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audio videoaudio video
REVOLUTIONREVOLUTION
E
QUIPMENT
R
EVIEWS
Definitive Technology BP7000
SC
SuperTower Loudspeakers
“The BP7000s proved to be a tour de force
... they are ultimate floor-standing speakers
... a true masterpiece of audio engineering”
BByy AAnnddrreeww RRoobbiinnssoon
MMaarrcchh 2200007
IInnttrroodduuccttiioon
Definitive Technology has built one of the single most impressive
brands in the highly competitive world of loudspeakers. Definitive
has built a name wher
consumers demand with the likes of Bose, Boston Acoustics,
B&W, Paradigm, Klipsch and a handful of the other biggest
manufactur
distribution certainly have aided the company’s growth, it is more
the bang for the buck performance that keeps consumers asking
for them and dealers pushing. Whether you are looking for
wafer-thin speakers for your new 63-inch HDTV or you need
no-holds-barred audiophile floor-standing speakers, Definitive has
a solution for you. In the case of this review, the SuperTowers are
in the latter class — they are ultimate floor-standing speakers,
a statement without question in ter
The BP7000
of audiophiles’ most touted and coveted loudspeakers: Magnepan
3.6, Gallo Refer
My room prior to the BP7000
a revolving door of noncommittal relationships as I searched for
Miss Right Now
work cut out for them.
7
n
ers. While Definitive Technology’s ads and mighty
SCs arrived at my house right on the heels of some
ence, Mar
. Needless to say
n
e they are a “call brand” loudspeaker that
ms of sound as well as value.
tin Logan and even W
SC SuperTowers’ arrival was truly
, the SuperT
ilson Audio.
owers had their
Bipolar
“Compare the Definitive Technology
BP7000
SC loudspeakers with the best from
the world of ultra-high end and you might
find overall the Definitive speaker system
is the most well-rounded in a group that
includes speakers costing as much as a
new Prius.”
I unpacked the BP7000
for two people (or better yet, two installers), and sat them
haphazardly in the middle of my r
BP7000
they are quite large, measuring a little less than nine inches wide
SCs are truly epic in mor
SCs, which is without question a job
oom for a once-over. The
e ways than one. For star
ters,
Definitive Technology’s BP7000SC Bipolar
SuperTower Loudspeakers
by 16 inches deep and a towering 52-and-a-half inches high.
Visually, the BP7000
with their black piano gloss base and top plates and black fabric
sides. The BP7000
have a scale on hand to accurately measure the BP7000SCs’
true weight, I’d venture a guess and say they’re upwards of 150
pounds apiece. All of these figures add up to one gargantuan
loudspeaker. However, their price of $4,998 a pair is rather
modest in comparison to the competition, which can fairly be
priced as much as four to five times the retail price.
Behind the seams, the BP7000
with its high-mounted, dual six-and-a-half inch midrange drivers
SCs are Definitive through and through,
SCs are also quite heavy and, while I didn’t
SC has a true bi-polar design,
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and single one-inch aluminum dome tweeter mirrored on the
s
peaker’s backside. The BP7000
of its size and stature, with a stated efficiency of 92dB into a
r
ather benign eight-ohm load. Each of the BP7000
14-inch SuperCube
two 14-inch infrasonic radiators. The internal sub is powered by
an internal ***1800-watt*** Class D amplifier, which gives the
BP7000
Definitive Technology states that the single 14-inch sub inside
the BP7000
seven stand-alone SuperCube
statement is true, we’re talking about a copious amount of bass.
The subwoofer portion of the BP7000
speaker’s binding posts and large, rear-mounted volume pot or via
the LFE input. This allows you connectivity options you just don’t
get with even the highest-priced loudspeakers. However, due to
the presence of a powered subwoofer, the BP7000
plugged into a standard US outlet or power conditioner to take
advantage of the prodigious bass capabilities.
C
S
a stated frequency response of 11Hz–30kHz.
SC is capable of achieving depths equal to that of
®
long-throw powered subwoofer, coupled to
SC i
s fairly efficient for a speaker
SCs
feature a
®
subwoofers. If even half of that
SC can be controlled via the
SC must be
“The BP7000SCs are truly epic ... as quick
on their feet as Ali. They can float like a
butterfly and sting like a sledgehammer
to the skull.”
