Definitive Technology speakers

Originally Posted by Artisan Fan

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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.

This is not good advice. Maggies have limited bass and dynamic range. If these things are important to the OP, then Maggies are not for him. Def Techs on the other hand always suck, so avoid them.

--Andre

I haven't come across any negative reviews of the Definitive speakers so I'm surprised at all the negative opinions here. What's exactly wrong with them?

I assume the OP is looking at either Mythos STS or the BP 7000 series which are both 3-way towers with built-in powered sub.

Def Tech has function following form a bit too much, at least for anything beyond their bipolar speakers. If you're willing to have nice looking, slim speakers and sacrifice the performance, they're a fine option.

I would beware of anything new coming from Def Tech. Directed has a heavy hand in all of their companies now, and Sandy Gross hasn't been the captain of that ship for roughly a year now. Who knows how much Jim Minarik has done to cut corners and keep the costs down.

So many options . . . It really depends on if you are listening to 2ch music or 5.1 or 7.1 surround. The next thing (really the most important) is the amplifier. A crap speaker can sound perfect with the right amplifier and a $10K speaker can sound like crap if it is underpowered. I would look at Klipsch for their efficiency if your receiver isn't very powerful, otherwise you can bust your budget on an amplifier alone. Other options include Totem Acoustics ( a personal favorite), Usher Audio, Focal and even B&W. Now, these brands are a bit more expensive than the Def Techs, however, a good solid bookshelf speaker on a solid stand with a powerful subwoofer will BLOW YOU AWAY! I have an SVS sub that will SHAKE THE HOUSE! Take a look at avsforum.com, specifically this section: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=89

Originally Posted by Artisan Fan

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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.
I like certain Maggies, and have owned them, but not the 1.6QRs. To my ear, planar speakers have a different sound / signature than drivers, and they are not for everyone. Ideally, you would be able to hear these before making a move on them. Chances are, if you like them you'll really like them. As to the comment above about their limitations, if you're planning a theater system, I presume one day you'll add a sub, which would address at least one concern. Also for your consideration are speakers I own and happily recommend: any contemporary offering from Green Mountain Audio. They are a small US based manufacturer and one of the few companies to make true time aligned speakers. The sound is stunning, and their monitors sound like floorstanders. For you, I'd recommend a pair of used Callistos, which can be had for around $1600 on Audiogon. Callistos are no longer made. Their new EOS are reportedly *amazing* but I have not seen any on the market used. Recently, GMA released a new speaker for $2,500, the Rio, supposedly Callisto-like in sound. These are too new to find used, but they are spot on your budget. All of these require stands. GMA currently produces only one floorstander, which is their flagship and outside your budget. www.greenmountainaudio.com

Originally Posted by A Y

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This is not good advice.

You've said that in response to jsut about any AF/audio-related thread ever. I'm starting to think that you're a bot at this point.

Originally Posted by Dmax

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I haven't come across any negative reviews of the Definitive speakers so I'm surprised at all the negative opinions here. What's exactly wrong with them?
If you're happy with them, then it doesn't really matter what anyone else thinks. For me, DefTech's always been a me-too company, hopping on the latest audio trend, and executing it not as well. One has to admire their ability to outlast those that they have copied, though.

Originally Posted by GQgeek

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You've said that in response to jsut about any AF/audio-related thread ever. I'm starting to think that you're a bot at this point.

As opposed to a bot that poasts links to the WSJ? We have agreed on a few things, like our dislike of Def Techs, that tubes are great for electrostats (though I doubt we came to that conclusion the same way), and that one should audition speakers in person to see what appeals to them. I object to AF's post in that it was a specific, arbitrary recommendation with no regard for the OP's needs or the brands that are readily available for audition locally. A lot of people who are looking to buy their first high quality system often drive themselves crazy trying to find the One True Brand from the subset of brands available from something like Stereophile's recommended list instead of seeing what's available around them, and finding what they like from there. There are so many good speakers out there these days at so many price points that if the OP named the brands available to him for audition, I'm sure any number of us could suggest at least one brand that will sound really good. --Andre

Definitive Technology's HQ is actually in my business park. They're about 2 buildings up from me as I type.

I haven't listened to DefTech stuff in a long, long time but when I was the general consensus was that they made big, large boomy speakers for the home theater crowd who wanted big noise and didn't really know much about audio. I auditioned one of their big floorstanders with a side-facing sub and it was pretty crappy, certainly in comparison with many other brands with lesser distribution.

My understanding is that they've also gone downmarket since I was looking, moving to offshore manufacturing, which I do not believe they used to do... though I could be wrong on this point.

I do think Paradigm is an excellent catch-all recommendation for the newbie with a few bucks to burn.

Maggies are going to be **** for HT.

