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GEAR GUIDE
Definitive Technology
BPVX/P Surround Speaker
A speaker that Tony Montana would definitely love.
By Jeff Cherun
“
I loved these speakers so much that I’m definitely
going to replace my existing surround speakers
“the rear
of the room
really came
alive, as you
could instantly
hear the bass
… it’s pretty
amazing
what’s back
there”
A
A. The BPVX/P
is an on-wall
surround speaker
with a bipolar
design and a built-in
powered subwoofer.
Power is considered to be very
important in our society. Tony
Montana’s immortal words in
Scarface said it all: “First you get
the money, then you get the power,
then you get the woman.”
Of course, Tony was talking about
a different kind of power than what
you or I would be interested in
(drug-kingpin power is very different from a nine-to-fiver’s kind of
power), but possessing even a
minute amount of power can electrify one’s self-esteem. Granted,
Tony’s zeal for power led to his
coked-out paranoia and ultimate
demise, but other types of power
can, in fact, be quite healthy.
Definitive Technology is a company that understands the notion
of power very well. Having offered
loudspeakers with built-in powered
subwoofers not long after the dawn
of home theater, the folks at
Definitive understand what powered speakers can do for perfor-
mance. Good engineering plus
power equals plenty of fun. While
this deviates from conventional
loudspeaker design, most of the
stalwart hi-fi speaker manufacturers have switched over to this way
of “powered” thinking.
First in Definitive Technology’s
history were the BP 2000 tower
speakers; later came their mammoth siblings, the BP 3000TLs—
with built-in 1,000-watt subwoofers. These immense speakers
were a statement of form and function melding into one practical
“we both were
amazed with
the clarity and
tremendous
force with which
these speakers
moved the home
theater’s air …”
result, offering a ton of bang for the
buck. They also allowed the Dolby
Digital/DTS requirement that there
be full-bandwidth loudspeakers at
every channel to be practically
instituted. Since the 5.1 spec
asserts that a full-bandwidth signal
go to all five channels and a limited
“bass” channel go to the LFE “0.1”
track, you could theoretically have
six subwoofers in a system.
Although this sounds like it could
perhaps be too much bass for one
room, it isn’t, since all the subs
wouldn’t necessarily be playing at
once. At the same time that they
released the BP 3000TL’s to critical
acclaim, Definitive came out with
their C/L/R 3000 center speaker,
also with a powered subwoofer. Since
HIGHLIGHTS
• Tons of brute force on
movies and music
• Coherent, matched sound
between speakers
then, we’ve been waiting for their
solution to the problem of a surround
speaker to use when a typical tower
speaker just won’t do. Well, I’m here
to tell you that the wait is officially
over—it’s here.
The BPVX/P is an on-wall surround loudspeaker, with a bipolar
design, featuring four cast-basket
6.5-inch bass/midrange drivers (two
on each side), as well as two 1-inch
pure-aluminum-dome tweeters. The
built-in 125-watt amplifier drives
two of the 6.5-inch drivers, and this
combination results in performance
similar to what you’d expect from a
regular subwoofer. Of course, a conventional amplifier is still needed to
power the passive portion of the
loudspeaker. Like the rest of
Definitive’s products, these are
not powered loudspeakers in their
entirety—just the bass portion
is powered.
“a ton of bang
for the buck”
Aesthetically, the BPVX/P is quite
good-looking. To me, the appeal of
Definitive’s products has always
been that they’re quite diminutive.
They tend to visually disappear into
”
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a room. Of course, sonically, they do not.
But more on that in just a bit.
To test these speakers, I hooked them up
to my buddy Jimmy’s system, which is
remarkable. His room is a good size, and he
uses Definitive’s BP 2000s as his main
“setting up the speakers
was a cinch”
speakers and the C/L/R 3000 for centerchannel duty. For rear speakers, he uses
Definitive’s BP 2X speakers, which have a
passive bipolar design that works great. We
thought it would be really interesting to try
out the BPVX/Ps in the BP 2Xs’ place
along the back wall in the room.
