NHT Absolute Zero Bookshelf Speaker (Black, Single)

There are a lot of technical reviews out there for this little gem of a bookshelf speaker from NHT, so I will just say that I absolutely love it and am very happy with the quality of sound coming from a speaker at this price point. The glossy, piano black finish is gorgeous and is a huge improvement from the painted woodgrain on similarly priced speakers (e.g. the Klipsch RF series). Most importantly, my wife also thinks they look great, so no objections there.One point - be cautious about buying used speakers! I bought an NHT TwoC center channel on Ebay and two Absolute Zeros on Amazon (from different sellers), and all three units had scratches and major fractures in the finish indicating that they had been dropped. None of the damages were reported in the listings. As of this writing (03/10/15), one of the damaged Absolute Zeros that I returned is back up for sale in the used section. If you don't want to pay full retail, check NHT's website - they often have floor models for discounted sale in their clearance section.

The Absolute Zero replaces the NHT SB1 but the street price has roughly doubled. I have a pair of the original Super Zeros, a pair of SB1s, and now a pair of Absolute Zeros. I've compared all 3 to each other in a carefully set up environment listening to a variety of material from high quality sources.Unlike older NHT products, the Absolute Zeros are made in China which makes the new higher price even harder to swallow. I'm betting NHT's costs have actually gone down over the USA made SB1s. So it's kind of sad they saw fit to raise the price so high? This is even more true because, as I'm about to explain, one can argue the much cheaper SB1 sounds better!Before I get to the sound, the Absolute Zero looks nicer, less obtrusive, and a bit more expensive than the previous SB1. The curved cabinet makes them look more sleek although the plastic grill frames don't fit all that well and have two cheesy visible strips of foam rubber that's tacked on flanking the tweeter. I presume the strips are there to control high frequency diffraction effects improving the sound but it's ugly if you look at the speakers from the side with the grills on.Sound wise, the Absolute Zero is the brightest of the three speakers. Some have said it's more detailed as well, but that's very subjective. Most people consider a brighter speaker to be more detailed, but that's not always true. More high frequency distortion, for example, can make a speaker sound brighter while revealing LESS detail. I'd say the new Absolute Zero reveals about the same musical detail as its predecessors and many other good speakers in its price range.The deeper bass performance is very similar to the SB1 which means there's honest bass down to 90hz or so. Below that, the bass rolls off more gently than in most similar sized speakers which are typically ported these days. The sealed NHT designs are also better for putting up against a wall, in a cubby hole, cabinet, etc. as there's no port to worry about. The new Zero has much more satisfying bass than the much smaller original Super Zero but most will still want a subwoofer if you like real bass.The new Zero allows a subwoofer to be crossed over around 100hz with no big "hole" in the bass like you get with most small satellite speakers. Most satellites with 4.5 inch or smaller woofers have trouble honestly making it down to even 150hz despite their optimistic specifications. Not so the Absolute Zero or SB1.In terms of soundstage (imaging), all 3 speakers are about the same with perhaps the SB1 being slightly weaker. NHT speakers have always done a good job of "disappearing" and the Absolute Zero is no exception.My biggest complaint with the Absolute Zero is a somewhat nasal character in the lower midrange that's missing in the SB1 and Super Zero. It's especially obvious on certain vocals and it's the same sort of sound, just less obvious, that you often hear from those cheap plastic enclosure surround sound satellites that are so common these days. Perhaps NHT is making their drivers at a different factory in China and they're not as accurate as they used to be? Whatever the reason, it's a step backwards.The brighter high-end can also be a mixed blessing. The old SB1 is more forgiving of MP3 material with encoding artifacts, poorly recorded/mixed content, etc. The Absolute Zero can make less than pristine recordings sound more harsh--especially at louder volumes. The tweeter looks very similar to the SB1 tweeter, but it's clearly not identical and there may be crossover changes as well. Again, it's possible the new tweeter is made by a different manufacture in China.In terms of efficiency, NHT has been steadily increasing it. The SB1 is slightly more efficient than the old Super Zero, and the Absolute Zero is very slightly more efficient still. It will play about equally as loud as the SB1 before it starts to sound obviously strained. But again, the brighter high end makes it sound more harsh when pushed hard. I was driving them with a high-end power amp with 200 watts per channel and clipping indicators, so I'm quite certain it wasn't my amp that was straining.Most people will think either the SB1 or Absolute Zero sound significantly better than the original Super Zero--at least unless you're using a properly set up subwoofer. The SB1, in particular, sounds notably warmer and more full than the thin sounding Super Zero. The Absolute Zero initially sounds a bit louder (which it is) and brighter (which it also is) than the SB1 perhaps giving it an edge in a quick A/B comparison.But if you spend some time listening to a variety of material on both the SB1 and Absolute Zero, as I have done, I think most would agree NHT has taken a small step backwards even if the Absolute Zero were the same price. At roughly double the price, I think they've taken a BIG step backwards and there are better options in the Absolute Zero's now lofty price range.Overall, I wish NHT still made the SB1 as I prefer the sound and they were half the street price. Still, if you require a non-ported small speaker under 10 inches high that can reach down below 100hz, there are not that many good choices. So for these rare applications, the Absolute Zero might still be worth considering. Or, if the street price ever drops back to where it should be, the Absolute Zero would again be competitive.

