Page 1
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
Page 2
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,
Page 3
just barely taller than the 50-inch BP2000TLs.
At this position, the tweeters in the BPVXs
and the BP2000TL were within a half an inch
of one another. I was initially concerned that
this speaker’s unusual shape would result in
an inferior stereo image at the rear of the
soundstage that the best multichannel music
selections demand, but this was not the case.
Not only did the BPVXs image well in the side
and the rear, they provided a wonderfully spacious surround presence that was terrific for
music and film. Bipolar speakers are outstanding as they give you much of the spatial
qualities people admire in dipoles without sucking the life out of the directional surround
sound effects of today’s discrete 5.1 channel
soundtracks. These speakers do produce
bass into the low 30Hz range, but fall off
rapidly at that point. I ran them as “small”
speakers and set the crossovers for them at 40Hz.
Performance
The first thing to mention with regard to this
speaker system is that I found the massive,
but spatially precise soundstage of the
BP2000TL towers Definitively addicting
(sorry, I couldn’t resist). The sonic signature of
the Definitive’s soundstage is one not only of
width, but one of astounding depth and
dimension. Close your eyes, and you not only
picture the orchestra in front of you, you can
place the instruments within that space. The
only speakers I’ve heard that surpass the
bipolar soundstage depth are electrostatics.
Bipolar speakers are amazing in this regard,
and if you haven’t heard them, you need
to—if not now, certainly before you buy
another set of speakers.
“Everything you hear through
these speakers sounds more like
natural sound and less like a
speaker’s reproduction…”
Starting in home theatre, the dynamics of
this system are seemingly limitless. Transient
sound effects like gunshots and explosions
(you know, the stuff action movies are made
of!) are startlingly real with the Definitive system. Even my wife remarked that many
movies she’s very familiar with were rendered
with significant additional impact on this system, making her jump during scenes that
she’d seen dozens of times before. But these
sound effects didn’t sound and feel real simply as a result of how loudly and dynamically
they were reproduced. The Definitive system
is timbrally very natural sounding. Everything
you hear through these speakers sounds
more like natural sound and less like a speaker’s reproduction of sound. You’re that much
closer to the material, and that much more
emotionally involved as a result.
There was no sign of strain or congestion in
any of these speakers, even at full reference
level. I probably could have tried to torture
them, but reference level is loud enough for
even large rooms, and these speakers
weren’t even breathing hard. Full scale SPL
is something that a great many home theatre
“…startlingly real…
the dynamics of this system
are seemingly limitless…”
speaker systems can do, but very few of
them perform as effortlessly as these when
doing so. I wouldn’t say that the Definitives
have a dark character, but they are full bodied, rather rich and warm, offering a laid back
perspective that is very smooth and easy to
listen to. I found myself listening to this system 2–3dB louder than I generally do, as
there was nothing fatiguing about these
speakers even during long, loud moviewatching sessions.
In spite of this laid-back perspective, the
Definitives sacrifice no amount of detail in the
upper frequencies. I’ve been accustomed to
hearing scratching fingers on piano keyboards and other low level details, but with
“Although the Definitives are thought
of as home theatre speakers due to
the whole ‘powered tower’ thing,
they’re wonderfully musical.”
these speakers, detail is increased even further. It seemed as though I could actually
hear the pads of the pianists’ fingers on some
of the better music recordings I listened to.
This brings up the point that, although the
Definitives are thought of as home theatre
speakers due to the whole “powered tower”
thing, they’re wonderfully musical. In fact,
many of the traits I’ve described above are
more common to high-end music-oriented
speakers than home theatre speakers with
built-in powered subwoofers. Since the
Definitives arrived, I’ve frequently been driven
to listen to my favorite music recordings just to
hear how they sound with this system, even
more so than dragging out my favorite home
theatre demo material (although there’s
been a fair amount of that, too).
