NHB-458 monoblock power amplifier

Mike Lavigne

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 25, 2010
12,467
11,363
4,410
Does it have this space to stretch out , seems limited by the room .

it would be interesting to hear feedback on the difference between one pair and two pairs in terms of performance.

certainly a larger room has more upside, but also more difficult to control. it only took me 10 years to just understand how to deal with my large room; then another 2 years to actually execute my plan to make it work correctly. my previous smaller room was duck soup comparatively, although it had limited scale and authority and could be over driven. not my current room; it just goes and goes now.
 

LL21

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2010
14,411
2,509
1,448
Did you listen to these speakers? There is a pair being advertised since long locally at 1/6 retail price and no takers.

I have heard the Estelon Extreme speakers when they were here in London a number of years ago. The hosts and the owner and his daughters who work in the company were incredibly gracious and passionate about their company, designs and speakers. i had a lot of respect for their entire presentation, and of course for the distributor, as well.

Incredibly well controlled within their limits and was impressed by how 'tight' everything seemed to be delivered even across a fairly demand range/scale of music. For me, where i wished it had 'more' was all-out effortless ability to give big dynamics/power/fill a room (compared with the big Wilsons, Focal Grandes let alone the Arrakis, Genesis 1s, etc). No, I did not compared side by side, but i turned up the music for less then 3-5 seconds in a decent sized room but not enormous...and the speaker strained. I have done this test on big Wilsons...and certainly on the Arrakis, it was absolutely seamless, composed...just louder and effortlessly so.

If the speaker has been updated since (does it have a 2nd generation cone now?)...perhaps this has been solved.

There is so much to like about this speaker, I would hope this bit is resolveable. At this size, scale and price...i want to feel like i could crank it and the speaker would be unflappable.
 

bonzo75

Member Sponsor
Feb 26, 2014
22,434
13,467
2,710
London
Did you listen to these speakers? There is a pair being advertised since long locally at 1/6 retail price and no takers.

I have heard them at Munich, you can adjust the height by remote control to suit your room. They played with Vitus masterpiece. I have heard the smaller ones, properly set up in London with Vitus. They have a good and open panel like soundstage, but have a sharp (bad) digital type texture to their sound. In the same room the Avalon sounded more natural, though more fuzzy and less open
 

Tango

VIP/Donor
Mar 12, 2017
4,938
6,268
950
Bangkok
I just love how the Chinese do warp 9. Don't you Mike? :D

9901E6D5-9434-4A7C-80BA-D621861152BE.jpeg

And with a matching tt.

228AA71D-043E-412F-8144-1EE64ABB21E5.jpeg
 

Mike Lavigne

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 25, 2010
12,467
11,363
4,410
I just love how the Chinese do warp 9. Don't you Mike? :D

And with a matching tt.

go big.....or go home.....is what i say!!!!! Crazy Rich Asian's for sure.

i just hate to get my swerve on and run out of poop.:eek:

assuming those bass towers are passive, and that's why one might need 6 channels of 458/468 goodness?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lagonda

Tango

VIP/Donor
Mar 12, 2017
4,938
6,268
950
Bangkok

wisnon

Well-Known Member
Dec 12, 2011
3,525
635
1,200
go big.....or go home.....is what i say!!!!! Crazy Rich Asian's for sure.

i just hate to get my swerve on and run out of poop.:eek:

assuming those bass towers are passive, and that's why one might need 6 channels of 458/468 goodness?
That's nearly half million bucks of amplification right there. Herve does make more than say 20 pairs a year, so these guys have cornered the market by gobbling up 15% right there! LoL
 

microstrip

VIP/Donor
May 30, 2010
20,806
4,698
2,790
Portugal
I just love how the Chinese do warp 9. Don't you Mike? :D

View attachment 50725

That is the proper use of the Dartzeel preamplifier - it has three independent BNC outputs for three separate amplifiers. Users can specify filters for these channels to lower the IM distortion when used with passive speakers.
 
  • Like
Reactions: christoph

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing