Rear-Firing Drivers Added To Towers In Lauded NHT Speaker Ensemble
NHT (Now Hear This) has introduced two new speaker models, designated VT-1.4 and VS-1.4, that make significant acoustic advances over the models they replace. Similar in design and concept to the companyís earlier - and nearly legendary - VT-1.2 and VS-1.2, the new models can combine to form a superb audio/video home theatre speaker ensemble, perfect for todayís multi-application entertainment needs. The new three-way VT-1.4 tower speakers utilize NHTís audio/video mode switch and rear firing drivers to provide different imaging characteristics for music and movie listening. It is NHTís contention that the imaging requirements for music and home theatre are markedly different. For music, there are no visual cues to provide a sense of spatial relationships, the sound itself, as delivered by the speakers, must create the space in the mind of the listener. Therefore, precise imaging is of the utmost importance. For a home theatre application, speakers are asked to augment images and a reality provided by the visual cues on the screen. The desired sound is not necessarily a recreation of reality, but often an enhancement of it. And frequently the sound is nothing ever heard in the real world. In home theatre, the idea is to expand the environment, not to create an imaginary soundstage with pinpoint accuracy. To provide the best possible sound for music listening and home theatre enjoyment, NHT has designed speakers which do both without compromising the ideal of either. With a flick of the front-mounted audio/video switch, a listener can change the VT-1.4ís acoustic personality. The new VT-1.4 incorporates rear-firing drivers which are off in the audio mode and active for video. This effectively changes the dispersion characteristics and provides precise imaging for music and expands and diffuses the soundstage for home theatre. VT-1.4 NHTís new VT-1.4 is a three-way vented tower loudspeaker system incorporating a side-loaded 8-inch polypropylene cone woofer, a pair of 4-inch polypropylene cone midrange drivers, and a 1-inch aluminum dome, ferro-fluid cooled tweeter. The midrange drivers and tweeter are arranged in a vertical ""M-T-M"" configuration, with the tweeter placed between the two midrange drivers, and face forward into the listening area. Enclosed in a separate internal chamber, NHT has positioned two additional rear-drivers, a 4-inch three-layer polypropylene cone midrange driver and a 1-inch soft-dome tweeter. For the best possible imaging, the music/video switch will be kept in the music position and the rear-firing drivers are off. For the dramatic effect of home theatre, the switch is moved to the video position which activates the rear-firing drivers and adds more ""space"" to the room. The precise imaging, necessary for finely discriminating music listening has given way to the larger, less subtle, and more dramatic sound of a fine home theatre. The sense of place is maintained by the picture present in home theatre rather than the precise soundstage aurally created by the speakers. The VT-1.4 towers are finished in black laminate and have a suggested retail price of $1,200 per pair. VS-1.4 While the VT-1.4 towers are superbly suited for the front main or stereo pair of speakers in a home theatre system, NHT has designed the satellite speaker, VS-1.4, to carry the rest of the sound. Voiced to match the towers and using identical drivers, the smaller VS-1.4s are two-way acoustic suspension-type systems. Each VS-1.4 cabinet contains a pair of 4-inch polypropylene cone woofers flanking a 1-inch ferro-fluid cooled aluminum dome tweeter in a ""M-T-M"" array. The VS-1.4 is fully magnetically shielded. It can be placed near a TV or monitor without degrading the picture. The VS-1.4 center channel and effects speakers are finished in black and white laminate and have a suggested retail price of $300 each.