[daniel_ronquillo]

Hello everyone.

I am looking into the N2X for my next speaker purchase.

Please comment on the N2X's performance for HT. I already have two 12-inch sealed subs on which I place my current bookshelf speakers. My listening area (living room) is 20ft x 12ft x 10ft. Listening distance is around 12 feet. I listen to music/watch movies 60/40.

Please enlighten/educate me. Thanks a lot.

Daniel

[cujobob]

The N2x are a great speaker with a huge soundstage that I highly recommend. For a home theater application, I would highly suggest the N3s for the added output and extra sensitivity. Being sealed, they will easily mate with subs and provide a tremendous level of detail. You can't go wrong with these speakers, I sold two pairs of N2x years ago for financial reasons and could use a pair myself right now.

[iskandam]

Most N2Xs out there are probably used in a strictly 2-channel setting, but when I had mine they were used almost exclusively for HT and powered by a receiver no less.  With decent subs, crossed over at 80 hz they sound like huge floorstanders.  They're very dynamic, fast, detailed, and open -- all qualities that make them very fun to listen to for HT.  In movies, you will hear all kinds of little details that lesser speakers will simply not be able to reveal.

[gijogeo]

Hi Daniel
I recently build myself a pair of N2X's and have paired them with a tube pre and ss power for music where the perform amazingly well. I much prefer them to my Mordaunt short floorstanders for their imaging and soundstage. Those M-165X woofers goes pretty low for a bookshelf. I recently used them to play some movies off my computer and they reproduce all sounds with amazing detail. The fact that you've got 2 subs to match makes it a killer combo.
What center channel do you use?
Gijo

[eclein]

"Please enlighten/educate me. Thanks a lot."- No need to your spot on!!! A great choice..let us know how the build goes.

[daniel_ronquillo]

Thanks, guys for your replies.

What is it about being a sealed speaker that makes it easy to integrate with a sub?

Daniel

[eclein]

Not sure, but on another note we were all talking at one point about sub placement and I found as did others when I elevated the woofer up off the floor to about a third of the room height its even better. What I did with my first sub a Polk, forward firing one was to put it on a couple stacked boxes filled with books for stability, and placed it within the stereo field (between the left and right speaker positions). Amazing how much tighter and rounded the sound got, I'd say just about everyone heard the difference and liked it.

I bet if you start meeting folks from here and go to some gatherings you'll start seeing elevated subs!!!!!  LOL...I'd still have mine raised but I got a down firing one and just sit it off to the side a bit and directly on the floor....try it

[cujobob]

Sealed speakers have a gentle rolloff whereas ported fall off quickly.

[daniel_ronquillo]

eclein,
That's very interesting. I actually have my two subs elevated, but for a different reason. My subs are front firing, and I raised them so that they will not get damaged by the vacuum cleaner or some errant foot hitting the woofer. They now also serve as stands for my current bookshelf speakers. I'd say I really like how the bass frequencies sound in my space. It's good to know that, although inadvertent, what I did with my subs served a technical purpose. 

cujobob,
Is the gentle roll-off just a function of being sealed? In the context of the N2X, are there other parameters that will dictate this gentle roll-off?

[nickd]

In a properly designed "Sealed Box" or "Acoustic Suspension" if you prefer, bass rolls off at 12 db per octave below box tuning or resonance.

In Ported or Vented designs, bass typically rolls off at 24 db per octave below the port tuning frequency.

Sealed designs just seem easier to blend with subs as they tend to have a smooth roll off.  Ports will sometimes add a "bump" in the bass response at tuning (sometimes preferred for rock fans) or trigger an unwelcome room resonance.

Personally I have found front firing subs to work well with smaller monitors as some of the harmonics in bass can be filtered out in floor firing designs. Clean harmonics and overtones are very important if you don't want your rig to sound bland and lifeless.

"tubby, one note bass" is easily bought at the big retail chains.   

[tesseract]

I have to agree with cujobob, the N3 would be a much better candidate for HT. The N2X is a really nice speaker, but doesn't have the dynamic capability to hit satisfying levels. While auditioning the N2X, I kept having to switch speakers when I wanted to watch movies.

They always went back in for music listening, though. 

[Ron]

 I too agree that the N3 TL or N3S would be a better choice to use as main in a HT system. Both have greater sensitivity and dynamic range compared to the N2X. The N2X do very well in a HT system if your listening room is small or of moderate size. For larger listening rooms, the N3 TL's or N3S would be best. Also, if the system is intended mainly for HT use, the GR Research A/V series speakers work really well too. To me they have a more lively sound quality without sounding overbright. They are not quite as detailed sounding as the N series speakers, but still are great sounding speakers.