Set-up
After I took stock in all that the BP7000SCs had to offer, I began
the process of integrating them into my system. For starters,
I placed them in approximately the same place where the Yao
Ming-like Magnepan 3.6s had rested. This put the BP7000
roughly three feet from my front wall and two-and-a-half feet from
each of the side walls. To be fully forthright, most of my speakers
find themselves r
the best overall coherence and sound stage depth. However,
unlike the Maggies, the BP7000
considerable toe-in, with the main midrange drivers and tweeter
coming to a point virtually right at the listening position. There
was some minor tweaking her
I had achieved a suitable sound, at least throughout the midrange
and high frequencies, with little effort. I connected the bass or
SuperCube
LFE output using a splitter. However, after much experimentation,
I found I preferred to simply run the BP7000
through single and very sexy runs of Transparent Reference
speaker cable. This configuration allowed me to set my
processor’s speaker settings to Large and then dial in the sub’s
overall volume at the speaker itself. This configuration also came
in handy when I connect the BP7000
consisting of a Mark Levinson 433 amplifier and matching 326
preamp (reviews pending on both Mark Levinson components),
which doesn’t have a speaker setting and must run everything
oughly in this position in my room, as this yields
SCs did sound best with
e and ther
®
portion of the BP7000SCs to my Meridian G68’s
e but, for the most part,
SCs full range
SCs to my two-channel rig,
SCs
“The BP7000SCs continued to grace me
with magic”
full-range. I ended up setting the volume dials on each of the
speakers to roughly 10 o’ clock, with high noon signaling halfway.
That’s a scary thought, considering the amount of blissful bass
I experienced at such a low setting; needless to say, I didn’t
really scratch the surface of the BP7000
SCs’ sub-sonic output.
I must also point out that, for the course of this review,
D
efinitive Technology sent me a matching full-range powered
center, the L/C/R 3000, and a pair of bipolar surrounds, the
“ultimate sweetness ... delightfully rich ...
simply stunning”
BPVX/Ps. I should also mention that, should you invest in this
system, the entire system price for what I’ve just described will
run you roughly $7,500. Considering the price of most high-end
multi-channel speaker groupings, it’s an astonishingly low figure
for a full-range speaker system.
Movies And Television
I kicked things off with the Peter Malick Group, featuring the
ever-popular Norah Jones (Koch Records). This tremendous
recording features Jones’
trademark breathy vocals,
accompanied by the wellrecorded stylings of blues
guitarist Peter Malick. The
opening track, “New York
City,” features
a very articulate drum line
accompanied by a punchy
yet slow rolling bass guitar.
Through the BP7000
the bass lines were rendered
with excellent heft and impact while retaining all the necessary
speed and articulation found in all of the best acoustic recordings.
The kick drum has a thr
true full-range speaker to fully realize, which the BP7000
provided time and again. The kick drum was beautifully rendered
and on par with the best in ter
ee-dimensionality to it that you’ll need a
ms of br
eath, extension and weight.
SCs,
SCs
“It only gets better with more volume ... the
sonic characteristic was seamless, bowling
me over with a wave of sonic brilliance.”
One cannot fault the BP7000
being slow; in fact, they are among the most nimble I’ve heard in
recent memory. Moving up the spectrum, Norah’s vocals were as
pristine as ever. The BP7000
terms of air, extension and ultimate sweetness. I tend to shy away
from aluminum tweeters as, more often than not, they are brittle
and can become harsh at louder volumes. Well, the BP7000
tweeter doesn’t fall into this camp. It only gets better with more
volume. If I had to fault it, I’d say it doesn’t retain all of its magic
when played by at low levels usually reserved for background
music during cocktail parties. Then again, at those levels, you’re
not critically listening anyway, so there you go. Where the
BP7000
delightfully rich without becoming overtly bloated, a trait
beautifully illustrated throughout Norah’s vocals. The midrange
is warm and has a tinge of added weight to it, but the result
is fantastic when judged against the speaker’s other elements.
More importantly, for a speaker with so many drivers, the sonic
presentation is seamless. The BP7000
ways that defy their large stature, seemingly disappearing,
leaving only music and one hell of a center image behind. The
SCs really shine is throughout the midrange, which is
SCs’ large subwoofer drivers for
SC’s tweeter is nearly without rival in
SC’s
SCs can image in
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BP7000SCs’ soundstage is second to none. If given space, and
t
hey do need space, the BP7000
SCs
’ soundstage can and will
best my longstanding reference, the Magnepan 3.6s. Not only
d
id the BP7000
SCs
’ soundstage extend further and wider than
the 3.6s had, they had a firmer grip on the music even in the
furthest reaches of their capabilities than the 3.6s could ever
hope to achieve.