What a beautiful speaker! Amazing finish, amazing sound, amazingly compact! I put two of these in a 39-foot long corridor connected to a large kitchenette with 9 foot ceilings and they fill the space very well. They tuck up next to the crown moulding and disappear.Con: I am wall mounting so didn't want the rails. Well unfortunately there is some pretty significant damage to the otherwise perfect finish when the rails are removed so I wish they'd ship them with the rails not installed and just some small holes pre-drilled instead. The paint around the screw hol chipped of to reveal the wood below in an area about the size of a dime. They are mounted high so it isn't a deal-breaker but you can definitely see the damage. :(

These mini speakers have excellent tonality - but take note that their small size prohibits them from reproducing lots of bass. I use them for my PC speakers - because every pair of normal PC speakers I've ever purchased were junk. The grills come off and the finish is polished piano black EVEN on the back which looks cool when approaching my desk. Just remember that much below 120Hz and these speakers struggle (Can't defy the laws of Physics). Midrange and Treble are open and airy. No strain at loud volumes either - although they want to hop a little. I listen to mix of Rock/Rap/Country/Death Metal/Irish Pub songs and Frank Sinatra/Johnny Cash/Karen Carpenter for vocals. I recommend them to everyone. NHT makes a very versatile speaker that is shockingly good.

The sound quality is good, but please read if you have ANY plans to put these on speaker stands.INCREDIBLY, these popular speakers have NO options whatsoever for speaker stands. Why? Because NHT inexplicably designed them without mounting holes. The only threaded hole on the entire speaker is one single 3/8 hole that is used for WALL mounting. Even the friendly people at Sanus concluded nothing could be done.If you want to put these on speaker stands, you have just two terrible options:1. Drill a hole in the bottom of the speaker so that it will become mountable to most speaker stands (this will void the warranty and possibly affect the sound)Or...2. Glue the speaker to the stand, which is a horrific thought for such a pretty piano black finish. And even this option is not as easy as it sounds, as the bottom of the speaker is ROUNDED, no flat. Ugh...NHT, what were you thinking designing a speaker like this?? Now I know why it is called Absolute Zero, because there is Absolutely Zero options for speaker stands.

I confess I haven't owned more than one other comparable speakers -- M&K. I like the sound of these better although it would be hard for me to describe why. I still use the M&K's in a different audio system. A requirement for me was that my speakers be white, which really narrows my options. The M&K's are also, but M&K is now out of business.