Definitive Owners Thread - Page 100

I have a large room (19x20). Paired with a Denon 3808ci, will the ProMonitor 1000's be enough? I'll probably get a Pro 1000 sub as well.

I like the prices on these speakers, but I want to make sure they won't sound "small".

I didn't build the cabinets, had a gentlemen by the name of Phil Salisbury build them and he did an amazing job. We worked closely on specs and I played with the radiators tuning to get them where they are now. I'm about to finally move into my new home and will continue to tweek more and more. Just got an SMS-1 on this setup and right now it's only on auto eq mode. Don't really feel like messing with it too much in the temp situation i'm in now, plus it sounds so good to me as is i'm not worried about it.

That sub you want design there would be an animal, ha. What I have now runs people out of the room, lol, and it would have nothing on something like you're talking about! Good luck!

This is slightly off-topic, but still Definitive related!

I've been slowly going through my DVD concert discs on my new setup, and one that just blew me away and I had to write about was the DTS track on the 2001 Elton John Greatest Hits Live at Madison Square Garden disc. Wow, whoever engineered/recorded/mixed that track did an unbelievable job. My 7002's and the SVS/2 sub were just cruising at -15dB or so. (Can't get any louder until the new house). Highly recommended disc.

J

I'm ordering an SMS-1 soon - how are you liking that unit so far? It seems like a pretty amazing piece of engineering from the specs...

J

for those who don't know what that is:

http://www.velodyne.com/velodyne/pro...5&sid=845g942t

I've been nothing but impressed so far. I say go for it, I can hook you up with a guy on ebay who has a few left bran new with warranties (according to him) that he auctions off. I got mine for $501 total with shipping.

Maybe, maybe not. How's that for an answer.

For most people, they probably will be good enough but for me, the PM1000s and ProSub1000 is not enough for my 4,800ft3 room. I have Mythos 1s and a Three in front with PM800s for the rears. The PM800s totally get overwhelmed by the Mythos and by themselves sound small and too directional for me. I'm sure the PM1000s will be a bit better but IMHO, not enough in my situation. I'm probably going to upgrade the PM800s one of these days to something in the Mythos line.

I had the Prosub1000 and it just couldn't keep up with the mains and had dismal output below 30Hz. However, many people here don't care about extension below 30Hz, have a smaller room than I do and/or don't care for bass output above 105dB (105 is pretty loud) so they will be perfectly happy with the ProSub1000.

Gordon

They should be fine... but, for a few $$$... get the Studio Monitor 350's.
Big improvement in sound.

I have the PS1000... it's nice, too! However, I'd recommend the SVS PB-12.

Thanks. I'll look up the prices on those. The folks at BB Magnolia stronly pushed the ProMon 1000's and stressed they were the best bang-for-the-buck. I can't accomodate tower speakers b/c I have a huge entertainment center, but it does have 2 large spaces for bookshelf-type speakers. I asked about going with larger speakers, and I was assured it was overkill. By the way, I was told the same thing at 3 different Magnolia stores.

This is my first separates purchase, so I'm a definite newbie with a "target" budget I'm willing to spend.

I'm thinking about getting a 5.1 system consisting of a prosub1000, 4 promonitor1000's and a center. The only center available anywhere near me is either the PC1000 or the smaller one. I want the 2000 but cannot find one near me or online. So would the Prosub1000, 4 promonitor 1000's, and a PC1000 be a fairly good system? I will be using it mainly for movies. room size is about 15x14ish

you want to get your front 3 channels as closely matched as you possibly can. the pro monitor 1000's have 5 1/4" mids and the pc1000 has 4 1/2" mids

you want to get every tweeter and mid in your system perfectly matched and some people say that the front 3 are the most important to match up. your def tech dealer should be able to order a pc2000 for you (you could even run a 3rd pro monitor 1000 as a center if you have room to run it vertical)

you may also want to look at the BP2X surround speakers for an extra 100 bucks (over the cost for a pair of pm1000's), they will give you a much better surround experience over the pm1000's

in a room your size, everything you have listed would sound pretty good, just consider what i listed as "recommended upgrades" if your budget allows

