Definitive Technology BPVX, BP2000TL Brochure
Definitive Technology’s BP2000TL
Speaker
System
“Startlingly real…this is
the most coherent and
well integrated system
I’ve heard yet…
I simply can’t recommend
it highly enough!”
S HANE B UETTNER
Bipolar “Powered
Towers”
Bipolar speakers are the signature design of
Definitive Technology speakers. Bipolar
speakers place identical sets of drivers on the
front and rear of the speaker enclosure that
fire in phase with one another. If the dispersion pattern of a typical monopole loudspeaker can be thought of as a narrow flashlight
beam emanating from the front of the speaker, bipolar designs create something of a spherical dispersion pattern similar to a figure 8, with
the speaker being the center of the 8. The result is
a very wide and spacious sonic image, with greatly improved off-axis listening.
“This Definitive Technology
system is the rare system that
is an absolute killer for home
theater, and yet is refined and even
suave for music reproduction.”
For the last few years, Definitive Technology
has also been a leader of what’s become a
prevalent trend in loudspeaker design, the
so-called “powered tower.” As the tag line
implies, this means large tower speakers with
powered subwoofers built into the cabinet of
each speaker.
There are many advantages to such a
design, and not just the monstrous bass output that home theatre fanatics crave.
Economically, the user gets more for his/her
money, especially with speakers as reasonably priced as Definitives (a steal in my opinion, more on that later) in that you don’t have
to shell out the additional money for a subwoofer, because, hey, you already have two:
one in each main speaker! Additionally, the
powered subwoofers in the main speakers
reduce the load on the amplifier(s) that drive
the speakers, as they aren’t required to bear
the burden of producing low bass. This makes
even the larger models like the bipolar towers
very efficient, and easy to drive. Having two
subwoofers integrated into the main speakers
also works wonders for achieving uniform
bass response in your room, eliminating the
“…an impressive air of build
quality and good looks…
terrific image focus…
wide, spacious soundstage…
the BP2000TL sounded terrific!”
difficulty that can be associated with placement of a single subwoofer. The phase problems caused by having your main speakers
and your subwoofer in different physical locations (the sound waves will reach your ears at
different times) are also minimized or eliminated by having the subs in the cabinets of the
main speakers.
Definitive Technology
BP 2000TL Speaker
System
The system that Definitive Technology sent
over for review is built around the BP2000TL,
$3,000 per pair, bipolared powered towers
with an on-board 15-inch 500 watt powered
subwoofer in each tall (50-inches H), narrow
(9-inches W) cabinet. In addition to the sub,
each speaker employs an array of two 6.5inch cast basket bass/midrange drivers flanking a 1-inch aluminum dome tweeter in a
D’Appolito configuration.This array is mirrored
on the front and rear of the cabinet making
for a total of seven drivers per speaker.
Sensitivity is rated at 92dB, while frequency
response is rated at a phenomenal 15Hz–30kHz.
“…Bipolar speakers are amazing…
if you haven’t heard them,
you need to…”
Pulling center channel duty in the Definitive
system is the C/L/R 3000, priced at $1,000.
The C/L/R 3000 is a direct radiating center
channel speaker that features a built-in powered subwoofer, this time a 10-incher powered
by a 150-watt RMS amplifier. The C/L/R 3000
sports a vented design with a slot-tuned port
that’s tuned below 20Hz. This speaker features the same pair of 6.5-inch cast basket
bass/midrange drivers and the same aluminum 1-inch dome tweeter used in the
BP2000TL. It is large for a center speaker
measuring (horizontally) 25-inches W x 8.3inch H x 16-inch D, and its bass response is
rated at 19Hz, which is amazing for a center
speaker (for any speaker, really). (Sur)rounding out this system are the wall-mountable
BPVX bipolar surround speakers at $1,200
per pair. These speakers are trapezoid
shaped, and they also have a dual array of
two 6.5-inch cast basket bass/midrange drivers and 1-inch tweeters. The narrow end of
the trapezoid faces the listener, while the drivers are mounted on, and fire out of, each
side. Bass response is rated at 31Hz, making
this, too, a relatively full range speaker. I ran
two pairs of these speakers, one pair at the
sides and one pair at the rear in my Lexicon
Logic 7/THX
®
Surround EX 7.1®channel system.
Initial Impressions And
Setup
BP2000TL
Definitive’s national sale rep Michael Grover
lives about 20 minutes up the road from me,
and he delivered the speakers personally and
helped me set them up, a chore for which he
deserves some major credit. The BP2000TLs
weigh in at 125 lbs. each, making for serious
work to get them in the house (as my achin’
spine can attest) and to move them around
once you get them in there and to place them.
“I found the massive, but
spatially precise soundstage
of the BP2000TL towers
Definitively addicting.”