Originally Posted by Douglas

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Definitive Technology's HQ is actually in my business park. They're about 2 buildings up from me as I type.

I haven't listened to DefTech stuff in a long, long time but when I was the general consensus was that they made big, large boomy speakers for the home theater crowd who wanted big noise and didn't really know much about audio. I auditioned one of their big floorstanders with a side-facing sub and it was pretty crappy, certainly in comparison with many other brands with lesser distribution.

My understanding is that they've also gone downmarket since I was looking, moving to offshore manufacturing, which I do not believe they used to do... though I could be wrong on this point.

I do think Paradigm is an excellent catch-all recommendation for the newbie with a few bucks to burn.

Maggies are going to be **** for HT.

+1 to everything above (except the offshore manufacturing, which I have no idea about). PSB is another very good Canadian brand.

--Andre

Originally Posted by A Y

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This is not good advice. Maggies have limited bass and dynamic range. If these things are important to the OP, then Maggies are not for him. Def Techs on the other hand always suck, so avoid them.

--Andre

This is simply wrong. The Maggie 1.6s have tremendous dynamic range with the exception of a slightly limited low end below 40hz. It should be noted that quality of mid-bass is considered by many to be more important than very low bass.

Barry Diament, the mastering engineer who worked for Atlantic Records, uses Maggies to master albums for his new SoundKeeper label. He has written much on the special qualities of the Maggie line and the myth that its dynamic range is limited.

http://www.barrydiamentaudio.com/studio.htm

Perhaps equally important, the Maggie 1.6s are named as one of the best bargains in high end audio in The Absolute Sound's November Buying Guide (which I got this past weekend at the Rocky Mountain audio show, even before release date).

Originally Posted by Douglas

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Maggies are going to be **** for HT.

I'm sorry Douglas but you are out of your depth here. Have you heard the Maggie HT system? It is one of the finest out there. They in fact build special "wing wall" speakers for the rear channels and have a dedicated center channel.

Lots of misinformation in this thread.

Some further reading: http://www.magnepan.com/review_MG16_by_Brian_Damkroger

The second thing that strikes me is how impressive an evolution of the Magneplanar design the MG1.6/QR is. It manages to retain all of the traditional Magnepan strengths -the coherence and the wonderful disappearing act - while spectacularly improving on the company's past performance in the areas of dynamics and resolution of detail. These are now arresting, outstanding performance attributes, not areas where compromises must be made.

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Like many things in audio, these magnetic planar designs have evolved considerably. My friend Tom has 3.6s partnered with C-J gear and that sounds terrific. My friend Kevin has 20.1s driven by 1200 watt Macintosh amps and that can realistically convey the weight and power of an orchestra.

Originally Posted by Artisan Fan

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I'm sorry Douglas but you are out of your depth here. Have you heard the Maggie HT system? It is one of the finest out there. They in fact build special "wing wall" speakers for the rear channels and have a dedicated center channel.

Lots of misinformation in this thread.

You win. I agree. Maggies are the best speakers ever and there are no compromises. Everything you own, in fact, is the best in its field.

Would definitely look into Vienna Acoustics speakers + a heavy duty sub. These are good enough for both HT and 2-channel listening

Originally Posted by Douglas

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You win. I agree. Maggies are the best speakers ever and there are no compromises. Everything you own, in fact, is the best in its field.
No one is saying that I own the best. In fact, most audiophiles feel they are weak in many areas and constantly upgrade. But it would be unfair to suggest that 25 years of designing and building systems for my family and friends do not give me some good insights here. I'm quite serious and very opinionated about audio as you can tell. I go to the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest annually and am bit of a fixture on the Atlanta audio scene; I usually attend the Stereophile shows (soon to start again) when they have them. Probably been to two dozen shows over the years including the last 3 Rocky Mountain shows where I stayed all three days and heard literally several hundred systems of all types. I read six or more high end journals every month (HiFi+, Absolute Sound, Stereophile, HiFi News, Tone Audio, Positive Feedback) and participate on a number of boards. In addition, I record classical music for Chesky Record's HDtracks.com website which will soon host our hirez recordings. Our small live to 2 track label has recorded two dozen or so classical, jazz and Celtic performances each year for the last ten years and we are paid for our work via session fees. Arguably most importantly, I go to lots of concerts and listen to lots of sound systems and I am aware of what sound aspects are hard to recreate. So by doing all of this I feel I do have a bit of understanding and insight into what products and brands work better than others for a variety of specific applications from recording to audio to home theater. If you don't like my opinion then that's cool by me. I just want to provide the OP the best advice I can give based on this experience and countless hours fiddling with gear. You really should hear the Maggie home theater system set up well. I think you will be impressed. The key thing about HT is having the front-center-left speakers all the same brand and of sufficient quality and identical timbre.