My deftech dealer is the magnolia/bb near me and they said I would have to find a different dealer because they do not have the 2000 and cannot order it. They even checked some surrounding BB's and still no luck. Can you think of another way to get one without driving an hour+ away?

i would email def tech directly about that

i'm sure they wont be that happy to hear that one of their dealers can't get you one of their products

def tech is very friendly, i'm sure they can tell you how to get one

here is their email:

info@definitivetech.com

ok thanks for the advice, I'll be sure to email them as soon as i finish this post. Now, if i do end up unable to obtain a 2000, would it make a noticable difference to go with the pc1000 matched with pm1000 fronts? i know the size of the mids and such should match up but how much worse would it sound if they didnt match?

I started out with the entire Procinema 1000 package, 4 PM1000's, the PC1000, and the PS1000.

If I had the space, I would MUCH prefer the PC2000, as it timbre match's better with the PM1000's. However, the space (under my plasma) would not accommodate the size difference of the PC2000, so I kept the PC1000. It's is fine, and sounds great. However, I would seriously recommend that you try to get he PC2000. Is there a significant difference?... it depends. I can hear one. Am I crying over the fact that I cannot use the PC2000? No! It's not quite night-and-day. Either way will sound very good.

However, I would offer the same suggestion that I mentioned to another poster, though...

If you can get the Studio Monitor 350's for for your fronts, that will make a HUGE difference. I thought the difference between the PM1000's and the SM350's was very significant, both in the sound stage for HT, and for music. In fact, the 350's blow away the 1000's for stereo. Not even close!!!

I use the PM1000's for my surrounds & rear surrounds. They are excellent in that application. No complaints - at all!!!

So, my suggestion is to upgrade your FL/FR to the Studio Monitor 350's. If you can get the ProCenter 2000 - do so. If you can't, it is NOT the end of the world. If it's a choice between the two... get the 350's and live with the PC1000. Hands down.

If you want to keep your PM1000's and use them for 7.1 (like I do) - you will be more than happy!!! If not, return 2 of the PM1000's to help pay for the 350's. The cost difference between 2 PM1000's and 2 SM350's is about $100. Trust me, it's a NO BRAINER!!!!

Hope this helps, and doesn't confuse you even more

I read lot of your posts but never registered to post any question. I have a def.tech setup for last three years (+ some ugrades to speakers). So far, this is what I ended up with.

Fronts 7002
Center procenter c1
SR/SL 2006
BL/BR Promonitor 80s

Not a great setup in terms of center yet. But now I seem to have a problem with my setup. I recently changed carpet with laminate floor. Since then speakers started sounding different and bass is so boomy. I had to cutdown bass to try to balance overall sound. (I'm not around 11 am position with7002.) I do not have any fancy connection done. Basically use speaker wire to connect. I do not have a sub and set up front and Surrounds to large with crossover set at 80.

Please provide me any tips that you can give.

Regards

A couple thoughts...

I'm sure the change from carpeting to hard floors is magnifying the bass boom. You probably have drywall/plaster walls, maybe one or two with windows, right? So, in essence you've set up one big "reflective chamber" Depending on the size of the room, the position of the speakers, and the resonant characteristics of the room, some or all frequencies are being affected.

In general, the environment of your room plays a bigger part in overall sound... than any EQ'ing you can do. Eliminating the boom from such a room, will be difficult... reducing it to acceptable levels, might be slightly easier.

1. Try moving the 7002's positions. Get them out of any corners, and try to put them 2-3 feet away from walls. Check the def tech web site... they have information about positioning bi-polar speakers. This will probably have the most impact to improvement in sound.

2. If your receiver has an "autosetup" feature, re run that. Your room accoustics have changed, and it will need to recalibrate with that new information. This is critical.

3. If you don't have autosetup... manually calibrate the system with an SPL meter and a tape measure.

You may have to repeat this procedure several times, with the speaker positions changed, to find the right points & levels.

If there is anything you can do accousticaly, to the room - throw rugs, drapes, etc. That may help offset (some) of the loss of absorbtion, from removing the old rug. There are a number of companies that sell specialized accoustic panels, that can be employed to "trap" bass, and cut down on standing waves & reflections. They might be an option, too.

