Getting the most out of my Definitive Tech bp2000's

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