Definitive Technology ProCinema 400, PROTOWER 400, PROCENTER C2, PROMONITOR 200 Brochure
STEREO REVIEW’S SOUND & VISION
test report
BY DANIEL KUMIN
Definitive Technology
ProCinema 400 Speaker System
Tech’s new ProTower 400—its first power tower that’s not
bipolar—is the most compact model I’ve encountered yet.
Just over 3 feet tall, it’s easily moved by a single, ordinary
human, and it’s affordable by many ordinary folks, too.
Definitive is offering it both in stereo pairs and as part of a
ProCinema 400 home theater suite that includes the
ProCenter C2 center speaker and a pair of conventional
two-way bookshelf models, either the ProMonitor 100 or
200, for the surround channels. This array, with the larger
ProMonitor 200 surrounds, is what Definitive sent us, and
I installed the speakers in my studio, driving them with my
100-watt B&K AVR202 receiver and a Sony DVP-C6000
DVD changer.
“
the bass performance was remarkable…
”
t one point, it almost seemed as if big tower
speakers were in danger of being killed off
by small subwoofer/satellite combinations.
But then along came the “power tower”—a
category that Definitive Technology
A
the big bad BP2000.
What, exactly, is a power tower? Pretty much any
floor-standing speaker whose woofers are driven by
dedicated amplifiers built right into each cabinet. Most
do away with the need for a separate powered subwoofer, which explains the genre’s growing popularity
with both music lovers and home theater enthusiasts—
and their significant others—throughout the land.
Equally valuable, the power-tower configuration permits speaker makers to wring deep bass from relatively
compact cabinets by taking a “systems” approach in
combining a powered-subwoofer section with an upperfrequency section driven by the external amplifiers.
Power towers are now available from numerous
brands in a wide range of prices and sizes. But Def
helped create in 1995 when it introduced
The ProTower 400 has a stylish shape, with a smoothly
curved back and sides that flow seamlessly into the front
baffle. The grille frame is also rounded, leaving the biascut top panel and the bottom as the only flat surfaces. (The
slanted top looks cool, but it means you can’t pile things
like CD jewel boxes on the speakers. Is that a good thing
or a bad thing?) The towers, center, and surrounds are
made of a composite Def Tech calls PolyStone, a manmade mineral-filled polymer—plastic, in other words.
Unlike wood, PolyStone can be easily molded into complex shapes and engineered toward a desired density to
reduce resonance. In the ProCinema 400 suite, the enclosures include extensive internal bracing, multiple subenclosures (including a “floating” mid-range/tweeter structure), and internal and external ribbing for strength, rigidi-
“
The
ProTowers
sounded
outstanding…
ty, and freedom from image-smearing diffraction effects.
The ProTower 400 has binding posts for a speaker-level
input from a receiver or amp. Like all power towers, it also
has internal filters to send deep-bass signals to the subwoofer section (its amp is rated at 125 watts) while the
”
fast facts
PROTOWER 400 PROCENTER C2 PROMONITOR
(left/right front) (center)
TWEETER
WOOFER
SUBWOOFER
ENCLOSURE
DIMENSIONS
(WxHxD) inches inches inches
WEIGHT
FINISH
MANUFACTURER
21117; phone, 410-363-7148; Web, www.definitivetech.com
1-inch dome 1-inch dome 1-inch dome
61/2-inch cone two 51/4-inch cones 61/2-inch dome
two 61/2-inch cones — —
vented vented vented
73/4 x 381/2 x 11 20 x 65/8 x 91/4 73/4 x 14 x 11
40 pounds 17 pounds 14 pounds
textured dark gray textured dark gray textured dark gray
or white or white or white
Definitive Technology, Dept. S&V, 11433 Cronridge Dr., Owings Mills, MD
200
(surround)
test report
other drivers get the midbass on up. A knob
adjacent to the binding posts adjusts the subwoofer’s bass output. Each ProTower 400 also
accepts a line-level. LFE-only input, so you
can set an independent level for “super-bass”
LFE content—a bit of flexibility that many
home theater fans will appreciate.
“excellent definition and detail… ”
Interchangeable feet and carpet spikes permit
some height adjustment, and the manufacturer
recommends tilting the diminutive ProTower
400 backward a few degrees to aim it toward a
seated listener’s ears. The ProCenter C2 can
also be aimed thanks to its adjustable rear foot,
and the ProMonitor 200 has an adjustable base
for shelf-mounting as well as wall-mounting
slots on its rear edge. The ProMonitor 200 has
the same footprint as the ProTower 400, though
it’s only about 14 inches tall. All three models
are finished in a finely pebbled, very dark
gray—white is also available—and are fitted
with full-length black-knit grilles. The speakers’ distinctive shapes and simple finish make
for a very handsome, quietly sexy installation.
“the sense of air and space was
superb…”
I placed them in pretty much the same locations as my everyday reference speakers: each
ProTower about 2 feet to the side of my rearprojection set, with the C2 on top if it. I began
with the ProMonitor 200s in my usual surround-speaker spots, on high side-wall shelves
roughly even with the listening position. But
since these are direct-radiating speakers rather
than my everyday dipole surrounds, the sound
was better integrated when I placed the 200s
on some high stands about 6 feet behind and on
either side of the listening area, but aimed
slightly away from it.
