Getting the most out of my Definitive Tech bp2000's

What do you listen to? HT, music?
Are you more of a stereo person?
CDs, Streaming, Vinyl, SOURCE?
Room size, limitations (partner), 

A little more information and folks will be able to help a lot better.

You can really enjoy yourself, with a few low $$$$ things.. 
Most of the the things that cost nothing are things you can do now.

LIKE, speaker placement, your setting position, source? You need to kinda zero in on one thing, get it right, then move on. You can always tune everything in... but one at a time.

Cable routing, get it in your head now, clean is good, neat is good, cable ties are not good, lifting your cables is.. I use M or W blocks, dirt cheap.

Protect your investment. I use voltage maintainers/cleaners. Don't spend a lot of money, just spend smart money..2-300.00 MAX..

Regards

Hummm,lets see it's been maybe 25 years since I've heard Def Tech BP's...First although your Denon is rated @90wpc.surround receivers are notorious for NOT actually putting that much power out on a continuous basis.By separating the already amped bass from the upper section you will free up the amp to breath better as it is not trying to provide a full range signal...
 If memory serves the BiPolar sound is best set up using a live end/dead end approach...Use acoustic treatments in corners behind speakers,at first reflection point in front(about 45 degrees out maybe 24") & kill ANY & ALL echo in the room.Treat the wall beside & behind your listening position almost completely(full width heavy drapes or movers blankets work well).You want all the signal & sound coming from the speakers & area around them,not from beside or behind you...Also if you don't or haven't  recently,listen to LIVE UNAMPLIFIED music to refresh or educate yourself as to what real music sounds like..It's much easier to set up a system when you have a baseline target...Best of luck & enjoy the music!

If you care about audio and not home theater, look for new speakers. I had the BP 2000s about 25 years ago and they were some of the worst speakers I have heard for two channel music. Great for car crashes, explosions and dinosaur stomps though.

I have no experience specifically with Definitive Technology speakers but I have designed and manufactured bipolar loudspeakers. Set up correctly, bipolars can convey rich timbre and do a good job of disappearing as the apparent sound source. They arguably can do a better job of presenting the acoustic signature of the recording venue, as opposed to the "small room signature" of the playback room, but adequate distance from the wall behind them matters a lot.

I suggest locating the speakers at least five feet out in front of the wall if possible, and three feet minimum. If you have to place them within three feet of the front wall, I suggest diffusing the output of the rear-firing drivers.

I do not suggest absorbing the output of the rear-firing drivers because they are there to make a spectrally-correct contribution to the reverberant field. Absorption will remove the short wavelengths (high frequencies) but have progressively less effect as the wavelengths get longer (as the frequencies become lower). So absorption can end up ruining the spectral balance of that reflected energy, which correspondingly degrades the timbre of the system.

Duke

I really appreciate the input everyone... yeah I use them listening to CD's/streaming half the time, and Movies/TV the other half. @ozzy62 yeah I have heard some people say that theh are one of the best speakers DefTech has ever made and others that say the same thing as you, but I couldn't pass up the deal of 2 bp2000's, 2 bp30's, and 2 marantz amps all in amazing condition for $200 lol. @freediver yeah I'm most likely going to split it up and add the mono amps to it, I just was wondering if anyone else has had some experience doing that with these speakers. @audiokinesis yeah I have thought about the exact things you are saying. It's a 20x12 room, so it is pretty small for the size of these speakers. I can't place them more than a foot off of the walls sadly...

First, welcome to this wacky world of audio.  With your equipment I’d use the monoblocs alone to drive the speakers as they likely have better parts and power supplies (along with more power) than your AVR.  And as Duke mentioned, by all means pull the speakers out 5’ or as much as you can as that in itself will likely improve the sound you’re getting significantly if you currently have them closer to the wall.  Hope this helps. 

audiokinesis2,313 posts

I do not suggest absorbing the output of the rear-firing drivers because they are there to make a spectrally-correct contribution to the reverberant field. Absorption will remove the short wavelengths (high frequencies) but have progressively less effect as the wavelengths get longer (as the frequencies become lower). So absorption can end up ruining the spectral balance of that reflected energy, which correspondingly degrades the timbre of the system.

So, no treatment needed?.. I understand.. There are a lot of speakers that the wrong room treatment, just kills the dynamics of a rather weird speaker to begin with.. Not bad, actually good, but different. Almost the Bose idea, really, weird treatment needed, but not typical.

I've been tinkering with dipoles for a lot of years, they are TOUGH...

Regards

The farther from the wall the worse and uneven the bass response. You can't circumvent the Laws of Physics!

Well you got a really good deal so I guess you should try to make them work.

Everyone is trying to be helpful, but missing the mark. The big problem with those speakers is the powered subs. No matter where you place the speakers or how much you adjust the amp/crossover you will never get tuneful bass. That speaker was first and foremost designed with home theater in mind. Listen to some music with well recorded kick drum or acoustic bass and you will discover the problem very quickly.

This is a design issue and all the room treatments and speaker placement techniques won’t make it go away. Good luck to you.

Oz

@ozzy62  what is the difference between the powered bass in these speakers compared to a different one? Why is that a bad thing when listening to music and not a bad thing when set up for movies? Honest questions. I appreciate the advice. Yeah, as far as the distance off the walls go, I'm not sure if people realize it has the 3 speakers projecting out the back of the unit. I do notice a significant incease in sound and clarity the further I pull it away from the wall.

Jesse12 wrote: " I do notice a significant incease in sound and clarity the further I pull it away from the wall."

Glad to hear it helped a bit!  

(I initially mis-read that as "I do not notice..." . Must work on my reading comprehension skills!)

Duke

roberjerman3,821 posts06-29-2020 2:32am

The farther from the wall the worse and uneven the bass response.
You can’t circumvent the Laws of Physics!

Why?

So no wall is better, or closer to A wall is better?
Away from the wall causes uneven bass responses, BUT WHERE?

Not in my seated position... Gatling gun the bass?.. LOL

Even bass is not an issue unless your ears are everywhere.
The whole house pays the price for pooly place bass enclosures...
If it's even,  it's EVERYWHERE. Good yes, great NO....

Above 100hz is very directional...
There is a lot of sound between 100 and 300 hz, So I direct it, NOT spread it...
Then kill it, or loose it
Distortion goes through the roof....in the bass region with "BASS everywhere"

Just an OK way to do thing, at best....

Regards

Jesse12

The tuning of that big woofer is designed for maximum excursion and output. When I owned my pair I went to hifi 96 in NYC. I had been into audio for many years but that was the place I heard a kick drum accurately reproduced in many of the show rooms.  I came home and listened to the same recordings and tried to replicate it in my system with no luck at all.

The BP 2000s always blurred the bass line with the kick drum and was boomy in any position or setting. I traded them in for a pair of von schweikert VR4 Silvers and never looked back.

I stick to my notion that these are home theater speakers. And very good ones for that task.

Oz