System Integration
I’ve listened to a lot of home theatre systems
consisting of “matched” speakers that share
the same drivers in every speaker position,
but this is the most coherent, well-integrated
system I’ve heard of yet. The front soundstage
is especially seamless, a large part of which
has to do with a center channel that is truly full
“…this is the most coherent, well-
integrated system I’ve heard yet! ”
range, as the C/L/R 3000 certainly is, and run
full range. I ran a low frequency sweep signal
from the Avia DVD, and the 3000 produced
solid bass down to 23Hz. An impressive feat
which I’m sure wouldn’t be possible in a
speaker its size without the powered subwoofer in the design. As mentioned above,
the C/L/R 3000 is a vented design. I had this
system for nearly two months, and watched literally dozens of movies during that time. Only
two soundtracks I auditioned during this time
had low bass that was loud enough and low
enough in the center channel to cause some
port chuffing from the C/L/R 3000 to become
audible in the form of a slight fluttering sound
(for lack of a more descriptive term). The port
on this speaker is tuned below 20Hz, and the
bass in these two soundtracks must be even
lower than that, as the 20Hz frequency sweep
“Dialogue is alarmingly
natural with the C/L/R 3000
creating a palpable sensation that
people are speaking in your room”
from Avia wasn’t low enough to get any bass
to the port at all. Similarly, on all other program material I played, there either wasn’t low
enough frequency content to bring the port
into the equation, or it happened with effects
transient enough in nature that it simply wasn’t
audible. In any case, I didn’t consider this
enough of an issue to warrant any changes in the
speaker’s configuration.
Dialogue is alarmingly natural with the C/L/R
3000, creating a palpable sensation that people are speaking in your room. Most center
speakers I’ve had experience with require
being crossed over in the 80Hz range, and I
wonder just how much that has to do with the
Page 4
fact that this speaker sounds so much more
natural with dialogue and vocals. The scene in
Dragonheart
Bowen provided an exhilarating example of all
of the above, with the air from Draco’s wings
and his voice moving all around me, tonally consistent as they moved around the room.
One interesting thing to note on the C/L/R
3000 combined with the BP2000TLs is that I
had to increase the center channel level
1–1.5dB to achieve a satisfactory dialogue
level. This is unusual, and it made me uncomfortable altering the center channel from reference level, when the rest of the system was
in which Draco flies around
“…bass response in these
speakers is deep and very tight
with excellent pace and
pitch definition…”
balanced. Nevertheless, even with the center
channel level increased I never noticed
dialogue or vocals being forward or more
prominent in the soundfield than should have
been the case.
Another manner in which the system is well
integrated is with respect to the Low
Frequency Effects or LFE, which I ran to the
BP2000TL’s powered subwoofers. Bass
response in these speakers is deep and very
tight and tuneful, with excellent pace and pitch
definition. With music, every pluck of bass
strings was defined and crisply articulated.
“…the bass response of the
BP2000TLs was more cohesive
with smoother response than I’ve
been able to achieve in my room
with separate subwoofers.”
Additionally, the bass response of the
BP2000TLs was more cohesive with
smoother response than I’ve been able to
achieve in my room with separate subwoofer
systems. This could be a result of room interaction with my subwoofer. There are only
three places a sub can go in my room, and
one produces no bass at all. The other two,
while they produce strong bass, produce LFE
levels that vary 2–3dB if you move a foot in
either direction in the listening area. Very
uneven. With the BP2000TLs, bass response
was uniform over the entire listening area.
The best way I can describe the integration of
this system’s LFE is to say I was never conscious of a sound effect moving from any of
the other speakers to the subwoofer. The LFE
always sounded natural and never drew any
attention to itself or its location.
