NHT XdS Setup

Fun begins with the arrival of 6 sturdy, well packed cartons, each containing an individually wrapped system component. (See Figs. 1 – 3, unpacking one of the XdS). After liberating the individual works of art that make up the Xd system, you’ll have arrayed before you a pair of XdS speakers, the XdA power amp/processor, the XdW powered woofer, stands for the XdS, along with all required cableage (a pair of 25’ speaker cables & a 25’ line level XLR – XLR cable to connect the XdA to the XdW), power cords, spikes, rubber pads, manual and some smaller accessories. The minimal assembly required was straightforward and built of a series of simple steps, all more than adequately illustrated in the manual. As an example, the section of the manual illustrating joining the stand to an XdS is given at right.

Keep the manual handy during assembly. Speaking of which, prior to assembly and using the system I highly recommend reading the manual. It’s an easy & informative read: it’ll only take a few minutes and well worth the small investment in time. All told, it took about 15 minutes or so to get the system unpacked, assembled, positioned and ready to go. I used an AVR’s front right & left pre-amp outs to drive the XdA. All in all, the Xd system is about as plug and play as it gets. It took no more effort than that required to assemble & place a couple of floor lamps.

NHT have obviously put a great deal of thought into making the assembly and usage of the Xd system as simple & easy as possible. One downside (if there is such a thing in this case) to this otherwise positive circumstance is that something so easy is easily rushed. When I first unpacked the Xd system, I quickly read through the manual, familiarized myself with the assembly procedures, put the system together, moved it into place and began the recreational listening portion of the system assessment - and the system kept switching itself off! On particularly quiet material this would happen so often I wouldn’t even bother listening all the way to the end of the CD. What was wrong with this thing? Actually, nothing whatsoever.

The XdA ships with its external trigger set to switch the amp on or off (“Audio”) depending on whether or not it senses an incoming audio signal. In my hasty read through of the manual, I had not paid attention to this essential fact. Had I done so, I would have switched the trigger to “On” mode, as in always on when the XdA is on, (and where it has been set since) and spared myself any unnecessary grief. Read the manual!

Placement was easy. The general location for the 2 XdS had been predetermined by having an accomplice walk the room while reading from a book. Changes in the tonal balance of the voice helped to narrow the field of suitable candidate positions. In the end, they were located at just over a meter in front of the back wall and slightly less distant from each of their respective side walls. The XdW was located between them and approximately .3 meter behind the plane formed by the XdS faceplates. Though the XdA can easily drive 2 XdW bass modules, only one unit was supplied for this review. The XdA was parked beside the AVR driving it, easy to do given the generous cable lengths supplied with the system.