Moving onto the track “Deceptively Yours,” which is a bit more
up-tempo than the previous track, the BP7000
SCs continued to
grace me with magic. The opening drum riff that heralds Norah’s
vocals was impressive. It’s not a bombastic fill, but it does burst
onto the scene about 10 seconds into the track and sets the tempo
for what’s to come. Once again, the subs proved most impressive,
giving the entire track a fullness you’d never know you were
missing until you incorporated subwoofers properly into your
system. The entire song had an extra injection of funk because
of the staggering bass performance of the BP7000
SCs. I cranked
the volume to the edge of my listening envelope for the guitar
solo and found I could actually take it a little further, for the
BP7000
SCs never became harsh or fatiguing. The bluesy guitar
riff was richly and rightly detailed with the appropriate amount of
warmth and subtle sonic twang that the BP7000
SCs just had a ball
swanking out. It really was kind of cool and a bit refreshing, for
here I was basking in the glory of a speaker system that seemingly
gets it for the cost you’d expect to pay in tax alone for the
competition. And they do bass. Go figure.
“Definitive Technology has built one of the
single most impressive brands in the highly
competitive world of loudspeakers”
I switched gears a bit and
o
pted for a recent Pearl Jam
release,
o
Riot Act (Epic). The
pening to the track “I Am
Mine” was rife with detail.
The cymbals don’t sparkle
the way some recordings do,
but they were dead on for what
they were. You could tell the
cymbals were being beaten,
for the shimmer was replaced
with a hint of flat slap that
the tweeter of the BP7000
SCs
reproduced beautifully. The
drums once again reigned supreme, lending a truer sense of
weight and scale to the somewhat tamer sound of today’s mature
Pearl Jam. Eddie Vedder’s vocals were dead center in the
soundstage and retained all the grit and rawness a decade of
screaming would hope to produce, yet there was a slightly greater
palpability to it all through the BP7000
SCs’ warmer midrange.
The midrange characteristic never detracted from the tonality or,
I should say, tone and message of the song itself.
Moving onto the track “You Are,” the opening guitars were raw
and loaded with energy. Through the BP7000
SCs, the guitars were
sure-footed and full-bodied, never becoming overtly harsh or
troublesome to the rest of the musical spectrum. Dynamically,
the BP7000
SCs proved to be a tour de force. “You Are” features
several abrupt changes in tempo, usually followed by abrupt stops
altogether. Well, for such a large and seemingly menacing speaker
with its powered woofers, the BP7000
feet as Ali. They can float like a butter
SCs are as quick on their
fly and sting like a
sledgehammer to the skull. As unpleasant as that may sound to
some, trust me, you’ll get in line to experience it again and again.
All and all, be it r
ock and r
oll or ensemble jazz, the BP7000
SCs
seemingly have no prejudices, they’re in the business of making
music ... and business is good. Real good.
Definitive Technology’s Complete BP7000SC Bipolar
SuperTower Home Theater System with the
C/L/R 3000 and a pair of BPVX/Ps.
“Dynamically, the BP7000SCs seemingly
have no rivals, as they are able to turn on a
dime and go from zero to everything in the
blink of an eye”
For their next trick, I fed the
BP7000SCs some traditional DVD fare
by way of the Pixar juggernaut Finding
Nemo (Disney). Skipping ahead to the
sea turtle scenes, the BP7000SCs, with
some help from the matching center
and surrounds, proved as fun as they
were articulate. For starters, the sound
designers who recreated the ocean for
an all-virtual environment, which is
no easy task, were not robbed of their
efforts one iota by the BP7000
output. The sonic landscape was
immense, packing my room with all the subtlety that the ocean
had to offer and more, no doubt helped by the BP7000
design. Even the most subtle sonic cues, such as the characters
swimming against an oceanic current, were easily heard and
discerned from the film’s other elements. The off-screen dialogue
SCs’
SC’s bipolar
Page 4
“the bass performance was simply epic”
was rendered through the BP7000SCs with the same importance
a
nd presence as if it was mixed for the center channel. The
BP7000
SCs allow for every minute detail to come to life without
causing undue impact to the rest of the audio canvas. Across
all three front channels, the sonic characteristic was seamless,
bowling me over with a wave of sonic brilliance. When the scene
picks up and the score kicks in the rumbling drums, the surferesque musical track was as home with the BP7000
C
S
s as I am
in my own bed. The bass was, once again, simply stunning.