“excellent octave-to-octave
balance… ”
With stereo material, the ProTowers sounded outstanding. Tonality was just a tick on the
warm side, yet the treble was clear, extended,
and had excellent definition and detail. On “All
That I’ve Got” from Wendy MaHarry’s epony-
HIGH POINTS
Accurate, natural tonal balance.
Extended, powerful deep bass.
Sleek looks.
Noteworthy value.
LOW POINTS
Front trio’s tonal match is not perfect.
Surround speakers more localizable
than dipoles.
Slight bass warmth in some rooms.
The deep-bass rumbles in the buffalohunting sequences of
Wolves
by Def Tech’s power towers.
mous debut CD (A&M CD5283), the sense of
air and space was superb, the electric piano’s
tine attack was fully natural, and hand percussion sounded in-the-room real. Midrange tonal
color was almost dead-on. MaHarry’s voice
seemed just a bit narrow compared with the
sound from my everyday (far more expensive)
speakers, but the two were close enough that
which one was “right” is a subjective call.
Tilting the towers back a little further than Def
Tech recommends opened up the “air” quotient
a bit and boosted top-octave energy.
were very solidly reproduced
Dances with
“The ProTowers can play
ridiculously loud with clarity and
terrific bass power, literally shaking
things from the walls…”
The ProTower 400’s bass performance was
remarkable. The lows sounded unimpeded right
down to 30 Hz, and even at loud volumes the
bass was punchy, clean, and defined. “Muddy
Water” from Keb’ Mo’s Slow Down CD
(Okeh/550) has an almost excessively rich bass
track that demands strong reproduction down to
a low C (on a five-string bass)—around 32 Hz.
On the ProTower 400s, it sounded sumptuously
solid and appropriately gooey even when played
loud. At very high volumes, however, a bit of
chuffing from the slot-loaded ports induced a
touch of “fur” on certain bass notes, but this was
never a problem at sane listening levels. And the
ProTowers could play ridiculously loud with
clarity and terrific bass power, literally shaking
things from the walls—of course, this is partly a
benefit of any system with a good powered subwoofer since the main amp or receiver need
only drive the midrange and tweeter.
The ProTowers produced good ultra-deep
bass for cinematic purposes, too. For example,
the buffalo-hunt sequence from Dances with
Wolves on DVD (Dolby Digital version) contains more or less steady rumbles covering the
full deep-bass range. The sound was very solid
but just shy of the gut-churning roar you hear
from the kind of systems that have two or more
big subwoofers—and mid-four-figure price
tags. Connecting my stand-alone 200-watt/12inch subwoofer to the system just for the LFE
channel did the trick: Yeah!
“accurate natural tonal balance…”
Bass performance on surround-encoded
music was very good as well. I began with my
usual range of 5.1-channel music test tracks,
including the Delos Dolby Digital recording of
Strauss’s Thus Spake Zarathustra on DVD. The
deep organ pedals closing the second section
were satisfyingly full, and in full-orchestra passages I didn’t hear any overt port noise, even at
concert-hall levels. On the tone poem’s biggest
crescendos, the ProTowers’ deepest-octave
dynamic limits exposed themselves by way of a
bit less chest-thumping in the attacks—Def
Tech’s dynamics-control circuitry appeared to
work quite transparently. Had I not heard these
attacks many times on much bigger subwoofers,
I doubt I would have noted anything amiss.
The system was similarly capable with movie
soundtracks. The ProCenter C2’s tonal match
with the ProTowers was good but not perfect. In
direct comparison, the center speaker sounded
slightly cupped on some male voices, a nearly
universal trait of horizontal center speakers, in
this case exacerbated by reflections from a big
screen surface below it. Despite this slight tonal
shift, the front-stage imaging was very good. I
never got the sense of three distinct speakers
during ambient, broadly spread scenes such as
the opening crowd sequence from the Dolby
Digital DVD of The Mask of Zorro. Front-stage
pans were generally smooth and seamless.
The ProMonitor 200 surround is a very
capable two-way speaker, with plenty of
dynamic oomph for hard-hitting multichannel
music or movie soundtracks and nice tonal balance. They were easier to localize than the
dipole surrounds I’m used to, but that’s a matter of taste. Some listeners prefer direct-radiating surround speakers like the ProMonitor 200,
especially for DTS-encoded music.
“
a very impressive speaker… and a
surprisingly affordable price.
Definitive Technology’s ProCinema 400 is a
very impressive speaker system. Excellent
sound, good dynamic range, accurate, natural
balance, and remarkable bass extension combine with genuine good looks and a surprisingly affordable price. And if you’re interested
only in a stereo setup, you owe it to yourself to
give a pair of ProTower 400s an extended listen—especially if concerns about space- or
cost-efficiency loom large.
Reprinted from the May 1999 issue of STEREO REVIEW’S
SOUND & VISION magazine. Copyright © 1999 by Hachette
Filipacchi Magazine Inc. All Rights Reserved.
”
S&V
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