Finally heard NXT...

Just listenned to some Warfdale NXT flat panels, the ones that look like picture frames and have a sub with them. Hooked up with some a £250 each NAD amp and CD player. Very very good I think, very supprised that this didn't take off, I've heard a great deal of budget gear and these were selling for £50 at Richer a few years ago.

Bass is the weakness but this was down to the sub, the cybols and vocal project extreemly well and give a decent 3d image that few budget systems seem to handle.

What does everyone else think?

Ta, Tim

 

I haven't heard the Wharfedales but I have the mission x space nxt and subwoofer. They can be picked up on ebay for under £50 and I think they sound excellent. Again the bass is a little light but tuneful.

Rod

 

I've got TDK nxt speakers and subwoofer on my non-hifi'ed-up PC. Give the very ordinary soundcard they do a remarkably good job, particularly on the midrange. rather like a pair of good headphones, only a couple of feet away.... this little package only cost me about £70 so is probably the best bang for buck I've ever bought.

 

I bought a pair of the Wharfedales for my mother, to use with a Denon DM30 midi unit.
Have to say that I thought the mission sourced SCM50s walked all over the Wharfedales in virtually every way, that's despite the SCMs costing 1/5 of the RRP of the Wharfedales.

 

i have a pair an of Warfdale NXT flat panels and sub and there are pretty good when driven buy a decent amp. i also dont use them anymore and if anyone wanted to buy them you could give me a pm.

 

You mean, like, part-exchange?

 

My experience of the nxts was that they're very harsh at the top end and blow up (with a particularly unpleasant smell) with little provocation.

 

Does anyone remember the old music boxes where you turned a handle to rotate a wheel that pronged a little steel harp and made a tune? You can get those music boxes in chassis form and hold them against different surfaces to amplify the sound. NXT is based on the same principle.

Instead of a conventional drive unit they use an 'exciter' which is a low amplitude moving coil driver without the cone. This is placed against the material (generally very lightweight) which makes the sound. The skill is to design them so that the ripples caused in the material create a flat frequency response. There's no reason why they should blow up any more easily than an equivalent conventional driver (or smell any different) but this will depend on the actual exciter used.

I agree that they sound harsh compared to good moving coil speakers. Their attack is good but their decay tends to be dirty. They disperse the sound differently to conventional drivers too, which makes the stereo image less precise. However, they do fill a room and do 'ambience' well. 'Layered Sound' is a good application of NXTs.

(with apologies for boring half to death anyone who knew all this already)