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Help with NHT 3.3 s

Am I doing somthing wrong or is it just room problems?
Any help from NHT experts would be greatly appreciated.
My problem is I'm getting fantastic bass response from
every where in the house except the listening spot!!??.
When I stand behind the listening spot, bass is great.
When I move all around the living room and throughout
the house, the bass is great. But when I go sit down, the
bass kind of disappears?

I have the speakers 1" against the back wall and about
10' apart, in a 20x20x12 room with a big screen TV and
rack in between. The speakers sound fantastic in all other areas (Imaging sound stage, mid's ...etc...
but I want the bass I hear everywhere else in the house,
in my spot.
I have tried moving foward...backward...pulling them out,
(didn't help) and everything else (I think).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Oh btw...My gear is Rowland Model 5B, Cary tube pre amp,
and Cambridge C-500.
I'm fixing to change to Rowland model 7 Mono's & Muse
model 3 pre amp.

Thanks,
Bob
telescope_trade
hifiho
50 posts
 
Bob,
I'm using 3.3's myself, biamped with a Sunfire stereo amp (300 w/p/c), and 2 channels of a Sunfire Cinema Grand (200 w/p/c to the mid/tweet). My room measures 16' x 24' x 9' tall at the low end, tapering to 13' at the peak of the ceiling. Mine also flank a bigscreen, with about 10" of clearance on each side. Those woofers need room to breathe. Your TV might be reflecting a great deal of that LF info right back into the driver itself, cancelling the bass at it's source.

I was a bit disappointed with the bass response at first, but then you have to realize that these speakers are NEUTRAL sounding. They don't "add" to the recording. Try moving your equipment rack to one side of the room or the other, and give those woofers some space. I think that might clean things up. Not only that, but the equipment might react a little better without having to combat the vibration and magnetic interference produced by the drivers being so close to the components!

If you want the extra "slam" that isn't in the original recording, you might try a PAIR of Mirage BPS-400's. It worked for me! Great for home theater. And adds an extra ocatave of "bottom" that the 3.3's can't seem to eke out on their own.

Good luck.
David.
ezmeralda11
303 posts
 
I get the impression you are standing in all other positions when getting good bass, but when you sit in the sweet spot there is no bass: do you think its a height problem with your listening position. How is the bass when you sit behind the listening position, instead of standing? How is it when you stand in the listening position? You may be having some cancellation in the low frequencies at that exact point. If its height related you could experiment with raising the listening position and or speakers (put concrete or marble slabs under them). Just my thoughts.
creeper
251 posts
 
If I'm not mistaken, the 3.3's were designed to be placed right up against the rear wall. I have a pair of VT-1.2's. I too have found that listening height makes a big difference with NHT's. Also, I think what you are hearing around the room is mid-bass boom, not real bass. I'm guessing that in your listening postion "sweet spot" you can sense bass response (in your head), but don't really feel it (rumbling in your chest). Here is a test. While seated in your prime listening position, try planting your feet on the listening area floor and touching the sides of your chair/couch. If there suddenly seems to be more bass rumble, you're really feeling and hearing mid-bass boom. NHT's typically produce true, honest bass response when positioned to factory spec. Good luck and happy listening.
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