NHT 2.5i VS NHT Classic 4

I had an absolutely gorgeous pair of Mahogony 2.5's a few years back and as much as I wanted to love them I never got the sense that the bass was truly integrated with the mid's and highs. It always seemed detached and rubbery sounding to me (if thats a word) and ultimately I moved them. Even the wife liked the looks of them and she was quite dissapointed when I moved my NLA's back in but what can you do, they gotta bring the tunes...

Had the same problem with the 2.5i (jealous of that mahogony finish you had Polarin!) The Classic 4's (and 3's I have in my bedroom), are the first NHT speakers I'd recommend to anyone, not just people who like NHT.

People would hear my 2.5i's, and think about buying them, and I'd warn them off. They really needed the right amp, ancillaries, and room to work. The Classic 4's need power, but they're not as fussy. Heard them sing with an Arcam a38, and with my McCormack DNA1, even with a Pioneer sc61 I use when it's just too hot, and I don't feel like running my McCormack space heater. Couldn't run 2.5's off a receiver like that. (well, you could, but they'd sound like hell)

They're great speakers. My only audio friend has Thiel 2.4's, and while we're both too prideful to ever admit that "your speakers are better", we both get tremendous enjoyment out of taking over one another's systems when one visits the other.

I love 2.5's had a pair in the Sycamore finish , Super WAF .
But at the end of the day, they were just too inefficient to
be top speakers.

I've always loved the mahogany finish on that line. I thought they were stunning, though i never bought a single nht pair in that finish, that whole line was really fun to play with. I actually had more fun with the 2.5is than the 3.3s. the only reason why I sold the 3.3s was because I got an incredible deal on some genesis speakers. i've always heard that they all needed some balls to be appreciated. I recently sold my tubes and bought a class d amp. just for shits and giggles, im going to try out the 2.5is with that amp. I hope I don't blow them, or worse.

You won't blow them. You'd have to run them with that amp for hours @ full tilt for that to happen. More likely to blue them running them off a 20 watt tube amp @ full volume. Lots of clean power never hurt any speaker.