NOOB question about new speakers and receiver HT - Page 3

It is. Get it.

Thats a tough one. I havent heard either but I have read a lot about thePioneer. Deftech is a good brand too. I dont know how compatible the 2 would be together. I would have to look but you really dont know unless you hear them. Even if the def techs are better it wouldnt be by much. For simplicities sake I suggest sticking with the Pioneer.

No. But. The goal here is to get something that is going to match well with your receiver. Those DefTech SM350's are gonna want every bit of 200 watts. I drove my SM55's ( similar to SM450 but newer ) with my XPR-5 ( 400w/channel ) and they handled the power quite well. The Pioneer speakers are good for the money but, pay more, and you can get something better. The DefTech will be better but they cost more too. Those discounts on them now just make them a FANTASTIC deal right now even though they are last year's stuff.

Also keep in mind that the rated sensitivity on the Pioneer is 85 dB and the DefTech is 91 dB. What that means is that you'd have to double the amplifier power TWICE on the Pioneer to achieve the same volume level as the DefTech. Couple that with the rated power of 80 watts for the Pioneer and 200 for the DefTech and that means that the DefTech will be capable of putting out WAY more volume.

I've heard the Pioneer in a noisy store showroom and they were ok but there were no DefTech hooked up to compare. The one thing about DefTech is that they were designed ( bi-pole ) primarily for home theater use, movies. I think they are decent for 2-channel music but a lot of DefTech owners agree they are better for movies. I rarely listen to 2-channel music but have a lot of multi-channel DVD Audio and BD Audio that are up to 7 channel for music. I'm extremely happy with movie and multi-channel music performance. If I just want to listen to a pure 2.0 track, then I will just use the DefTech SM55 for that through the receiver and not use the amplifier.
Edited by jevans64 - 1/28/13 at 7:28pm

+1 I just looked at them. They probably do sound a little better but they cost more and then you thrown in the compatibilty issue.....

Whatever you do. Don't get those Polk 505s instead of the JBLs. You will regret it.

Theyre not too large or too heavy 14lbs but ifnyou look at the picture, there are no holes in the back. So they are not made to be wall mounted. If you really want them you can build some shelves.

1" bass radiator? Whats that supposed to be? There are no pictures of it with the cover off. Be careful. That worries me.

Just saying that I would research them well before buying. Hopefully someone else will chime in.

I just received my pair of Def Tech SM 350's to add to my SM 450's I bought 2 weeks ago and I am super happy with this system. I called Def Tech and asked about the Center channel(Mytho's 3) for compatibility and it works and sounds great! Newegg has some screaming deals right now. I also recently bought a Supercube 4000...and love it!!!! Go for it!!!

I was going to say that you could just get 4 of those instead of 2 deftech and 2 pioneer towers but the more I look at the deftech the more leary I am. Completely up to you but I think you would be going through a lot of trouble and spending more money for at what best would be a little better sound and at worst a severe disappointment.

What i up with the 8" bass radiator on the 350s? What is that?

What makes you say that?

i will agree but i know how people with this kind of budget just have to have all five speakers and a a sub if it where my money iwouldn't even take a look at either one i would start out with a nice 2.1 system something like a pair of ascend acoustics cmt 340se and a outlaw lfm-1ex $1250 and build on it
Edited by smasher50 - 1/28/13 at 7:39pm

What DefTech does is couple a passive cone, in this case a racetrack design, with the mid-woofer. It adds a little bit of extension to the low end. The bass radiator is on the side on the SM350 and SM450 but on the top with the SM45, SM55, and SM65. Instead of them only being able to get down to around 45 Hz, the passive radiator lets them get down to 30 Hz.

My BP7000SC have an active 14" 1800 watt sub coupled to TWO 14" passive radiators which allows them to dig pretty deep. On paper it says 11 Hz but I we can't hear that low, only feel it. With all the other speakers I have and the power I'm giving them, I only have to run the subs at about 40%.
Edited by jevans64 - 1/28/13 at 7:43pm

I just looked at the pull-down in the link you put up earlier. I think they want $500 for that though. Also looked up RedMere and Monster licensed that technology for that cable. So. If you can get the 50 footer for $75, go ahead. If not, then get the Monoprice 50 footer since it seems to be based on the SAME tech.

