What do you think about Definitive Technology?


How do folks feel about these speakers for HT? audio? Am I wasting my B&K ref 30 on these? I've aready started buying (surrounds and center) but bought used and could sell w/o loss. I've been buying for about 1/2 MSRP- if that trend continues it will cost about 3500 for the definitve tech speakers (w/o sub). BUT if I buy used and spend 5000-6000 how much of an improvement would there be? and what brands would you recommend where the C,L,R, and surrounds go for a total of 5-6K used? Most everyone here is far more experienced than I so I appreciate the feedback!

Thanks,
Peter
themightymilkman1e72
My whole HT setup uses DT, i have a set of the 2004TL's for fronts (250 W Sub not 125) a Procenter C2, a couple of BP6's for the surrounds and a Prosub 200.
All in all, i think they sound fantastic. My system is somewhat hurt by the reciever that i use, im looking to go with a amp/pre-amp setup within the next 6 months when some of my finances will be freed.
The only problem i have with them is the accoustics of the room my HT is in, its in a finished basement and kinda wierd. The benefit to having a set of these 2004tls with an extra subwoofer means you can really fill the room with bass. Being bi-polar and rather picky about having thier space, its hard to get them set to where thier bi-polar nature and side firing subwoofers to sound like you want. with an extra sub you can find just the right place to put it and kill all the "dead spots" where bass is concerned.

I hear alot of people talk that they are not great with music, So far i think they are fantastic, however, i dont have an amp/pre setup, im using the reciever. Im a little bit disheartened about this as i dont have the funding alot of people do. Shelling out 1,600 for a pair of speakers is not something i can do very often.

I listened to them at a dealer before i bought them, there were a nice new set of $3000 KEF speakers sitting right next to them, and they have it set up so you can swap from different amps, speakers, players, etc. I gotta say, the 2004TLs blew the much more expencive KEF speakers away. for movies AND music. The KEF's had the tweeter up top in a seperate small encloure. Some people like this set up, but i think it sounds terrible. I feel like a speaker should sound like its doing all the sound on its own, the KEF's high range sounded like it was a completly different source.
Anyways, after spending months looking for a good set of speakers to upgrade to, the moment i heard these i was hooked. I listen to everything Rock, Rap, Techno, Blues, Classical, Country, Bluegrass, alternative, everything. These speakers preform and sound real good with everything i throw at them.
1 Exception however, very hard rock does not play well at high volumes with my system, it could be the speakers, but i would say it has more to do with the Technics SA-TX 50 THX reciever im pushing these with. The poor guy rocks with movies, but does not have the power to handle high volumes of complex music, its little amplifiers just cant control the speakers. Thats why im aiming to upgrade these.
Im sure i can throw an ADCOM 300w/ch amp and pre-amp at these babys and that problem will be GONE! :)

As far as Deftech goes, i think for movies they are simply awesome. Even with my thx certified reciever, my HT sounds better than any theater ive been to.
For music, i think they sound very good as well. Maybe after im in the hobby for longer and go through different amp / pre amp / speaker combo's i will see what other people are talking about.

As far as power goes.... Wow.. these things have an extremly commanding presence. First time i heard them i got a huge grin on my face and did not want to leave them alone

I agree with what everyone else says on one thing though, you NEED ROOM for these. I have mine about 2ft from the back and side walls (no room to do any more), and i think they sound fantastic. As you move them further back and out, they really lose thier capability.

Im not really sure how anybody COULD be unhappy with thier performance. I've heard plenty of speakers that cost 2-3 times as much that diddnt sound as good as these.

OzFly, I think the Deftechs you were listening to were either damage or set up very poorly. the low-mids and high-lows are definatly there with my set. The retailer might not have spent any time trying to position them. I've been in my new house for about 2 months now and i still find myself slightly tweeking thier location.

they need thier space..

they look real sleek too dont they? :)
4-5 years ago I was looking to replace some old Infinity speakers (sm120). One had a blown midrange and the physical size didn't work with the limited space I had. I decided to go with the somewhat new slim tower speakers. I auditioned quite a few different brands (from the mass media stores). I would hear a speaker that I thought sounded good in the store, would get home a/b vs my infinty's and was not impressed nor could I justify spending $1500-1800 for cosmetic purposes. I auditioned Def Tech's and they were one of the better sounding ones I looked at but I did not think that they sounded that much better (in my room) than the infinity's (remember the one speaker had a blown midrange). They were not the big monster ones with the 18" powered. I think they had a 10 or 12" powered in them. It wasn't until I happened upon a "hi-end" store and came across Phase Technology speakers that I was truly able to put to rest the old studio monitors. The teatro 10's made me question how I could think those infinity's ( along with the polks, def techs, new infinity's, boston's)sounded good. Also the price was $1100. Much less than those others I tested. Granted these speakers should not be considered if you are going for 5-6k used range ( a lot of nice stuff at that range ), but if you wanted to stay in the def tech price range I would find someway to at least demo these speakers. For the price the are very nice. I haven't been looking/demo'ing speakers lately so this is a slightly dated perspective.
I purchased the BP2006TL`s about a month ago. These are the smallest bi-polars DefTech makes. They were $1k/pr. I was replacing Infinity SM100`s. My living room is 15x16 and I use HT as well as 2ch listening. First off, as HT speakers, they are OUTSTANDING! Truely amazing. This is probably their strongest asset. As for 2ch listening. I was disappointed at first.However, once I moved the speakers about 2 feet away from the back wall(as opposed to about a foot where I initially had them), they definately came alive. I think they are very good, especially their slim design. To sum up;

HT-> definately a 10
2ch-> I`d give it an 7 or 8. Not the best I`ve heard but placement is critical.

Using DefTech`s w/ Sony DB930 DD receiver w/ front speakers(DefTechs) powered by B&K ST-140 Amp.
I have come to realize that you really cannot realize the potential of multichannel unless all the speakers are the same. This is something that I didn't believe at first, but has become apparent through experience.

If the visual impact is acceptable, get yourself five (count em) brand new MG 1.6, for the grand total of $4000.
I haven't heard any DT's in ten years so i can't honestly comment on them.
Another brand that does justice to HT and audio 2/multi channel is Monitor Audio.
I ended up making 5 monitors out of kits with Scan Speak woofers and revelator tweeters with Hovland/Alpha Core xovers and could not be happier
I use two powered subs also made from kits.
This speaker setup has seen a lot of audio/h/t gear come and go but i have never even considered changing them, although i did sell my Thiel 3.6's as i liked these better from 40hz up.
I find that i prefer my HT sound much better through speakers designed for 2 channel as opposed to the Infinity and Paradigm set ups i had years ago.
One other bonus to these speakers is that i can move the center channel 7-8 ft back when listening to 2 channel and nothing gets in the way of the music.