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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
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.
telescope_trade OP
555 posts
 
Hi,

Thanks for the input from all of you! I will consider all
the info from this & other e-mails and see how it goes.
I am really impressed with the sound already & playing
with them more today produced better results. Just goes
to show how much it takes to get it perfect. (which I knew)
Also I think with the bigger Rowland mono's, it will open
up even futher in heft. Problem was initally coming off
Wisdom Adrenaline 75's I think!?

Very quick & detailed speaker...wife loves them :o) and
she has heard a lot, and usually does not comment much,
except for the Wisdoms.

Thanks again for all the help.

Bob.
bbroussard
189 posts
 
Try to get your hands on the "magic formula" for speaker placement. I think I saw it in Stereophile Guide to Home Theater. I haev also seen reference to it here. Try a search for speaker placement. I believe one the premier loudspeaker manufacturers has it on their website, but I am not sure which one (maybe Dunlavy?). The formula helps you identify optimal speaker palcement based upon length and width of your room.
kthomas
911 posts
 
NHT recommends placement of the speakers against the back wall, and a listener distance of 1.5x the distance between the two speakers. With the slanted baffles, this placement should work for almost any room, at least for the sweet spot, but is quite different from other speaker placement formulas that are optimal for other speaker lines. -Kirk
mike_in_nc
1,158 posts
 
I agree with others that it's likely to be a room and placement problem. What kind of wall is behind the 3.3s? If you are getting bass in other rooms, it's leaking out of the listening room. I would bet you have a standard, modern, junky wallboard wall behind them. (I have the same junk in my house.) You could move to a house with real plaster walls, build a brick wall behind them, or more realistically if remodeling is a possibility, reinforce the wall behind them with additional layers of sheetrock. If none of that is possible, experiment with positioning and add more materials that will absorb higher frequencies. I would also suggest consulting a book on acoustics; e.g., Alton Everest's volume. I hope this is helpful or at least throught-provoking.
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