The first impression the BP2000TLs make is
one of size and beauty. The BP2000TLs loom
tall at 50-inches high with all-around black and
an attractive black cloth “sock” draped 360
degrees around each speaker. The knuckle
rap test was passed with flying colors in the
form of an inert, solid feel to the cabinet indicating that quality build construction is a
Definitive attribute. Each BP2000TL has three
internal chambers, one for each bipolar array
and one for the subwoofer. The BP2000TL
is an imposing presence that imbues an
impressive air of build quality and good looks
that helps you when it comes time to tell your
significant other that you’re putting two
speakers the size of the monolith from 2001
in your living room.
The BP 2000TLs can be tri-wired (and biamped as the subwoofers are powered) for
the low (subwoofer), mid (6.5 midrange/bass
drivers) and high (tweeters) frequency drivers.
The binding posts are the fine gold-plated 5way jobs that everyone loves. There also are
two line-level inputs: one for a full range sig-
nal, and one that is an optional LFE in. There
is also a level control on the back of each
speaker for the powered sub.
With Michael’s help, I had the BP2000TLs
set up in no time. Definitive’s bipolar designs
are less finicky about room placement than
other bipolar designs. In my room, the
BP2000TLs were placed about 33 inches
from the rear wall, which is within the 5-36
inch range recommended by Definitive
(although they make it clear that they can be
placed closer or farther than the recommended range and still produce good results). This
position put the BP2000TLs about a foot out
in front of my large RPTV display, which
resulted in solid imaging. Additionally, Michael
recommended toeing the beasts in toward the
listening position a bit more than I probably
would have done, but this position turned out
to be terrific. After some experimenting with
other positions, I spiked them into Michael’s
“Having two subwoofers integrated
into the main speakers also works
wonders for achieving uniform bass
response in your room.”
recommended position with the powered
subs firing inward. The special thing I noticed
about these bipolars in this toed-in position
was that terrific image focus was maintained
with the speakers toed in, while the rear array
helped created a wide, spacious soundstage.
My living room/home theatre is not the friendliest space, as it’s open on one side and has
high-pitched ceilings. But the BP2000TLs
sounded terrific, seemingly unaffected by
the room’s problems.
Now, to the bass management. First, I did
not bi-wire or bi-amp the BP2000TLs.
Definitive recommends starting with the sub
output level set at the 10 o’clock position,
which is where I started. The simplest configuration for these speakers in a 5.1 (or 7.1 in my
case) system is to simply run speaker level
into the BP2000TLs, and select the no-subwoofer option in the surround processor’s
speaker configuration, which sends the LFE
to the main channels. I ended up with the volume control for the sub output level at one
o’clock, but I had a hard time getting bass that
was punchy enough-sounding as the LFE for
movies, without sounding boomy with music
material. Using a Y connector, I instead ran
line level from my Lexicon MC-1’s subwoofer
output to the LFE inputs on the BP2000TLs,
and set the sub crossover at 40Hz. This
improved things dramatically. Calibrating the
LFE output level to match 75dB reference
level resulted in bass output that was well balanced for LFE on movies, yet was not overwhelming with 2- and 5.1-channel music. This
setup is what I recommend for these speakers
as it will also allow for extra flexibility associated with using the subwoofer/LFE outputs from
your processor. Most processors allow you to
trim or increase subwoofer LFE output with
different sources and/or listening modes for
music vs. movies, which is helpful as subwoofer level preferences for music and
movies are often different.
C/L/R 3000
The C/L/R 3000 center channel features the
same black grill cloth sock styling, with the
gloss black endcaps. The 3000 is also triwirable, although I did not exercise that option
with this speaker, either. It, too, has a level
control for its integrated powered sub and a
full range low level input, but it lacks the LFE
input of the BP2000TL. No weight is listed for
this baby in the literature, but trust me, for a
center channel it’s big and heavy and was a
tough load to get on top on my rather tall
Toshiba TW65x81, where it rested in a traditional horizontal center channel position flush
with the front of the monitor. My only complaint here is that my monitor is tall, and the
distance to the listening position fairly short—
roughly 10–11 feet. The speaker angle
required to obtain good sound from the 3000
was far steeper than the diminutive angling
feet provided by Definitive would allow. The
feet are only 1-inch or so, which wasn’t even
close to what I needed, which leads me to
believe this would be problematic in other
setups as well. Ingenuity prevailed, and I used
an old book to prop up the rear end of the
3000 to obtain the angle I wanted. Initial listening revealed a slightly darker character to
vocals from the 3000 compared to the
BP2000TLs. Finding that odd, I increased the
downward angle of the 3000, pointing it even
more sharply toward the listening area, and
that was the magic touch. Vocals and dia-
“…they provided a wonderfully
spacious surround presence that
was terrific for music or film.
Bipolar speakers are outstanding.”
logue were perfectly matched with the 3000
and BP2000TLs, and since the 3000 is rated
as full range, I ran it as a “large” speaker without crossing over any bass to the BP2000TLs.
I ended up with the sub output level control at
10 o’clock, which kept dialogue and vocals
sounding full and well-balanced, but not chesty.
BPVX
The BPVX surrounds presented the same
outward features noted above with the exception of its trapezoidal shape and 5-way binding posts of the plastic, not gold-plated variety.
I placed them on stands that are roughly 29inches tall, bringing their height to 51 inches,
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