Definitive Owners Thread - Page 924

Hey Andy, try www.sanus.com. They have some nice speaker stands, and their customer service guys seem pretty together. Let us know what you think - best, Joe

TruWarrior, thanks for making the point that these beauties usually sound better after you give them a bit of a pounding for a while! It's like a new baseball glove...good at first, but much better mid-way through the season.

Thanks for the feedback Joe, I was excited to get them and I'm still excited to listen to them.

Rollie, did you contact our customer service guys? 800-228-7148, or e mail Chet, Adam and TJ at info@definitivetech.com. I am sorry to hear that you had an issue, but we'll get it fixed up. Best, Joe

I'm using Sanus SF26 under the SM65's and the BF31's under the Gem XL's for surround duty. The SF26's are well built and did not expect such sturdy stands the price. The BF31's on the otherhand were cheap and felt cheap, but I opted to go for the least expensive stands and I think these fit the bill just right.

Hi Ratified, this may have been answered already (I was off work for a few days with the holidays...). The Two and Three are similar, but as the 3 is a center channel not an LCR, it has the angled sides and doesn't work well as an LCR. The Two comes with the base as it's intended for vertical (L&R) use. The price you found is a nice deal, so you have to make your own mind up...I hope this helps! Best, Joe

I have the SM65's and I would say they sound good but not great. In my other room I have 7002's and there is no comparison. I know you can't compare the two due to size but it's hard not being bias. The SM65's sound clean and detailed but I feel they lack in the bass region. I have 80 watts from a Denon 1713 and it takes a lot of dial to get them going so I might be under powering them. I ended up adding a 12 inch sub to go with them. They sound really good now but not as good as the 7002's.

I use these stands for my 350s:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006G1IJ0/ref=wms_ohs_product

A little bit pricey but they are fantastic. And adjustable height.

You can see them in my HT video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV--T7OxW3k

Really like those stands! On my "to order" list!

Thanks for the detailed response!

I too actually owned the mythos ST's before and sold them. I played with them for several months and could never get them to sound right. The upper midrange and treble never seemed to open up. The sound was plentiful but there was a lack of body especially on wooden body instruments like cello's basses, acoustic guitars ect. And while the bass was "plentiful" it seemed to be missing the "thwack" or crispness I was looking for. Not unlike the gallo reference speakers.

With the 7001's being 15" deep do you think having the backs of them 15-17" off the wall will be enough? That will be the max of what I can go.

It really stinks not being able to do an AB comparison in a semi-decent setup.

And if anyone out there lives in Houston and has a pair of 7001's they wouldn't mind letting me give a listen to I sure would be grateful !!

thanks again

If you we're in the DFW area you could hear mine. My 7001's are about 15" from the wall and that is plenty. I really don't think you can go wrong with these speakers for the price. Highly recommended.

Thanks! Just got the BF31 today. I like them. Do you guys have any suggestions on sticking the speakers onto the stand without drilling holes into the speaker?

After reading a few great reviews on the new SM series I had to get into a best buy that had them and got lucky since there was no salesman around when I went so I set up the receiver with an 80hz crossover, turned off the sub and had my own music that I'm very familiar with. Not sure if all best buys are the same but this one only had the SM 45 and SM55 which sucks because considering the price difference of the 65 it's something I'd love to hear.

So anyway in my opinion the SM45s sounded amazing, better than the 55s and better than anything in the room including some $1500 dollar B&W bookshelf speakers. There is just something about them that is special, the vocals are spot on but the best thing to me is that the musical instruments have great separation and I've never heard a speaker sound so realistic and detailed and despite being the smaller of the two it had plenty of bass for an 80hz crossover. The bass they did produce was very clean and tight which I've never heard in a ported speaker. Now the 55's were still nice speakers but I just felt like the extra bass they put out took away from the midrange clarity and they didn't have quite the same vocal sound. You guys have to at least give these speakers a chance next time you're in a Magnolia store but make sure they're crossed over, the 1st time I heard them they were being run full range and just didn't sound right but I think a lot of that had to do with it being rear ported close to the back wall. I didn't buy the SM45's yet as my subwoofer is terrible so that's what I'll be upgrading next but I can't wait to get a set of these beauties and start really enjoying some music.

Thanks for the offer...

I went ahead and pulled the trigger. I figure for $2000 tax included with warranty I can't go wrong. Worst case scenario I should be able to get most of my investment back if I need to resell them. I'll let you know how it goes. What are you running for a center with them and what have you tried?
thanks

I played around with my BP7000s and settled on approx 12 inches from the rear wall and approx 3 ft from the side walls, toed in. In my HT room I did not notice much difference as I moved them further out etc. No one wants them sitting in the middle of the room thus you tend to find the happy medium. :-)

Cheers

I have the CLR1000b which is the same as the 2000 and similar to the 3000 only without the sub. I have had the 2300 and the 2001, neither of which can hold a candle to the 1000b. For rears, I have the BPVX's which replaced BPX's. I also have 2 12" down firing DIY Rythmik subs, yes I like my bass:D You are going to love the 7001's.

Mine are 16" from back wall, 32" from side walls, and NOT toed in. That seems to work well for my room with multi-channel music and movies. Also gives the folks to my left and right a little better sound. Mine are up on spikes so they are very hard for one person to move. I'm using a set of good spikes, not the cheap ones that came with the speakers.

I agree with you 100%! The SM45's are a killer value! Buy 5, it would be an awesome affordable system! They just won't get anywhere near as loud as my bp7000sc though...

