NHT SuperZero 2.0 Mini-Monitors First Look

If you are new to the home theater game you may not have heard of the NHT (Now Hear This) SuperZero mini-monitors. This little speaker's got rave reviews and the dubious honor of someone saying they were comparable to speakers over 10x the price. Now, such comparisons are considered jokes or the purview of speaker manufacturers that do most of their sales through infomercials and paid "reviews" from men's magazines. But back then, it was high praise. After 15 years, NHT has decided to upgrade the SuperZero series and thus the SuperZero 2.0 was born.

One of the joys of the SuperZero series is that they aren't trying to be something physics says is impossible. They aren't trying to create Earth-shattering bass out of a cube. Instead, NHT has focused on doing what a small speaker reasonably can do - midrange and high end. Forget the bass, that's what subs are for. The NHT SuperZero 2.0 instead promises lifelike mids and extended highs. If you want bass, you'll have to buy a sub. This, while maybe not impressing the masses much, really speaks to us. It tells us that NHT doesn't mind eschewing the marketing speak. They don't mind confusing those who don't understand speakers. They'll let their word of mouth and their performance speak for them. We respect that.

The NHT SuperZero 2.0 mini-monitors sport a 4.5" paper cone woofer and a 1" soft dome tweeter. They didn't try to extend the bass through a port and instead opted for a sealed design. This limits the rated output down to only 85Hz. You'll probably want to experiment with a crossover setting higher than that though if the speakers are wall mounted, boundary reinforcement might extend it low enough to crossover at the THX recommended 80Hz. The NHT SuperZero 2.0's are really designed to be wall mounted. They have a 1/4" #20 threaded insert in the back for use with a number of different mounting options including the Omnimount 10.0 sold by NHT ($25 a pop).

The back of the speaker sports a pair of color coded five-way binding posts which are inset to allow closer placement to the wall. The speakers weigh an impressive 5.8 pounds considering their 9" tall x 5" wide x 5.5" deep dimensions. This will give you lots of placement options. The cabinets are wrapped in a black, high gloss vinyl laminate which will match your new display (since just about everything is high gloss black these days) or easily disappear into shadow. Each of the speakers is magnetically shielded for use near hard drives or CRTs.

The real story here, however, is the price. When the SuperZero speakers first came out in 1994, they were $250 apiece and were being hailed as a bargain. You'd think that the newer, upgraded versions would cost at least as much if not more. Not so. The NHT SuperZero 2.0s will run you less than $100 each. That's an impressive feat and one that should have a lot of people taking notice. While they won't win any beauty contests, the small, boxy speaker isn't trying to. It's trying to be affordable and to sound great. On the first, it has already succeeded. We're very interested to find out how they did on the second.

Conclusion

Rather than try to be something they aren't, the new NHT SuperZero 2.0 mini-monitors are just trying to do what a small speaker can - midrange and high frequency response, leaving the bass to the sub. NHT has made choices with the SuperZero 2.0 to make them easy to place, easy to wall-mount, and easy to afford; and all this without making promises (like chest thumping bass) that they can't possibly keep. We respect that and hope that we can get our hands on a few for review soon.

For more information, please visit www.nhthifi.com.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.