.3's which are small standmounts with I believe a 6 in. woofer and 1 in. dome tweeter. The cabinets are built like bricks and look very nice with a black, piano gloss finish. I like the angled baffles, which are characteristic of most NHT models. Saves having to angle the speakers toward the listening area. I've always wanted a pair of 3.3's which are floor-standers that have a side-firing 12 in. woofer, but have never seen a pair for sale in this area.
 
The set that I picked up are the only ones I've ever seen. As you know, they are very impressive in their build quality and beautiful finish. I hope to get these up and running as I am anxious the hear how they sound.
 
NHT's tend to be a slight bit bright on the top end, but that's the price one pays for detailed treble.
 
Sealy, I do like what I guess some people call bright. I call it clear or even crisp (hey, there's a new term). When 'clear' becomes shrill, then we've gotten too 'bright'.
Trans, thanks for the info, I'll check into them. I imagine the original drivers were 8ohm.

anyone here know who made the original drivers?
 
The SW1 used a Peerless (NHT part# npt-11-010-1) with a poly cone, 6.5 inch... Sorry, don't have the particulars on the driver. Nothing yet on the NHT 1As.
 
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The previous owner tried to use the woofers from the SW-1, but the cabinet wasn't deep enough. I'm guessing the 1As came out about the same time as the SW-1s.
 
ronrico said:
I recently picked a pair of NHT 1As and a NHT SW1 passive sub. The classy piano black cabinets are in excellent condition (the cabinets that is). The less than excellent part is that the PO removed and then lost the woofers for the 1As. I called the factory to inquire about replacements. The sales guy in the parts dept. must have been new as he told me that the woofers from AR-18s would be identical. Close, but I just couldn't shoe horn the 8" ARs into the 6.5 NHT hole.
Anyone out there know who made the original drivers or what might be used as replacements?
Click to expand...

Hi.

Based on my own experience, finding an appropriate off-the shelf replacement woofer is going to be almost impossible. Because the 1a used such a simple crossover, it placed a great burden on the exact performance of the 6.5". On a more positive note, there were a number of NHT products, and a few AR's, that used this woofer. The 1, 1a, Super 1, 1xu, 1c, 2, etc, can often be found on Ebay. You might want to call NHT again and see if they can help you track down which drivers to consider.

Honestly, unless you can find an exact replacement, the chances of obtaining a speaker that sounds much like the 1a are pretty low. However, you could easily convert the speakers into a 1.3-like design, or even a new design. That might be fun and sonically rewarding. Oh, I just thought of a reference that will help you with the woofer details:

http://www.kenkantor.com/publications/speakers_by_design/speakers_by_design_1small.pdf

Good luck, and thanks for your interest in these!

-k
 
Ken,
Thanks for the input, although not exactly what I was hoping for, maybe something better will come of this.
What were the physical and sonic differences between the 1A and the 1.3? Are the drivers for the 1.3 still available?
 
ronrico said:
Ken,
Thanks for the input, although not exactly what I was hoping for, maybe something better will come of this.
What were the physical and sonic differences between the 1A and the 1.3? Are the drivers for the 1.3 still available?
Click to expand...

Sorry... but I figured it's better for me to give my opinions now, rather than have you spend time and effort to be disappointed. It can be tough to keep a 20+ year old speaker working like new!

I don't know if the 1.3 (or 1.5) drivers are still available. Also, I don't want to step on NHT's toes about service and repair issues, (or anything else!). What I do know is that the 1.3 used a crossover that is more readily adapted to off-the-shelf drivers, and which is more tolerant of small driver variations. If you can find a 1.3-like woofer, putting it into the slightly smaller 1a box will work fine. If needed, I can help you tweek the crossover to make it sound decent, even with a slightly different woofer. This approach would be mcuh tougher with the 1a, due to the characteristics of the design and the drivers.

Hope this makes sense!
 
Thanks guys for the help. Is M1a on the spread sheet line 5 model 1A ? If so, they used a plastic basket??
 
I have the NHT SB3's and like them very much. I tried them with a sub and decided they were good enough without one for music. They don't go very low but 40 hz and up they sound pretty impressive for a small bookshelf. And the highs are nice and clear as well. I hope you can find the replacement woofers, the super zeroes should sound very good.
 
Thanks cc, it looks like it's going to be a challenge. The cabinets are in perfect condition and are solid as a rock, impressive build quality. If they weren't so, I might not be as inclined to take the time, not knowing how good they sound.
 
Sorry I didn't respond sooner. It's not my spreadsheet... I asked the same mental question when I saw line 7... I just don't know. The spreadsheet comes from this SITE

Apparently nothing on the site is available, but the drivers (as you scroll down the page) are often accompanied by data sheets that might allow you to find a close approximation... Or not. :(

Best of luck to you with your rescue of the speakers!
 
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