NHT Super Center 2.1 Center Channel Speaker, Black

Bought for a center-channel speaker so I could use my stereo as the main sound source for the TV instead of buying a soundbar. It's great for TV/movie dialogue, providing crisp sound from the right location and sounds great when combined with a pair of nice bookshelf speakers when playing music. Since it's positioned on the mantle under a wall-mounted TV the recessed/angled terminals are a nice touch so that it can be relatively flush to the back wall.

Nowadays, where a lot of people are going with towers, I decided that I will instead go small. So I went to search for the smallest (sealed) bookshelfs I could find and ended up with NHT. The company has been around for years since I have gotten into audio almost 18 yrs ago. I am happy to find that NHT is still in business and surprisingly still makes the same design 18 yrs later. They still use a soft dome for the tweeter and a paper cone mid-range driver. Up to this day I must say that this design still works just as good as the newer speaker designs from other brands. I bought the super center as part of my 7.1 system with the other speakers being the SuperZero 2.1. I have had speakers costing $2000 each and I kid you not that these super zeros and center puts a smile in my face everytime I use it. It's well built and imaging on these speakers are good. How can speaker this cheap be so accurate? It just proves that you don't need to spend thousands of dollars to get good sound.

Not a loud product. It’s great for the price. You would find it hard tomget more for the money

Speaker is great. I’ve had it for 5 months now to use with my other NHT speakers I’ve had for 25+ years. Always have loved NHT speakers and still do. However, the rubber feet they provide will leave a permanent stain on your furniture. See the picture. I’m not happy about this at all. I just noticed this and immediately removed them. NHT should be sure to provide non-staining feet.

4.5 stars really. The packaged arrived on time and nothing was damaged. It was very well packaged: double packaged from NHT and a third box for extra protection (an Amazon Prime option when clicking "this is a gift"), and enforced with good, thick foam, not the breakable styrofoam type AND a nice reusable slip cover. After about two weeks of music and movies, they are sounding very good, especially for the price. It pairs well with my entry-level Denon AVR Cambridge Audio SX-50s that are in the front L/R which have a paper cone material. I needed a center channel with similar cone material and the SuperCenter was within my budget. Although the SX-50s seem to be treated with some type of plastic coating, it doesn't detract from blending in with the SuperCenter or the overall sound. The SuperCenter seems to be very well built, the speaker connections feel solid, but I did have to tighten the screws holding in the woofers maybe because wood has a tendency to expand and contract in different climates/temperatures so any screws can become loosened during storage and/or shipping. All the other screws were fine. The woofers weren't falling off or anything like that, just a quick single turn ensured they were well secured to the enclosure. It even comes with a built-in wall mounting system, but I didn't need it. Nice to know it has one though. A couple detractors are it's limited finish options. Piano black is the only finish offered by NHT, but I think that's what keeps their prices lower. I have no other center channel speakers to compare them to, but I haven't found any faults in the SuperCenter 2.1 in terms of sound with my setup so far. However, the woofer cones do not appear to be treated, so they may not last long in humid environments or climates.

I've always loved NHT Ones & Zeros. They sound very clear & clean. So I replaced my aging NHTs with 4 NHT SuperZero 2.1 Mini-Monitor Speaker (Single, Gloss Black) s and the SuperCenter 2.1. I was not disappointed, the sound is better than ever. Dialog is clear & crisp, the surround is fantastic, and music sounds great. The SuperCenter is similar to the SuperZero, but with two woofers. If you want to save some $$ or space, I think a SuperZero would also work well as a center.

I replaced Energy Take 5 system with this speaker along with 4 Super Zeros and could not believe the difference. I could not recommend it more!

Overall, this is a good speaker for the money. The trouble is that I combined it with much better speakers. Compared to my other speakers, the overall clarity is lacking. My speakers have such a clarity, such a purity that I have never heard in other speakers. This makes the NHT center speaker really lacking. I am using classic AR (Acoustic Research) speakers for the front and back with no sub. Perhaps I should have gone with the more expensive NHT center, but, I am afraid it may also disappoint. Perhaps I will try to find a smaller (AR_4) classic speaker for the center. Anyway, for non critical listening, this speaker will probably be adequate for most situations.

Very good center channel speaker and when paired with their super zero book shelf speakers the balance and blend is excellent with a vibrant dynamic sound stage. Very pleased.

In case Amazon lumps this review in with other similar speakers - this is for the NHT SuperCenter 2.1. For this price it's hard to beat. Initially paired with an original 90's NHT SuperOne (made in USA) and the sound signature matched those speakers just fine. For a cheap HT build this is hard to beat. You'll want to set your cutoff at 80~100hz though. This speaker can be a little fatiguing to listen to after a while so I normally found myself listening on "all speakers stereo" mode most of the time. I don't know how but the speaker came with a slight dent in the bottom corner but the box itself wasn't damaged - so NHT isn't exactly quality straight out of the factory (problem with plastic injection mould shrinking?). It's been working for a few months just fine. If you can get yourself a better center channel - do - my next purchase won't be NHT (I'll be selling all my NHT speakers soon). People who say "this is as good as high end speakers" either don't have good hearing or haven't heard a custom built speaker cabinet.

It sounds great!

Great sound