inverted onto its stand, the cover that protects the drivers can be swapped for a fitted grille. Each XdS connects to the XdA with a color-coded cable terminat- ed, on each end, with a clearly labeled fitting bearing four banana plugs.
The 57-lb XdW comes fully assem- bled, requiring only the attachment of its IEC power cord and XLR signal cable (both provided). It also has its own power switch and level control; I found the latter correctly calibrated to match the XdS in my room.
The XdA’s rear panel has left and right RCA and XLR inputs, L/R RCA and XLR woofer outputs, two sets of four binding posts, one for each L/R amplified output, and AC power and
Fed by the L/R outputs of the McCor- mack MAP-1 preamplifier, the Xd system was plagued with a low, buzzy hum. Because the hum came only through the XdS satellites and not the XdW, I didn’t conclude that it was a ground loop until after lots of cable-swapping, AC rerout- ing, and fooling with ferrites. NHT’s Jack Hidley thought the ground loop came from cable TV or a satellite receiver, but neither was the case because I’d disconnected both. However, he did say that “the PowerPhysics switching amplifiers have an H bridge output. The consequence of this is that there will be half of the rail voltage (70VDC) on the plus and
Beautiful is as beautiful does
My first impression of the Xd system’s sound was that it was clean and well-balanced but somehow lacked great projection and weight. Imaging was stable and discrete, with a wide, deep soundstage into which the XdS speakers themselves almost “disappeared.” To get more satisfying performance, I tried fiddling with the XdA’s speaker position control, which equalizes the system to compensate for the XdSes’ distances from room boundaries, but the differences, though easily discernible, were not effective. Later, when I got the graphs showing the boundary-compensation EQ, it was
switching facilities. Although that’s all that’s needed for general use, there are also: a mike input for the future addition of room EQ functions, a USB port for software updates such as modified EQ and crossover curves, and options for remote switching and/or signal- sensing for turning the unit on. The XdA’s front panel, stylish in black and silver, has indicators and pushbuttons
BECAUSE ALL CABLES AND PARTS ARE INCLUDED AND ALL THE NECESSARY EQ IS ALREADY PROGRAMMED, THE XD SYSTEM WAS UP AND RUNNING WITHIN HALF AN HOUR OF MY OPENING THE FIRST CARTON.
for each channel that adjust the system EQ for the proximity of the XdS satellites to walls, corners, and other large objects, such as video monitors.
Because all cables and parts are included and all the necessary EQ is already programmed, the system was up and running within half an hour of my opening the first carton. In fact, most of my effort was expended in removing my resident floorstanding speakers so that the Xd could have room to breathe.
Beautiful looks
My oh my, but this is one beautiful speaker system. Even before turning it on, I could appreciate that NHT has put a lot of effort into making the Xd welcome in the home. Each XdS becomes one with its base, and the elliptical XdW is a refreshing relief from the usual cubes and cylinders. While the two-tone scheme may not appeal to everyone, the Xd is spectacularly finished and definitely furniture-grade.
minus speaker outputs of the XdA all the time.” I suppose that might make the Xd more sensitive than other systems to the leakage of rail-borne noise. Nonetheless, the simple solution suggested by NHT was a ground cheater on the XdA’s AC cord. It worked.
When I set the XdA to turn itself on only when it sensed an audio signal, it responded in 3–5 seconds; the XdW, which is always in this mode, took about 3 seconds more. This is not a problem, but you’ll become aware of it when you put on your first CD and don’t hear its first notes. I was more bothered by the XdA shutting down after several minutes without signal, which occurred during testing when I took 10 minutes to analyze the results of one signal sweep before taking another. All of this can be avoided by setting the XdA to be permanently On.
clear why these settings would not affect this range: All of those adjustments affect only frequencies above 200Hz.
This was resolved in two ways. First,
Imeasured an in-room response that dipped several dB in the upper-bass range centered on 130Hz. This detract- ed from the general impression of weight, warmth, and richness of sound. While the crossover slope between the XdS and XdW may be a very steep 48dB/octave at 110Hz, there is still sig- nificant signal overlap between the woofer and satellites; the positioning of the woofer is important. A lower fre- quency, of course, would compromise the power-handling limits of the XdS’s 5.25" driver. I found that moving the XdW forward so that it was the same distance from the listener as the satel- lites filled in the integrated response, as confirmed by instrument and ear.
Other finishes are promised; if they’re executed as nicely as this one, the WAF bugaboo should be gone forever.
At first, I put the XdS’s about 7' apart and about 2' from the front wall. The unported XdW was dead center between them but closer to the wall. Damn, it looked nice, and the maroon- and-cream color scheme worked well with our bubblegum-pink walls.
ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT
DIGITAL SOURCES Simaudio Moon Orbiter, Denon DV-5900 universal players. PREAMPLIFIER McCormack MAP-1.
POWER AMPLIFIER Bryston 9B-SST.
LOUDSPEAKERS Paradigm Reference Studio/60 v.3, Studio/20, Servo-15 subwoofer; Revel Ultima Studio; B&W N802D.
CABLES Interconnect: Harmonic Technology Harmony Rainbow, Crystal Cable
Cinemax, Kubala-Sosna Fascination. Speaker: Kubala-Sosna Fascination.
AC: Kubala-Sosna Emotion.
ACCESSORIES Echo Buster room treatments, RealTraps. —Kalman Rubinson
