Harman Kardon Nova review

The Harman Kardon Nova computer speakers are designed to provide high-end sound in the bare minimum of space and with little hassle. The hemispherical speakers look stunning, too. Available in both black and white versions, the main body of each speaker is a clear, and you can see the stylishly designed interior parts that link a speaker’s front drivers to its rear bass radiator. They’re a real tonic compared to ugly and angular computer speakers, boxy bookshelf affairs and weedy portable speakers.

The novas are designed to work with almost any wired or wireless audio source, with the exception of Apple AirPlay. The speakers support Bluetooth wireless audio, making them compatible with laptops, tablets, phones and many all-in-one PCs. The Novas also support NFC pairing, so you’ll be able to connect an increasing number of phones and tablets to the speakers just by touching them. The NFC connection point is positioned on the right-hand speaker, which is also home to a 3.5mm analogue stereo input and an optical S/PDIF input. This means you’ll be able to connect many audio sources to your speakers, especially PCs, laptops, phones and MP3 players. On the left-hand speaker is a 3.5mm headphone port, which is handy if you’d otherwise have to crawl under your desk to attach your headphones.

Our Windows 8.1 all-in-one PC immediately detected the speakers’ Bluetooth pairing signal. If you want to pair another device, just press and hold the input selector on the right-hand speaker for two and a half seconds. Sounds and indicator lights let you know when the speakers are in pairing mode and when they’re connected. The Nova can remember up to five paired devices, so you can easily associate all your hardware. If one device is currently using the speakers, another won’t be able to pair with them. It’s worth noting that there’s no built-in microphone, so you can’t use the speakers to take phone calls. The Novas also lack support for the higher-quality AptX Bluetooth streaming codec. Fortunately the speakers’ sound quality when streaming via Bluetooth is generally good, but is a little brighter than via a wired connection.

The Nova’s volume control is located on the right-hand speaker. The touch slider works smoothly but volume jumps suddenly once you go beyond the second marker. After some tweaking of our source settings, we had everything set up so that the mid-volume position played audio at a comfortable volume level. There’s also a bass button, which added a pleasing depth and warmth to the sound without obliterating higher frequency ranges.

The Novas did a particularly good job of emphasising the heavy rhythms of Iron Maiden and similar rock and metal music, particularly at lower volumes. The bass also gave a bit of extra oomph to our dance and hip-hop tracks. The setting adds a great deal to gaming and movie sound effects, too. We found that most of our music sounded better with the bass boost enabled, even delicate instrumental tracks such as Dowland’s Lachrimae Antiquae, although the bass-heavy configuration was a bit excessive when it came to more bombastic orchestral pieces such as Holst’s Mars.

Compared to our reference speakers, a pair of Kef X300A bookshelf speakers, the Nova speakers sound a little thin and slightly brittle at high frequencies, with a little less full and precise mid-range. However, it’s worth noting that the Kefs are twice the size and twice the price of the Novas. Harman Kardon has done an amazing job of packing in 63mm woofers and 35mm tweeters which, in combination with the passive bass radiator at the back, produce some of the best sound we’ve heard from speakers of this size. There’s lots of detail at mid and high volumes, although some high and low frequencies vanish at the lowest volume settings. Positioned alongside our laptop, they also provided a surprisingly good sense of space, even though they weren’t very far apart. Although the speakers’ built in digital signal processor (DSP) produces a sound profile that could earn criticism from those who favour a very flat sound, music and soundtracks alike sound lively, vibrant and have excellent clarity across the frequency spectrum.

The speakers are a real pleasure to listen to, with a sound that has personality without being unbalanced, and we’re delighted by the power and quality they produce for their size. The Harmon Kardon Novas are great if you’ve got £260 to spend on a set of speakers for computer or mobile devices, but they may be the most expensive set of PC speakers you’ve ever bought.