Styleforum › Forums › Lifestyle › Fine Living, Home, Design & Auto › Definitive Technology speakers
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Definitive Technology speakers

post #1 of 66
10/4/09 at 12:58am
Thread Starter 
Any thoughts on the sound quality of this brand?
Reply
Reply
post #2 of 66
10/4/09 at 1:10am
I don't like them. You can find better speakers for the money. What is your budget?
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 66
10/4/09 at 11:36am
Thread Starter 
Around $2500 for a pair of floor standing speakers.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 66
10/4/09 at 12:55pm
What are you using them for? Music, movies, etc.? What kind of amp/receiver (how much power)? How big is your room?
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 66
10/4/09 at 1:35pm
For $2500, you can do way better than the Def Techs or spend much less money for the quality of Def Techs.

--Andre
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 66
10/4/09 at 6:49pm
Paradigm Sigs baby! They are right in that price range and are pretty awesome.
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 66
10/4/09 at 8:06pm
Anyone who answers this question without knowing what kind of amp, room, and usage you have in mind should probably not be listened to. Paradigm makes great stuff, but whether that particular model fits your needs is anyone's guess.
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 66
10/4/09 at 8:43pm
Thread Starter 
My room is about 16X22 with 12 ft. ceilings and tile floor. Sound has a tendancy to bounce around quite a bit. We are looking for a large rug in the hopes that will reduce some of the bounce. I am also thinking about puttin some sound absorption material behind a tapestry on one wall. I've been warned because of my rooms acoustical attributes that I should be careful and look for speakers that offer a full range but have strong lows.

I have a Yamaha RX-V1600 AV receiver. Not sure of the wattage. We will use the speaker for our fronts for a home theater system. We will also use them to listen to music quite a bit. Our music tastes include classic rock, country, jazz and classical.

Thanks for the feedback.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 66
10/4/09 at 8:54pm
Oh please... If we were talking about an audiophile with a highly optimized system, each piece of which was selected by himself after hours of auditioning in his home environment, then I might agree, but that sort of person probably wouldn't have made the OP. Since the OP doesn't show any tendency towards complex selection criteria, I don't think recommending paradigm is particularly out of place.

Paradigms have very uniform frequency response across the spectrum. It's part of their design philosophy, so it's hard to me imagine them ever sounding bad with any one particular amp unless the amp does something unusual. They're also very efficient and easy on the amp, so you don't have to worry about that either. They don't have any bass ports in the rear of the speaker, so they're fairly forgiving of room placement, although a couple feet away from the walls is almost always advisable.

The fact is, most people aren't going to bother bringing home multiple different speakers to audition with their home equipment. Most people aren't going to have an amp that will sound bad with them. And I've never read a bad paradigm review, using all sorts of different amps and sources, ever. They're a great general usage speaker, whether for home theater or classical, and in birds eye maple, they're also quite pretty.
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 66
10/4/09 at 10:00pm
I mean, yeah, Paradigm signatures are great, and an inoffensive choice for just about any system. I just didn't know if he was trying to run all this off some cheap receiver with 30W or something, and how big the room is. If you're looking for bass, just get the biggest Paradigms you can afford. Then again, if you aren't planning on having subwoofers, the Definitive Technologies with the built-in powered subwoofers will give you more than enough bass in a 16x22 room.
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 66
10/4/09 at 10:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by InsBrokerTX View Post
My room is about 16X22 with 12 ft. ceilings and tile floor. Sound has a tendancy to bounce around quite a bit. We are looking for a large rug in the hopes that will reduce some of the bounce. I am also thinking about puttin some sound absorption material behind a tapestry on one wall. I've been warned because of my rooms acoustical attributes that I should be careful and look for speakers that offer a full range but have strong lows.

I have a Yamaha RX-V1600 AV receiver. Not sure of the wattage. We will use the speaker for our fronts for a home theater system. We will also use them to listen to music quite a bit. Our music tastes include classic rock, country, jazz and classical.

Thanks for the feedback.

Is your $2500 budget just for the fronts? What about the centers, rears, and sub? I don't understand why you were advised to go for something with "strong lows." It doesn't make sense to me. Low frequencies carry better than high frequencies. If anything, you have a fairly large amount of space, so you want speakers that can fill the space with sound, period. Don't know why you'd overemphasize the lows.

Definitely look at room treatments as they can make a big difference. Fool around with placement. The good thing about a big room is that you can give your speakers room to breathe and you can create a larger soundstage. Don't skimp on the center.
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 66
10/4/09 at 10:58pm
Thread Starter 
I am starting with the fronts for now and plan to add the others soon. I think the guy that mentioned getting something that is strong in the lower ranges was concerned about the hard surfaces causing a " tinny" sound. Not sure if his concerns were warranted or not.

As I add the other speakers, I plan to stay with the same family of speakers and match them as best I can. Not wanting to skimp is the reason I am doing this in stages.

Thanks for the input.
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 66
10/4/09 at 11:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by InsBrokerTX View Post
Around $2500 for a pair of floor standing speakers.
Magnepan 1.6QRs. $1900. Done. These are the speakers I have. See the latest raves in the new issue of The Absolute Sound. Need an amp with a little bit of juice.
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 66
10/5/09 at 12:30am
Def Techs suck. I've heard a few sets and I've yet to understand the love. Magnepans are awesome but that's heavy duty. If you're just starting out I'd pick up a couple of mid-level speakers and a sub. Don't go bat-shit crazy. Put some crap up on your walls to help out with the sound. Blinds, art, etc.. Oh, and whatever you do, make sure you listen to the speakers with YOUR music. Internet reviews are all well and good but they won't mean shit if you get the speakers home and hate the way they sound.
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 66
10/5/09 at 1:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by InsBrokerTX View Post
I am starting with the fronts for now and plan to add the others soon. I think the guy that mentioned getting something that is strong in the lower ranges was concerned about the hard surfaces causing a " tinny" sound. Not sure if his concerns were warranted or not. As I add the other speakers, I plan to stay with the same family of speakers and match them as best I can. Not wanting to skimp is the reason I am doing this in stages. Thanks for the input.
Unfounded imo. Maybe the guy is just trying to sell you on a big floorstanding speaker with lots of drivers, or maybe he doesn't know what he is talking about. Tiny sound isn't caused by hard surfaces, they just reflect whatever sound is present, sometimes causing harsh sound or weird artifacts in the sound. Big spaces and anemic equipment cause tiny sound. I think you have to figure out what your priorities are though. Are they HT or music? What's the total amount you are willing to spend on your system? Are you a 50/50 movies/music kidn of guy? Or are you 90/10? That should effect where you allocate your money. Anyway, big full-range speakers are great and everything, as long as you don't make compromises to quality. Don't get too caught-up on the low-end of the frequency spectrum because uncompromising full-range towers are expensive and the compromise is frequently at the low frequencies, or it results in muddled mids. If you're planning on adding a sub, just make sure you get fronts that have tight bass that will integrate well with a good sub. Get something that's built with really solid cabinetry and that has very good performance in the mids and highs, and pair it with a really good sub down the road.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
Styleforum › Forums › Lifestyle › Fine Living, Home, Design & Auto › Definitive Technology speakers