That was my impression as well when I heard them at a dealer/installer showroom. I did hear the SM65 and they were similar to the SM45 with the exception of more of the same sound with maybe a little more in the mids. I think the racetrack radiator is bigger than the SM55 but you also get an additional 5.25" active driver. Of course, you'll need more amp to drive them. The Studio Monitors aren't ported but they DO have the racetrack radiator on the top. I was going to get the SM65 but I couldn't find an articulating wall mount big enough to accommodate them. I got the SM55 since they were the right size and also had a 6.5" mid-woofer.

I'm about to get the BP8Bs for fronts. I listened to B&W, PSB, Polk, and Klipsh, and I like the DefTechs the best.

I'd like to get the best matched center I can. DTs web site says the CS-8040HD is the matched center. Is the CD-8060 also matched? Is is worth the extra money with the BP8Bs as fronts?

Thanks,

Allan

A CLR 2002 would be the matched center for the BP8Bs. It has 5 1/4" drivers like the towers do; the 8040 and 8060 centers only have 4 1/2" drivers and they are the newer style driver.

If it were me, I would definitely get the CLR 2002 for the matched driver size and style, plus it would be much cheaper used. That said, I'm sure the 8040 or 8060 would match fine if you'd rather get something new. The 8060 just has a bigger 8" woofer. To me, from what I've read, it just seems like a "sub"-woofer in the center channel just causes problems trying to set it up with other subs in your system. I have a CLR 2000 with 6 1/2" drivers that match my BP10Bs and it sounds awesome.

Also, Newegg has BP8Bs for $200 each free shipping right now.
Edited by bradthebold88 - 12/28/12 at 12:37am

Yep, I am planning on getting the from newegg. I almost got the martin logan motion 12s, but my receiver is not rather for 4ohm, and I think I will like the DTs better. Now a quest to find the clr you recommend,

There's a refurb on ebay for $285 or a used one in the Austin, TX craigslist for $150 if that's close or he'd ship. That's the best I could find online or in craigslist right now.

In my experience subwoofers in any speaker is a pita, the center channel having one seems even more of a pain than the fronts. I used to have some Polk Rti100's with a built in sub in the cabinet and how I'd set them up how I like is to first turn the sub down and dial them in where they sound good to me without too much bass and then do the same with the sub volume. I think it's much easier to not have powered subs in any speaker and let the subwoofer do the job. And maybe it's just the type of music I like (Rock, acoustical stuff) but the 8040 and 8060 towers to me are just way boomy and the bass way overpowers the rest of the sound and that was with the sub volume at about 1/3 of the way up and an 80hz crossover. If you listen to Rap or R&B, dubstep, etc they're probably just what you're looking for. And I'm sure for home theater they're nice if you love bass as well.

Congratulations! Let us know what you think once you have them set up. What are you going to power them with? I use the 8080HD center because the CLR 3000 would not fit in my cabinet. It blends very, very, very well despite the difference in the newer bdss drivers and updated tweeters. If you can find a clr 3000 that would be the best match. If you want to go new.....my 8080 HD works great with the 7000 series.

Mine sounded great at that distance as well. But as I experimented (as I have the room to do so) with pulling them farther and farther away from the wall, the soundstage blossomed with every inch further I went. They are now actually more than 30" off the back walls and sound amazing! This is not required and every room is different, but definitely experiment with placement. As I said before with the bp line, inches really can and do make a huge difference.

Seems like the wider the room the better! I'm stuck at a 14' wide room The speakers sound way better then when I first moved in though. Less echoes now in the room. Hopefully I can get some drapes soon! Anyone else experiment with any room treatments and bipolar speakers? I just have tri traps and common room fixtures.

Thanks! I got the ebay item. I hate that there is no warranty, but the seller is reputable.

I also got the BP8Bs from Newegg for $399 (-20 from v.me), so for $664 I got all three speakers. I think this will be a great step up for me. I'm very excited.

Of course with I was at the hi fi store "near" me (it's a 100 miles away), I heard some $3000 golden ears. I wan't impressed. I did also hear some PSBs which I liked. I also auditioned some $25,000 B&W 800 Series Diamond speakers. Wow! If only I didn't need a car (or a wife) :-)

Now that I've had the StudioMonitor 65 for a couple of weeks, I can say that these still continue to impress me with their wide open sound. I was worried at first at how bright they sounded, that sibilance would creep in, but they've instead begun to mellow out a little and are very pleasant sounding.

The low bass that they can produce is nothing short of mind-boggling, it's smooth and fat. Even at loud volumes (~90-93db at listening chair), they sound solid and thick and I notice no breakup in soundstage or vocals. Piano is clean and without any ringing whatsoever (although harmonic/modal ringing is generally attributed to room acoustics more than anything when you're using decent speakers). Money For Nothing (Dire Straits) sounds fantastic but the song points out one reality about bookshelves. I've yet to hear a set that can produce the chest pounding mid-bass like a good set of towers.

Because they're bookshelves with a pair of 5 1/4" drivers, they don't have the slam and the mid-bass punch that a tower with larger drivers would. Enabling a sub definitely helps but I've yet to listen to bookshelves (with or without a sub) that have that gut punching mid-bass at high volumes. The Denon 3312 is no slouch but perhaps mating the speakers with something like an Emotiva XPA-5 will give the speakers more authority in the mid-bass.

The mid-range and highs, however, are some of the smoothest I've heard. I keep thinking that Definitive Technology needs to come out with a set of conventional towers (not bi-pole and no built-in powered sub) that combine the SM65 and a cabinet below housing a pair or three 6 1/2" drivers crossed-over for bass.

In the meantime, I can easily say that these have met my expectations for use as mains for both music and HT. They sound great!

Can Definitive Technology - ProMonitor 1000 5-1/4" Bookshelf Speakers be used as front speakers in a 2600vol. room? Is that not a good thing? I found them for $300pr. locally.