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If you love SET amplifiers, boy do I have speaker for you.

I have had in-house for the last six weeks a pair of speakers that I'm reviewing for hometheaterreview.com from NSMT Loudspeakers, located in North Carolina, that are a perfect match with SET amplifiers.  I love SET amps.  However, historically I'm not a fan of single driver designs (rolled off high-end/lack of bass) or horn designs (I find them to have coloration that annoys me after a short while) that are normally used with beautiful sounding SET "Flea Watt" amps.  I have reviewed both types of speakers and they were good, but not keepers for me because of the above stated reasons.

The NSMT Model 50 is a small very attractive floor-stander which has an sensitivity rating of 101 dB and never dips below 8 ohms.  It is a three driver MTM two way design that loads into a double transmission line and really reaches down to 35Hz to 20 kHz in my room.  This is the third speaker I have reviewed from NSMT, the other two were wonderful music makers, and shows what a talented designer that Erol Ricketts is in all his designs at applying his unique version of transmission line loading. 

Now, the Model 50 sounds terrific with high power SS or tube based amplification.  But what has been enchanting for me is when I drive it with either a SET 2A3 amplifier, around 3.5 watts, or my Linear Tube Audio MicroZOTL as an integrated using the NOS 1940's Tung-Sol 6SN7 black glass oval plate tubes which produce only around 1 Watt.  With either amplifier this speaker completely disappears, the beautiful colors/timbres just float out and 3D chunky images of the players fill the soundstage.  However, because of the very high sensitivity of the Model 50 and its transmission line loading the foundation of the music, true deep bass, and overall dynamics/dB levels are hard to believe.

So, if you have or always wanted to try out a SET amplifier this speaker is a great choice.  The Model 50 retails for $1,800.00 a pair, so they are very affordable to team-up with your SET amplifier.  If you want a lot more details just go to NSMT-loudspeakers website.    
teajay
teajay OP
1,691 posts
 
Hey boxer12,

The Tekton open baffle model was a great speaker if you love planar speakers, but want more dynamics and pinpoint imaging.  However, I never tried them with a SET amplifier, my hunch would be it would not be a great match.  The Model 50 sounds great with the high power SS amps I have tried on them, but the magic for me is when they are driven by a great 2A3/300B SET amplifier.
boxer12
8,656 posts
 
Thanks teajay!
wlutke
725 posts
 
Ooops!
The 1995 85 dB Model 50 has been replaced with the 101 dB Jamaica ... 
https://www.nsmt-loudspeakers.com
brownsfan
1,508 posts
 
This looks like a real find.  Driving a speaker with a 6SN7 is mind boggling.  When and where can we see your review, teajay?
teajay OP
1,691 posts
 
Hey brownsfan,

It will probably go up on hometheaterreview.com in March sometime. 

To drive a speaker with a 6SN7 is "mind boggling" without losing overall dynamics/lower bass/dB levels and keeping the beautiful purity of tonality, transparency, and 3D imaging that a pair of NOS Tung-Sol black glass oval plate delivers to a system.  I find this tube to be one of the most musical sounding devices I have ever heard.  It's not quite as "cozy" as a 2A3 tube (which is my favorite tube to listen to in a SET amp), but boy it has its own virtues that draw you into the music.  Actually, I never had heard a 6SN7 used as a power tube until I reviewed the Line Tube Audio MicroZOTL and used it as an integrated amplifier.  
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