testreports 
Daniel Kumin
Definitive Technology
ProCinema 800 Speaker System
or years, Baltimore’s Definitive FTechnology has produced phalanxes of tall, imposing, powerful floor-standing towers. Nevertheless, the eyes of the company founder Sandy Gross always
seem to take on a special twinkle when he sings the praises of his latest pint-size production, which suggests he gets a special buzz out of squeezing the mostest from the leastest — like the ProCinema 800 array seen here. Not pint-size, exactly (quart-and-a- half would be closer), but impressively small nonetheless, Definitive’s latest ProMonitor 800 satellite design employs an unusually located passive radiator firing straight up to help the bantamweight speaker produce enough low-frequency output to
“reach” and blend with a subwoofer effectively. The same technique is found in the matching center channel, in doubles.
“A must-hear ...
very pleasing and surprisingly high-end sounding”
SETUP
Definitive sent a pair of their inexpensive fixedheight stands for the front speakers, which worked
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the treble. Proper adjustment of the subwoofer level and crossover also proved absolutely critical. After initial meter balancing, the system sounded a bit disappointing: heavy in the mid-bass and not particularly impressive down low. What a transformation was won by an hour or so of fiddling! I finished with a superb blend almost entirely free of boom or bloat, and with surprisingly deep-bass extension. But too much sub level (or too high a crossover) and the Definitives could sound “woofy” or a bit bloated (and the sub would localize); too little or too low and they could become gaunt.
Small differences of even 1 dB in sub level made very obvious changes, as did experimentation with crossover settings. I settled on 75-Hz crossover from my flexible processor, with 6-dB high-pass and 24-dB/low-pass curves — which, as it happens, is pretty much what Definitive’s own circuits yield if you use the sub’s speaker-level inputs instead of the LFE/line connection I employed. The fixed 80-Hz filters of many inexpensive receivers, which use 12- dB/24-DB per-octave filter slopes, should also work quite well.
“this is a marvelously |
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high-value system” |
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MUSIC PERFORMANCE |
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A brief session with the ProMonitors playing full- |
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range alone confirmed that they don’t produce |
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enough bass for satisfying sound on their own — but |
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that nonetheless they play amazingly loud without |
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obvious distress. These are strictly satellite speakers, |
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but they do go lower and louder than I’ve had |
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guessed on sight. |
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With the system tweaked and tailored, I started as |
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usual with stereo listening, finding a generally neu |
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tral, open sound with a slightly warm cast to male |
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The Short Form |
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Snapshot |
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A must-hear for those who insist on a |
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very small, accessibly priced system. |
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Plus |
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:: Excellent overall tonality. |
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:: Good bass output, extension. |
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:: Surprising volume potential. |
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Minus |
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:: Needs careful setup. (But don’t they all?) |
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:: Center shifts tone at off-axis seats. |
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Price $1,099 (AS+TESTED) TONYBYPHOTO |
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-CORDOZA |
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