Like I said, the physical characteristics of the room play a LARGE part in overall sound. As you see, simply by changing flooring, caused a dramatic change in sound.

Hope this helps... I'm sure others might have some idea's, too. Try them all, and see which works best.

Steve

Thank you for the inputs. You are 100% correct. I do have two big glass windows and a open on one side of the room. I have followed most of the directions in placing the Def.Tech speakers to get bipolar effect such as 2 feet away from Wall, tow in, subs facing in etc. I experimented a lot with placing before. I still have to caliberate setup using my yamaha receiver. Have n't done that yet after removing carpet. Also, the room is still empty and soon getting seats to fill up. May be Bass would change a little bit.

One thing I noticed is towards the end of the back-wall, the boom is so huge and can't tolerate any more. Should I consider placing some accoustic panels on the back wall. (Wall facing speakers which is 20 feet away)

Thanks

You're welcome...

Run the calibration first, that is pretty easy. Get a baseline for how that will adjust the sound. You might find that most of the problem will be fixed by that.

The accoustic treatments are another story... generally, you have to experiment with placement of them. It's not always as simple as, boom in back of room = panels on back walls. Check out the threads here for information on that. Try tacking a thick blanket or comforter on the walls in various places to get a "general" idea of how that may/may not affect the boom. This is more art than science.

Okay guys after several calls around and some heavy duty, rush-hour, stop and go traffic driving (4pm near Los Angeles is horrible), I managed to get my hands on a PC2000. Now, My final setup (if all components are available where I hope they'll be) will look like this:

PC2000
ProSub1000
2 x Studio Monitor 350's (fronts)
2 x ProMonitor 1000's (surrounds)
(Possible 2 more PM1000's for rears once I get the money)

How's that sound?

That sounds like what I am going to get, too. I hope you LOVE it.

gordon. if your a music lover then do it. if ur a movie watcher. still do it.

i noticed that the 350's were overpowering the pro mons no matter what i did to set up the system. the pro mons definitely are more directional (the reason i went with 350's in the front) and the gem xl's have a wider and nicer sounding dispersion.

the extra price was steep i'll admit, but it helped complete the setup. the gem xl's are great, definitely won't replace any mains but as surrounds they do the job and do it remarkably well.

i do i only worry because i wouldn't know what to do with the extra 350 since they come in pairs. the next thing i do want to do is upgrade the center if that mythos center is in the works.

yes sir. next to my tower above the desk is about 25 jordans and some more underneath the bed!

i believe the monsters do better with actually conditioning the power used by your component however the panamax has more banks that can shut down and protect. i went with it for the look and the testimonials from other MHT employees about it's performance.

as far as quality and speaker wire? i have seen, experienced and can verify that monster products do work.

are they worth the extra premium? that's debatable for me. i do see a diference in video cable and their speaker wire is only somewhat better. i prefer acousitc research big ol gauge that is quite reasonable.

Nice! You got a pretty good collection going? How many pairs total do you have right now?

That's my setup... only as I mentioned... I have the 1000 center. I know you will LOVE it

That is what i'm going to get (soon as i hear what my raise will be) i hope you got a good deal. I'm going to opt for an SVS sub for about same cost, from what i've heard and read it is a definite step up.

Depends on what is being compared to what.... the PM 5400 has excellent conditioning, and isolation. Not sure which MHT product you are comparing it with, though. I'd check (and verify) the spec's, since MHT is all about marketing


So do other products that cost significantly less. Many, including those from Monoprice are less than 50% of the price of Monster, and in many cases, they are better build quality... at minimum, the same.


If you are using 12 gauge speaker wire, regardless of who makes it (unless it some really lousy grade wire, insulation), the quality of sound will be excellent. Same with other component cables. Again, comparing apples-to-apples is the key. Of course Monster speaker wire will sound better than 16 or 18 gauge wire... it's slightly larger. But, Monster wire is NO better than 12 gauge wire that you can buy in an electrical supply store for a LOT less money.

Again, the issue that I have with Monster is not quality... it's price. They are seriously overpriced, and there is NO added value for that premium. And, for speaker wire.... they are (IMHO) raping customers.