No scene illustrates this more than when the brace-faced villain
Darla thumps on the glass of the dentist’s aquarium. The bass
was so tremendous that it moved my chunky wooden coffee table
across the floor of my theater, and did so without distortion or
bloat. Keep in mind that I had the subs dialed in to a third of
their total output. So, unless your theater is the size of, say
Island, you’re covered. Dynamically, the BP7000
SCs seemingly
, Rhode
have no rivals, as they are able to turn on a dime and go from zero
to everything in the blink of an eye.
“They do equal justice to music and movies
and everything else in between”
Downside
I find it rationally hard to fault the Definitive Technology
P7000
SCs
for anything. Frankly, past complaints about their size
B
and look I feel are a bit unfounded, for these are big speakers in
the business of producing big sound. What else can you expect?
Sure, BP7000
SCs need a bit of breathing room and a nearby
power outlet or two, but I have to imagine that those of you smart
enough to welcome the BP7000
SCs into your home are also savvy
enough to know how to call an electrician to move a socket or two.
These speakers are heavy and, because they are physically
thinner than most speakers in their class, are prone to tipping.
However, the included carpet spikes really go a long way toward
solving this problem.
“With a big yet detailed sound, it’s just hard
to beat such a rocking loudspeaker
system ... simply amazing”
Quite honestly, the biggest issue I had with the BP7000
their piano gloss end caps, which not only showed fingerprints
like nobody’s business, but were harder to keep clean and dustfree than any speaker I’ve ever encountered. I had my Swiffer on
permanent standby throughout the duration of the review.
SCs was
To go over the top with the
BP7000
SCs, I spun up the Tom
Cruise and Steven Spielberg hit
War of the Worlds (Paramount
Home Entertainment). I skipped
ahead to the scene where the
aliens emerge from the city streets
and begin to wreak havoc on the
Boston common folk. Again, the
bass took center stage. However
the BP7000
SCs’ tweeters were
,
not to be outdone. Through lesser
speakers, the aliens’ ray guns
sizzle with little fanfare, as they
turn the public into ashtray fodder.
With the BP7000
added sense of sinister power
SCs in my theater, the laser-like ray had an
, as you could hear the subtlest
sounds of cooking through the tweeters. When the bodies do
finally go “poof,” the scattering of their ashes is much more
deliberate and textur
ed thr
SCs than thr
ough
ough the BP7000
other speakers, which pass their ashes more or less like noise
then human matter. The added midrange warmth of the
BP7000
SCs during these moments pr
ovided a gr
eater sense
of air and weight to the vaporized bodies as the wind caught
the remains and tossed them about downtown. The shattering
glass as the aliens mow thr
the BP7000
SCs’ ability to resolve macro detail was more than
ough town was amazingly nimble and
apparent, as I could audibly track seemingly every shard’s journey
to the ground. Again, the bass per
regardless of what was happening on the screen. The BP7000
formance was simply epic,
SCs
produce the type of sound you need in your room if you’re using
a projection-based system, for anything less will be anemic at
best and simply won’t do if your screen is pushing upwards of
92 inches diagonally.
Conclusion
The Definitive Technology BP7000SC SuperTowers, with
a retail price just shy of five grand, are as close to a true
masterpiece of audio engineering as anything I’ve encountered
in all my years in audio. They do equal justice to music and
movies and everything else in between. No longer does the
rationale of compromise need to enter the audio debate.
Compar
with the best fr
overall the Definitive speaker system is the most well-r
a gr
With a big yet detailed sound, it’s just hard to beat such a rocking
loudspeaker system. At their price, the Defi
BP7000
ref
manufacturer: Definitive Technology
address: 11433 Cronridge Drive
phone: (410) 363-7148
website: http://www.definitivetech.com
e the Definitive Technology BP7000
om the world of ultra-high end and you might fi
SC loudspeakers
nd
ounded in
oup that includes speakers costing as much as a new Prius.
nitive Technology
SCs are simply amazing.
erence
The Peter Malick Group –
•
featuring Nora Jones (CD)
• Pearl Jam – Riot Act (CD)
•
Finding Nemo (DVD)
• War of The Worlds (DVD)
Owings Mills,
MD 21117
audiovideorevolution.com, March 2007.
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