HT Labs measures: Def Tech BPVX/P Speaker
This chart shows the in-room averaged (employing
close-spiking of all woofers) frequency response of the
BPVX/P. Response measures +2.2/-1.7 decibels from
200 hertz to 10 kilohertz. The -3dB point is at 38 Hz,
and the -6dB point is at 35 Hz. Impedance reaches a
minimum of 2.7 ohms at 488 Hz and a phase angle of
-63.6 degrees at 126 Hz. Sensitivity is 89.5 dB from 300
Hz to 2 kHz, measured at a distance of 1 meter with 2.63
—MW
volt input.
Setting up the speakers was a cinch. For
our purposes, we placed them on a pair of
4-foot stands. You can wall-mount these
speakers using the built-in mounting plate,
but we chose (for ease of comparison) to
simply place them up against the wall, just
like the BP 2X’s. A major consideration for
powered speakers has to be the inherent
necessity of a power outlet at each channel.
“a very impressive
Once we got the speakers suitably broken in, Jimmy and I sat and listened to
some demanding programming. Jimmy suggested the new DVD release of Pink Floyd’s
The Wall, and it sounded like a good
enough idea to me. The 5.1 soundtrack
is simply marvelous and really pushed
the system. (It would probably challenge most “normal” systems, especially at
high decibel levels, but it
didn’t strain this one.) The
great thing about the
BPVX/Ps is how wellmatched they are to the rest
of the system. The rear of
the room really came alive,
as you could instantly hear
the bass being transmitted
to the rear channels. You really do miss a
ton of information without a good loudspeaker to filter in the signal. Most people
simply have minimonitors as their surround
speakers. In the case of Dolby Pro Logic,
you aren’t missing much. However, with the
new 5.1 soundtracks, it’s pretty amazing
what’s back there.
B
B. The BPVX/P’s back panel
features a power jack, so
you’ll need to mount them
near an outlet.
“performance similar to
what you’d expect from
a regular subwoofer”
We also checked out some newer soundtracks like Disney’s Tarzan, which also
rocked the room. Again, we were both
amazed with the clarity and tremendous
force with which these speakers moved the
home theater’s air. Particularly, Phil
Collins’ opening song with all the jungle
drums really impressed us. The thunder
crashes, the tiger’s roars, and the music all
combined into a very impressive crescendo
that filled the entire room with brute force.
“good engineering
plus power equals
plenty of fun”
excelled. Since much of the musical information in his recording features vocals in
the rear, it was a great test. As vocals shifted from one speaker to the next, there was
“on music material … the
BPVX/Ps also excelled”
virtually no shift in tonality,
making for a very coherent
presentation. In fact, I loved
these speakers so much
that I’m definitely going
to replace my existing
surround speakers (which
will go unnamed) with
these guys.
For those of you without
any electrical power in the
rear of your home theater, Definitive also
offers a nonpowered version called the
“Definitive understands
what powered speakers
can do for performance”
BPVX, which costs $549. It offers the same
basic design, minus the built-in amplifier.
Both the powered and nonpowered versions
are available in gloss piano black and white
finishes, so you can customize the look of
your room appropriately. For those of you
with AC outlets in the rear of your room (or
who want to call your trusty electrician),
these speakers are definitely worth auditioning. They will do as much for you as
the good old yeyo did for Tony Montana.
I promise.
“The BPVX/P provided
a presentation that
really made home
theater fun again”
Reprinted from the July 2000 issue of HOME THEATER.
Copyright © 2000 by EMAP USA. All Rights Reserved.
crescendo that filled
the entire room with
brute force”
A lot of people like the idea of speakers
with built-in subwoofers but forget that
they’ll need juice for each channel. This
can get a little cumbersome with surround
speakers, depending on your home theater
room. In this case, there were AC outlets
right near where we were gonna place the
speakers, so we were in luck.
The BPVX/Ps provided a presentation that
really made home theater fun again.
On DTS 5.1 music material like Sting’s
Ten Summoner’s Tales, the BPVX/Ps also
11433 Cronridge Dr. • Owings Mills, MD 21117 • (410)363-7148
www.definitivetech.com
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