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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 mofojo,

Since the Model 50 is a floorstander, not a stand mount, it would not be an apple to an apple comparison with the DI Monitor.  Also, the DI is priced $2,100.00 more then the NSMT, so it's not in the same price range.

I will be getting very shortly the new Tekton Prefect SET model for review.  This speaker is built to be used with SET amps and is priced at exactly the same price as the Model 50, so this will be an apple to apple evaluation.
snapsc
675 posts
 
@teajay

I'm really interested from your HTR review that the Model 50 seems to throw a massive and immersive soundstage...which is something I really value. 


One question I have is whether their deep bass also translates to that mid bass slam factor that really furthers the sense of a "live" performance....in other words, some loudspeakers can go deep but never sound alive often because of lack of slam or a recessed midrange...so any thoughts you can provide would be helpful.  Thanks

teajay OP
1,691 posts
 
Hey snapsc,

I believe what you are referring to is what I call a "leaness" in the lower midrange or upper bass region which takes away the foundation of the music.  The Model 50 is not lean in this region at all.  They sound "alive" with great punch/energy. 
snapsc
675 posts
 
Thanks... teajay... seems like these may be a nice step up from my Lores... which are no slouches. 

On the other hand the tekton Perfect Set should be interesting also.  The “12” transducer should punch pretty hard so I suspect it will be a comparison of midrange, topend, soundstage and overall musicality. 

Hopefully they hit your doorstep soon and you can post a few thoughts. 
batman1971
96 posts
 
Its not possible for a 1/4 transmission line speaker using  8 inch driver and tweeter in a small box to be 101 db... something is not exactly right.Or they have invented a new driver. which i doubt based on they only had one pair in stock to sell and that pair was not even finished.

I called the company a few weeks ago, he would not answer any specific questions about the speaker design in any kinda detail.  




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