in the past, i had almost all nht speakers from the super zeros, super ones, 1.5's, and the 2.9's. all of them are very cool sounding speakers. nothing laid back about them. i went all totem and the totem are less fatiguing, much more musical. the 2.5's are a decent speaker. IMO, i would save your money and get a pair of used totem rainmaker, mites, or even the model 1's. you can spend all day listening to any of those. with the nht's, you will go find something else to do within an hour.