The BP2000TL’s powered subwoofers can
also get down low and loud for the demands
of movie soundtracks. The BP2000TL’s two
15-inch 500-watt subs will provide enough
bass output for all but the most fanatical bass
enthusiast (see Editor Gary). That said, I’m
something of a bass fanatic myself, and the
BP2000TL’s subs did not resolve the very
lowest of the low frequencies of movie soundtracks with the same visceral impact of my reference subwoofer, nor did they fill the room
with bass in quite as impressive a fashion. My
sub really massages the entire room with low
frequency energy. Nevertheless, many people
simply won’t miss what they don’t hear, as the
Definitives’ performance is actually superior to
most of the stand-alone subs that I’ve listened
to, which is impressive indeed. Only the best
of the best-dedicated subs will outperform the
BP2000TL’s subs, and they will come at a
cost that is certain to equal or exceed the
$1,500 per speaker price of the BP2000TLs.
The BPVXs were also an asset to this system, providing spacious surround envelopment as well as the directionality in the surrounds that the best 5.1 discrete material calls
for. The BPVX’s sidewall imaging was terrific.
Sound effects didn’t simply pan into, or out of,
the left surround or the right surround, they
panned through the entire left or right side of
the room. Another thing I really liked about the
BPVXs was their performance in the rear of
the room as the Back Surround channel with
®
Digital Surround EX™ material. In my
Dolby
room, the distance from the left and right surround channels to the back surround right and
back surround left channels is fairly short,
which sometimes short-changes the sonic
impression of sound coming distinctly from the
rear of the room. The back surround image
smears into the left and right surround image.
With the BPVXs in the rear, in the place of the
monopoles that preceded them, the back surround was a much more distinct image, even
though the distances between the back surround and left and right surrounds were the
same as before. The BPVXs made listening to
EX soundtracks and 7.1 channel Logic 7 via
the Lexicon MC-1 a much more enjoyable
experience in this respect.
The Bottom Line
This Definitive Technology system is the
rare system that is an absolute killer for home
theatre, and yet is refined and even suave
“These speakers are the ones
that are going to get the serious
music fans to finally give in to the
home theatre bug.”
with regard to music reproduction. Indeed, it’s
one of best double-duty systems I’ve heard, if
not the best. The Definitives have all the muscle you could ever want for home theatre, but
the heart and soul of the system is musical.
What distinguishes the Definitives from other
home theatre systems is a sweet and laid-
back perspective that will make enthusiasts
want to experience their whole music collection anew. Don’t get me wrong, you’re going
to be wearing out your home theatre demo
“A downright bargain…
All this translates to outstanding
performance with an equally
outstanding price.”
material as well, but these speakers are the
ones that are going to get the serious music
fans to finally give in to the home theatre bug.
All of this translates to outstanding performance with an equally outstanding price,
resulting in a very high price/performance
ratio. The total cost of the system reviewed is
$6,200, and that’s with an additional pair of
the BPVX surrounds for my 7.1 channel system. The price for a 5.1 channel system is
$5,100, which is a downright bargain considering that two 500-watt 15-inch powered subwoofers (and a 150-watt 10-inch powered subwoofer in the C/L/R 3000) are included.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the
Definitive line is extensive, featuring bipolar
powered towers starting with the $1,200 per
pair BP2006TLs. There are several models in
between those and the BP2000TLs at $3,000
per pair, and move up from there to the
BP3000TL (not for the faint of heart, these
$4,500 per pair bipolar powered towers have
18-inch 1000 watt powered subs in each cabinet. Gulp.). You can move downward in
price, and generally the only thing you’ll sacrifice is the size and power of the subwoofers, plus the size of the cabinets themselves (this scalability applies to the bipolar
towers as well as the C/L/Rs and the surrounds as well).
“…I simply can’t recommend it
highly enough…the Definitives
are in my home to stay.”
The Definitive Technology BP2000TLbased system reviewed here is one that I
simply can’t recommend highly enough. It’s
almost become clichéd in A/V reviews to say
such a thing, but I just can’t let these speakers go. The Definitives are in my home to
stay–how’s that for a recommendation?
11433 Cronridge Drive
Owings Mills, Maryland 21117
www.definitivetech.com
410-363-7148
Reprinted from Issue 37 of WIDESCREEN REVIEW
MAGAZINE. Copyright © 2000 by Widescreen Review
WSR Publishing, Inc.
®
,
Loading...