NHT XdS Listening Tests

Auditioning the Xd system is a purely pleasurable exercise in musical exploration. There are so many sonically compelling musical strengths inherent to the Xd its hard to tear yourself away from the system when life’s other commitments require your presence elsewhere. It’s also hard to know where to start in describing these many, many strengths; if you’ve had the opportunity to listen to an XdS system, you’ll likely know there are so many competing for your immediate attention. Ah, such are these sweet challenges. Onward to the subjective assessment.

First up on deck is the Yellowjackets’ “time squared” CD, (HUCD 3075). The Yellowjackets have been around for what by now seems like ages. They’ve always had a sound (jazz fusionists with pronounced old school sensibilities) that seems especially well showcased by systems possessing unusually low mechanical/acoustical noise floors. (Read: musical details don’t get lost beneath the grunge). Sonically speaking, a system with as low a noise floor as the Xd is analogous to a video projector with a contrast ratio in the 5 or 6 figures – consciously or not it’ll become a standard by which all others are judged.

Track after track, the Xd system filled the listening space with a sound stage that was as high as it was wide. Imaging bordered on the holographic (due in part to the Xd’s tightly controlled impulse response and immaculate tonal balance), with the various instruments definitively painted across the sound stage, each clearly defined in their location. The XdS did all this while at the same time presenting a rather convincing illusion that they had nothing to do with the music you were hearing; they were invisible; the music was simply there in the space before you.

Tonally speaking the Xd system at times resembled that of some of the best electrostatic systems out there, with the added punch of the XdW thrown into the bargain. With as expansive and sonically clean a sound stage as that presented by the Xd system, it was easy to get a sense of the space around the various instruments, further adding to the illusion of being right there.

The Yellowjackets compositions will typically make lively use of whatever dynamic range any particular playback system can provide. Biamped and powered by a total of four separate 150W rms (300W, peak) Amplifiers, plus the XdW’s own 500W rms (700W, peak) power amp the Xd system was able to provide a dynamic range easily capable of supporting the demands of the playback material, delivered at realistic levels at the listening position. For example, the sax in “Monks Habit” or “Claire @ 18” was presented at a level I would expect if it were the band and not the speakers situated 10 feet in front of the listening position. The bass lines never disappeared, always clean, always focused. The drum/ percussion tracks were arrayed across the sound stage so stably the individual instruments never seemed to waver in their relative position, further enhancing the illusion of 3-dimensional acoustical reality. Off-axis performance was, given the systems multitude of well-executed design attributes, outstanding as well.

Next up on deck was the sampler CD included with the Xd system, titled, appropriately enough, the NHT Xd Sampler, The E.S.E Sessions. The sampler sports 5 tracks of superbly recorded, mixed and mastered material - vocals and unamplified strings (dobros, slide guitar, bass, nylon-stringed guitar) -and nothing else. Perfect for a mellow or nearly meditative listening experience. Long before the CD came to an end I’d made a mental note to look up Blue Coast Records and add more of their fine product to my CD collection.

This CD, right from the first track, “Looking for A Home” takes the Xd system right to the edge of its musical envelope, involving you in the essence of the individual performances, never dropping the ball where it comes to the subtle details that separate music produced from music reproduced. The harmonic structure of the voices and the delicate interplay of the instruments were portrayed in a way that leaves one wishing everything in your CD collection could sound this good.

In the second track “Slow Day” the XdW bass module gets a work out. In this particular track the melodic acoustic bass line weaves a masterfully crafted underpinning that shows off just how musically accurate, the XdW, under the wizened digital guidance of the XdA really, really is. In this case, the bass line is an equal partner with the vocals and guitar, never intruding but always supporting the melody. (Think of the bass line in Zeppelin’s “Ramble On” and you’ve got the idea). In thinking about it afterwards, I realized I’d been so impressed with the job the XdW bass module had done in convincing me the illusion was real that all the while I’d been listening to the track I’d been speculating as to how they’d managed to capture such a true-to-life rendition of the acoustic bass (far harder to do than it sounds). Another words, my focus had been drawn into the session and I had forgotten about the speakers, they’d done such a good job of disappearing, convincing the ear they had nothing to do with the music being heard. Excellent!

Track 4 “Darcy Farrow” showed off the systems ability to subjectively reach for and grab the sharp transients presented by the Dobro (thanks in equal measure to the tweeter’s design and the electronics driving it) while maintaining beautifully the harmonic structure of the slide guitar. (A testament to not only the quality of the individual components but also how well they integrate). With power to spare the system was well able to accurately convey the dynamic range of the performance, all at realistic levels. With loud, musically complex recordings, masking can hide all sorts of failings. With more (so to speak) sparse recordings - like an acoustic guitar & a lone Dobro – any such failings will stand out. That, of course, includes the speakers. One example that immediately comes to mind is the case where the midrange driver & the tweeter don’t integrate well; Dobros end up sounding like they’re made of plastic (they definitely aren’t)! The Xd system had no such problems.

On other material (various recordings of Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue and the first couple of Van Halen albums) I did bump in to the system’s limits. And all systems – regardless of the size of the price tag or the amount of competent engineering that went into their creation – certainly have limits.

I’d read elsewhere that others had encountered a bit of noisiness with the system. Everything from purported ground-loop hum to processor “hiss”. I found it did indeed hiss a bit, but in the case of the system provided for this review you’d have to be impractically close to either XdS to actually hear the hiss. If you’re in the habit of wearing your speakers like headphones (many years ago I saw someone try this at a frat party once), then, sure, you’ll hear it. Otherwise, even when playing back solo piano material like Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue it wasn’t audible at the listening position. As well, I had no problems whatsoever with ground loop hum, even though the system had been connected in a way that theoretically could have set it up for just such problems.

I’ve also seen questions arise elsewhere considering the system’s power-handling ability or perhaps more to the point how loud it can play.

I found that extreme levels (early Van Halen albums, cranked) you could hear the midranges struggling a bit in their lower registers, but this occurred at playback levels that were extreme and used only once to see just what the limits were. Under all other operating conditions tested, the system functioned flawlessly. Its not all that difficult to imagine just how loud the system can play when you stop to consider you have a pair of tweeters, each powered by its own 150W rms amplifier, a pair of midranges, each powered by its own 150W rms power amp and a bass module sporting a pair of 10” drivers, fed by its own 500W amp. Of course, if you need a bit more, you can add a second XdW and upgrade the firmware.