Can you describe your listening room? Could it be that reflections from the walls are hardening the sound?
I don't know what Marakanetz means about NHT's "complete decline from real music". My Xds sound great with careful placement, but I listen mostly to classical music. Their midrange is very pure sounding. Their treble is never offensive, though it can be a little dull if the room is overdamped. With only one subwoofer, the bass goes down to at least 30 Hz even in my cavern-like room, so I imagine the dual subwoofer system that NHT is now selling should have very impressive in-room bass performance.
I don't know what Marakanetz means about NHT's "complete decline from real music". My Xds sound great with careful placement, but I listen mostly to classical music. Their midrange is very pure sounding. Their treble is never offensive, though it can be a little dull if the room is overdamped. With only one subwoofer, the bass goes down to at least 30 Hz even in my cavern-like room, so I imagine the dual subwoofer system that NHT is now selling should have very impressive in-room bass performance.