I actually have quite a few Monster cables as well as a Monster Power HTS 5100 Mk II and HTS 1000 Mk III. I have a 4' Ultra HDMI, 4' THX 800, and 8' THX 600 or something like that. Also have Monster M2.2 and M1.2 for mains and center. That was back in the day when I'd go into Best Buy and buy a couple of movies but pick up a Monster cable so I could qualify for 6-month deferred interest. LOL
Edited by jevans64 - 1/28/13 at 7:56pm

As I suggested earlier in the thread and others have concured, the def tech sm350/450 are great speakers, especially at 200/pr! I am listening to the sm450s now and I have a set if 350 mounted in a Rex vehicle (yes, they can be wall mounted- the will stick out abit, however)
Disclaimer- I haven't heard the series ii pioneers and many have said they are improved.
I compared the def tech to the series one pioneer speakers and IMHO, the def tech are in a class better!

They massively inflate if they expect anyone to believe that a 5 1/4" driver goes down to 45 let alone 30. There is no such thing as a better ohm rating. Just different. The act that they can handle more wattage means nothing. How sensitive they are is whats important. These 2 speakers are too different to put together. The front 3 being the same is by far the most important. So you can get all deftech but its gonna cost you dearly. Or you can get Pioneer for the front 3 and deftech for the rest. But why? Its not like the Pioneer arent very good speakers. I think you are just looking at the prices and thinking that just because the deftech cost so much more at regular price its too good to pass up. If that's the case, don't get suckered in. I know its easy to do.

Very well. I agree that you cant go wrong with either one. I was trying to keep you in budget but if you can afford the extra dough then go for it. What kind of center are you going to get? It will have to match the deftechs and you are going to end up way over budget. I was getting ready to post this also just for the heck of it. The deftech are measured to 79Hz. Thats more like it.

http://www.hometheater.com/content/definitive-technology-studiocinema-350-ht-labs-measures

Pioneer quotes sensitivity of their FS52 towers at 87 dB and DefTech quotes their BP8b at 91 dB. Neither publish response charts, so both could be inflating their numbers. What they give us is all we can go by. As far as the towers/ or bookshelf speakers going down to 30 Hz, I think this is exaggerated as well but that is what the passive radiator is supposed to do. I'm sure the response drops off starting at 50 Hz, which is typical for a 5.25" driver but it is probably less of a drop off because of the passive radiator. I really need to test my DefTech's response but I don't have an anechoic chamber, only a poorly-designed living room. I have REW and a calibrated SPL meter but a need a couple of 50' long 3.5mm cables to go from my noisy PC to my meter.

I have the SM55 ( newer SM450 ) and they actually have a little TOO MUCH low end compared to their mid-range response. The sensitivity and power handling on my DefTech stuff pretty-much matches what is published.

The only real problem with getting the BP8B and SM350 is the center channel. The best fit for those is the CLR 2002, which is no longer being made. The ProCenter 2000 would be the closest current match but those are $400.

See my post above. We were both posting almost the same thoughts at the same time.

Yes. Didn't realize HT tested those as well as my SM55's. I won't have to test them myself now. What HT Labs got for the SM55 is exactly what I am hearing from them. I didn't think they were much better than the SM450, but the SM55 put up some pretty good numbers. -3 dB was 44 Hz and -6 dB was 40 Hz. I crossed them at 60 Hz to even them out a bit. The SM45 were 61 Hz and 44 Hz, which is better than the 79 Hz. 30 Hz was at about -30 dB. LOL

Found the HT Lab test on the Pioneer BS22. -3 dB @ 63 Hz and -6 dB @ 59. Sensitivity was 86 dB vs. 87.5 for SM350.