Description

NHT’s “Top Dawg” bookshelf speaker The Classic Three is NHT’s self-proclaimed best bookshelf speaker ever, and the reviewers agree (see below). It’s capable of transforming your living room into a veritable 3D soundstage. Listen to your music come alive with energetic horn solos or the delicate pluck of harp strings. Your jaw may just drop when you hear this speaker’s wide-open, natural mids and highs. The Three delivers accurate, musical bass, too, making it a great match for high-end stereo sound systems, as well as home theater systems.

“As I see it, whether listeners are spending $800 or $80,000 on a new pair of loudspeakers, they want the same thing — namely, to get as close as possible to the heart and soul of the music. No other affordable bookshelf speaker I’ve heard does a better job of that than NHT’s Classic Threes.” —Chris Martens, The Perfect Vision, February 5, 2007

Three-way design for incredibly accurate sound

The Classic Three sports a 3-way design — unusual for a bookshelf speaker — meaning that it uses separate drivers to handle each of the high-, mid-, and low-frequency ranges. The lightweight 3/4″ aluminum dome tweeter produces crisp, accurate highs that extend across a broad seating area. Mounted just underneath this tweeter, the matching 2″ aluminum midrange dome driver reveals rich midrange detail with lifelike subtlety and dynamics. The 6-1/2″ aluminum woofer is housed in it’s own enclosure, keeping it separate from the other two drivers. This placement allows it to produce controlled, accurate bass that pushes the limits of what a compact bookshelf speaker can achieve.

Solid design keeps sound-muddying vibrations at bay Like all Classic Series speakers, the Classic Three features an acoustic suspension (sealed) enclosure design. This means it uses air — nature’s most perfect spring force — to control the driver motion, allowing for clean sound and low distortion. It provides plenty of strength to let the woofer rock out without adding any unwanted resonance to your music and movie soundtracks. Plus, the tweeter is set in a tiny bezel that allows it to be placed as close as possible to the midrange. The result is exceptionally even on- and off-axis response, so everyone on your couch can enjoy the clear, sparkling sound.

Classic looks help create a Classic system This speaker features a beautiful, curvaceous cabinet made of very dense, rigid MDF. It’s covered in eight layers of high-gloss paint and two layers of clear coat that are hand-polished between each layer for lasting beauty. Place the Classic Three on your entertainment cabinet, or on a pair of nice, heavy speaker stands, for a soul-enriching listening experience.

Retailed new for $800 USD ~ $1200 CAD with HST.

Asking $595 for these very impressive, great sounding bookshelf speakers from NHT.

About brand
NHT at Radique
We service NHT, too. Bring us your own NHT speakers and subwoofers for repair, servicing or restoration (speakers up to 80 lbs each), with a 90-day warranty on the work. See our Audio Service page

NHT was founded in Benicia, California, in 1986 by Chris Byrne and engineer Ken Kantor, and the name stands for Now Hear This. We carry NHT bookshelf speakers, towers, centre channels and subwoofers. We've had more than 40 NHT listings so far, covering more than 25 different models. Every used NHT here is inspected, tested and serviced as required, then photographed in-house and covered by our Bumper-to-Bumper Warranty and Perpetual Trade-Back Program. Don't see the model you want? Tell us on First Dibs and we'll email you when one arrives.

The NHT models we've sold most often include the Three and SuperOne bookshelf speakers, the SW2 and Ten subwoofers and the 2.9 tower.

The NHT story

Chris Byrne, who had been Pioneer Electronics' vice-president of marketing, and engineer Ken Kantor, whose career had taken in Acoustic Research, Boston Acoustics and NAD, founded NHT in Benicia, California, in 1986. Its speakers were known for front baffles angled at 21 degrees, which NHT called Focused Image Geometry.

Jensen and Rockford. In 1990 NHT was sold to International Jensen, which also owned AR and Advent and let NHT keep its design independence. The four-way 3.3 flagship followed in the early 1990s, Kantor left in 1997 after designing the 2.9 tower, and by 2004 NHT was part of Rockford Corporation.

Today. Secrets of Home Theater calls the Classic Three of the mid-2000s NHT's best-selling model, and the C Series followed it. NHT is still based in Benicia, making acoustic-suspension and in-ceiling speakers. Chris Byrne died in December 2025.

Which NHT is which?

Original Model line (late 1980s to early 1990s): from the Model 1 to the four-way 3.3, with slim baffles angled at 21 degrees.

2.9 tower (by 1997): Ken Kantor's last NHT design, with separate terminals for bi-amplifying its woofers.

Super series: the SuperZero, SuperOne and SuperTwo, often paired with the SW2 subwoofer.

Subwoofers: the SW2 with its MA-1A amplifier, and the Classic Ten and Classic Twelve.

VT home theatre towers: such as the VT-1 and VT-3.

Classic Series (mid-2000s to 2016) and C Series: including the Classic Three.

Buying used NHT: what to check

Stabilizer bars and spikes. NHT towers such as the VT-3 and SuperTwo rely on stabilizer bars or spikes, so check they come with the pair.

Amplifier match. NHT says underpowered amplifiers are the most common cause of speaker damage, so check the tweeters on any pair that ran on a small receiver.

Subwoofer amps. If an MA-1A's front light doesn't come on, an internal fuse may have blown. On a Classic Ten or Twelve, check that the line-voltage setting is 120 V.

Baffle foam. The original angled models have anti-diffraction foam strips on the baffle, so check they are there.

Everything we list is inspected, tested and serviced as required here, and comes with our warranty.