Definitive Technology ProCinema 80 Brochure
Definitive Technology now offers
the ProCinema 80. At $999, it’s
less expensive than the ProCinema
100 but no less impressive. The
ProCinema 80 comes packaged
with four identical ProMonitor 80
satellites, a ProCenter 100 center
speaker, and the ProSub 80
powered subwoofer.
The satellite is a two-way design
incorporating a 4.5-inch, castbasket bass/midrange driver and
a 1-inch aluminum-dome tweeter.
It’s not easy putting a high-quality,
1-inch aluminum-dome tweeter in
a $999 speaker package, and how
Definitive Technology managed it
I’ll never know. The ProMonitor 80s
come with a keyhole on the back for
wall mounting. (Definitive also sells
an optional pivoting bracket and an
optional floor stand.) The gold-plated,
five-way binding posts are a rare find
on such an inexpensive speaker.
The ProCenter speaker uses
the same 1-inch tweeter found
in the satellites, two of the same
midrange drivers, and the same
binding posts. A cool little feature found on the center is the
adjustable foot, which can raise
the speaker in the back in order
to aim it at the listening position.
Of course, the speaker is magnetically shielded to allow for placement
atop a TV.
Isn’t it horrible when you see
something that you really, really
want, but it’s just out of your reach
financially? Say you’re buying furniture, and you really want that sweet
bedroom set from Ethan Allen, but
all you can afford is IKEA. Is the
Ethan Allen furniture really that
much better? Or is it perceived as
being that much better because it
costs more?
You’re stuck compromising
the thing you want for the
thing you can afford. Why
does it have to be that way?
Well, as far as furniture is
concerned, that question
may never be answered, but
when it comes to speakers,
Definitive Technology shows
us that you don’t have to break
the bank to own a quality product.
Working on the same design
concept used to create the highly
acclaimed ProCinema 100 system,
Definitive Technology
ProCinema 80 Speaker System
“I was immediately
awed”
C
B
A. The ProMonitors
produced a very
large, convincing
soundstage.
B. The ProCenter
is magnetically
shielded, so you
can put it on top
of your TV.
C. The 8-inch
ProSub (Joe’s
favorite in the
series) is a depar-
ture for Def Tech,
who usually
manufactures
10- to 18-inchers.
“it’s near
perfect”
You’d never know by listening that
Definitive Technology’s ProCinema 80
system costs only $999.
Joe Hageman gives you the scoop
on the new king of sub-$1,000 speaker systems.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Excellent system integration
• Monstrous sound from
tiny speakers
• Deep, and we mean
deep,
bass from a relatively
small subwoofer
A
“the ProCinema 80
system kept my jaw
on the floor”
“Monstrous sound
from tiny speakers”
The ProSub 80 (my favorite speaker
in the package) is somewhat of a
departure for Definitive Technology.
The company is known for making
larger subwoofers (10- to 18-inchers),
not little 8-inch jobs like this one.
The 8-inch woofer found in this
slot-loaded subwoofer uses a polymer
cone and is powered by an internal
250-watt amplifier. The ProSub 80
has all the usual features of a better
subwoofer, including stereo low-level
inputs, a dedicated LFE input, lowpass crossover adjustment (variable
from 40 to 150 Hertz), and volume
control. The sub also has speakerlevel inputs and outputs for hookup
in a standard sub/sat configuration
(which is how I hooked it up). All
of the speakers (including the sub)
are available in black or white for
the same price.
To evaluate the ProCinema, I
compared it with what is arguably
the reigning champ of under-$1,000
sub/sat systems: the $800 Energy
Take5, which includes the ES-8 sub.
This may not seem fair, given that the
ProCinema costs $200 more, but I’ve
heard the Take5 system put $1,500
speaker packages to shame, and
I’ve never heard a $1,000 system
that could beat it, so I think the
comparison is more than fair.
Starting with music, I was immediately awed by the ProSub 80. My
sound room is a glutton for bass—its
dimensions are excellent, so you can
feed it all the bass you want and it
never gets boomy, unless the sub itself
sounds boomy. The room ate up this
subwoofer’s bass. Bass notes sounded
powerful and precise, and, unlike
so many other sub/sat systems, this
one doesn’t have an audible gap
between the satellites and the sub.
The ProSub 80 definitely helped create
the illusion that I was
listening to a highquality pair of fullrange tower speakers.
As sweet as the
treble and midrange of
the Energy satellites
can be, the same frequency spectrum
sounded even sweeter
through the ProMonitor
80s. On the song
“Once in Love with
Amy,” from the CD Mel
Tormé Swings Shubert Alley (yes, I
listen to Mel Tormé—so what?), the
instrumentation and Mel’s vocals
sounded extremely detailed and natural. When pushed, the tweeter tended to
become a tad bright, but at normal listening levels it’s near perfect. Unlike
many other small speakers I’ve heard,
the ProMonitor 80s completely disappeared in the room and created a very
large, convincing soundstage.
After listening to music, I thought
I had experienced the best of what this
speaker package had to offer ... but
then I put on some movies.
On a bevy of blow-’em-up
scenes ranging from the DTS
trailer of Titanic to the Dolby
Digital DVD GoldenEye, the
ProCinema 80 system kept my
jaw on the floor. The ProSub
80 shook my soundroom so
much I had to turn it down for
fear of shaking stuff off the
shelves in my apartment (I kid
you not!). System integration
was flawless in this speaker
package, with seamless front-to-back
pans and no discernible tonal change
when action switched from the center to
the main speakers and back again. The
Take5 system came closer to the
ProCinema’s performance on movies
than on music, but the Energy speakers
couldn’t muster the same dynamics as
the Definitives, and the 100-watt ES-8
sub, while great, couldn’t match the
[250-watt] ProSub 80’s output. Sure,
the ProCinema 80 system costs $200
more, but I’d pay it without hesitation.
“extremely detailed
and natural”
“Unlike many other
small speakers that
I’ve heard, the Pro80s
completely disappeared
in the room and
created a very large,
convincing soundstage”
“system integration was
flawless”
“Bass notes sounded
powerful and precise,
and, unlike so many
other sub/sat systems,
this one doesn’t have an
audible gap between the
satellites and the sub”
“The ProSub 80 shook
my soundroom so much
I had to turn it down
for fear of shaking
stuff off the shelves
of my apartment
(I kid you not!)”
D. The ProSub’s
got all the
normal features
of a good sub:
stereo low-level
ins, a dedicated
LFE input, low-
bass crossover
adjustment,
and volume
control.
D
ProCinema 80 Speaker System $999
Definitive Technology
11433 Cronridge Drive, Owings Mills, MD 21117
(410) 363-7148
www.definitivetech.com
Reprinted from the October1999 issue of HOME THEATER.
Copyright © 1999 by Petersen Publishing.
All Rights Reserved.
“The ProSub definitely
helped create the
illusion that I was
listening to a highquality pair of fullrange tower speakers”
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