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On fit and finish including the adjustable footers, this box looks nuVero all the way. The Nextel finish with bullnosed edging in the rear looks and feels trick but wants regular dusting. The signature oversize baffle which the Schwabians call 'sonic sail' gets a high-gloss lacquer application and its curvature and dimensions are said to optimize mid-to-high dispersion with reduced edge reflections. So far so Nubert.
Setup and handling involve a small compromise however. With its ambient tweeter, port and switch array the rear baffle's real estate is so crammed that the biwire terminal had to migrate to the belly. That solution challenges cable dressing with a given stand. Cable terminations can't be over-dimensioned and preferably are angled too lest things overcrowd in curses. My French Real Cable BW OFC 400 leash's opulent diameter nearly maxed out but sounded terrific.
About four years ago I still wrote for our domestic print rag Stereo and had the pleasure of testing today's subject's bigger sister. Then new, the nuVero 4 was equally endowed with compact dimensions and quite astounded various listeners on our team by edging out a few established monitors of competitive size. Despite the bookshelf moniker of such speakers, it's generally most appropriate to not hide them on a shelf to reveal their true potential. Spring for a proper stand and if possible place that in free air. In my just about 18m² work/listening room today's tester too worked best that way firing straight out, asymmetrical tweeter in not out.
Inspired by summery temps I began my ear parcours with Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" from Random Access Memories whose funky groove and easy listening vibe were the perfect fit. All albums from this French electro-pop duo are very clean and transparent productions and this latest one is no exception. The "Get Lucky" ear worm sports a very extensive but well-structured bassment with well-defined registers and a breadth and airiness which on this number doesn't modulate vocals exclusively through a vocoder for epic choral dimensionality. The small Nubert had no issue with any of it.
I quickly saw that no front wall proximity was necessary to compensate for any potential lack of bass power. This became apparent on Daft Punk's eponymous homage to the pater familias of the electronica genre, "Gorgio by Moroder". A mix of synth and bona fide e-bass doesn't merely support the melodic lines of the entire cut but carries it. With astonishing ease the nuVero 3 descended these stairs and unveiled their structure in high relief and visibility. Compared to the bigger nuVero 4 which I had on loan it also was clear that on tympani and kick bass the 'Four' generated more shove and mass especially at high volumes. It has not only more cone surface, it also backloads it with greater cubic volume. No surprise there.
That said I remained surprised how by comparison the 'Three' didn't at all sound flat chested. Whatever it missed down low was made up for with dry robustness and definition. To optimize that simply wanted a potent amp. Two on hand—a Yamaha A-S 1000 and a Symphonic Line RG9 MkIV—had suitable reserves, an older compact 'PianoCraft' Yamaha compact system came apart some on bass. As the efficiency rating suggested already, power is most welcome here.
