StudioMonitor 55?

[Impulse]

Has anyone heard these speakers? If so any opinions on how they sound for music in a near field setup? Thanks!

 

[Impulse]

I have mistyped them. they are StudioMonitor55s*

and can be found here:

DEFINITIVE TECHNOLOGY STUDIO MONITOR 55 (PR) at Music Direct

anyone?

 

[jcl]

I haven't heard the new line but the previous generation were good for the price.

Here's a review of them Definitive Technology StudioMonitor 55 Speaker System | Home Theater

BTW Electronics Expo is having a sale according to Techbargains. Use coupon "TECHBARGAINS2012" and the SM55s are 169/ea, the SM65's are $255 /ea.

 

[DefTech Sr Tech]

My experience at Def Tech with StudioMonitor 55

Hi Impulse,

I saw your post and thought I could supply a bit of timely information. I am an employee of Definitive Technology for nearly five years, the Sr Customer Service Tech, so I am well versed and intimately familiar with the product in question. And while there is no substitute for a good demo at your local dealer, perhaps my experience with this speaker will be helpful.

For about eight months or so I used StudioMonitor 55 for near field listening and enjoyed them immensely. I have also had extensive opportunity to sample the previous generation, the SM350/450. Overall I find the StudioMonitor 55 to be the most natural and satisfying sounding speaker I have heard anywhere near the price point.

I find the tweeter to strike the perfect balance of detail and smooth without a trace of edge. The midrange is crazy detailed and ultralow noise thanks to the double surround. The bottom end is full but taut. For music there was plenty of bass, especially for a new field set up; for a serious home theater rig a separate subwoofer would be recommended. Set up for near field is a bit unusual; more on that in a moment.

I was powering them with the venerable NAD 3020A (~30 wpc) via modest non branded 14 gauge speaker cable. The source was a Sony VIAO laptop as music server running JRIver on Windows 7. The DACs were either a Super Pop Pulse DAC707 or a Grant Fidelity Tube DAC 11 with NOS Bugle Boy tubes. A powerful HiFi for any application, let alone for a desktop in a call center. The rig sounded sweet, even though during the day I could only use it for news at a moderately low volume. Still those NPR pledge drives never sounded so realistic or compelling (no I did not pledge in spite of the increased fidelity of their requests). Unfortunately I could only really open it up once a day after 6 when the office empties, at which point I am well beyond ready to go home and sample music on my main rig.

StudioMonitor 55 have a slightly unusual set up when used as a near field speaker. Specifically if you toe them so they are facing you directly (ie you are perfectly on axis with the tweeters) then you are unable to hear enough of the center to low midrange. Thus for best results in a near field arrangement you will want to point the speakers away from each other. I found that toeing them out a bit compensated completely for this psycho acoustic phenomenon and left me with a nicely resolved stereo image floating, with a palpable sense of presence, halfway between the two speakers. Of course some may consider it a bit odd looking; for me…well let’s just say I place a much higher value on sonics than on aesthetics.

They also need a bit of break in before they will fully mellow and blossom.

Hope this helps.
Best regards,
Adam

 

[Impulse]

Thank you both for the response!
I will certainly check out that sale!

Thanks for the in depth response DefTech.
What really stuck out to me was the passive radiator on a bookshelf. I find lots of even very expensive bookshelves lack a lower end, which to me really sucks because i feel like the music loses a lot of depth.

Not only that but I've heard some people prefer Def Tech to B&W 802's in a music setup which really surprises me.

I will certainly try them out and post a review of them on here if i get a chance, seeing as how ive found maybe 2 or 3 reviews anywhere on them.

Thanks a lot!

I plan to run them With an Outlaw Audio 950 Preamp, a Carver TFM25 250 wpc amp, and an AudioEngine D1 DAC. Some standard cables for now until i get some money for better ones. Should be decent?

 

[DefTech Sr Tech]

Nice

It's my pleasure. Thank you for considering Definitive Technology for your HiFi.

My best guess is that it will be pretty sweet sounding. I would not be any more definitive (pun intended I guess) beyond that as I have no direct experience with any of the components in your mix. However I am familiar with them all by reputation and expect you should get a great result.

Regarding full performance, when the speakers first ship they are not fully broken in, which is to say there are two major factors that change after the speakers have been played for a bit.

First the midrange and passive radiator (and to a lesser extent the tweeter) are not quite in their final position in the cabinet. Of course you can’t visually see this phenomena; you would need a micrometer to tell the difference. However your ears can hear it!

The second reason break in improves sound relates to the initial stiffness of the “spider”, another name for the speakers suspension. The spider is responsible for helping a driver’s cone return to its initial neutral position. When the spider is still stiff the cone cannot move as far during compression (outward movement) and rarefaction (inward movement), leading to a stiff or wooden sounding midrange. There is a neat moving diagram showing a cut away view of a speaker in motion on howstuffworks dot com. It may help you visualize my description.

For break in, 30-40 hours at a moderate to moderately loud volume should do the job. Generally break in will occur through normal usage over the first week or so, expect the greatest change in perecieved sound to be during these first few hours of playback.

If you want to dedicate a time and space to break them in more quickly, and in one fell swoop, here at Definitive Technology we will find the most effective way to break in a new pair of speakers starts Friday just before we close down the office. We connect the speakers via speaker wire, one with reverse polarity and one with regular polarity, and face them towards each other.

We play the desired source material (something dynamic with a decent amount of bass) and turn the volume up to a moderately loud level. Then we go home, and Monday morning when we open back up the office we consider the speaker to have been fully broken in.

If you would like us to help you find a local demonstration please feel free to PM me...I'm not sure where in the nation you are located but with a bit of luck we may be able to find this model in a showroom near you. There is truly no substitute for direct personal experience, especially with something as subjective as the way we perceive sound.
Best,
Adam

 

[Impulse]

Well i just ordered them today from the store and hopefully will sound great! i will do the break in myself as it is almost half the fun
thank you for the information though, i will certainly be looking forward to doing more business with definitive technology if you customer support is always this great!

Next up on my list should be the supercube sub..any words to say on that?

 

[dgkirkman]

Hi, u cant go wrong with deftech. im runnin bp8b for the front clr 2002 for center studio moniter 350 for sides n bp1.2x for rear. youl like em

 

[Impulse]

Hi, so just got the monitors today.
First thing i noticed is the midrange. Holy hell.
These speakers are great but it seems that the midrange often times overtakes the higher end. Maybe its just me, but sometimes i have hard times hearing voices on them. Maybe break them in more? Its been about 3 hours now.

 

[DefTech Sr Tech]

Definitive Technology StudioMonitor 55

Congratulations on your new speakers! May they bring you years of enjoyment.

The StudioMonitor 55 midrange is one of the great aspects of the speaker's performance. Definitely give the speaker 30 – 40 hours of play time at a moderate level before you make your final decision. Keep your eye on your return privileges though…break-in is a real and measurable phenomena; however, anyone who tells you their product cannot be fully broken-in until after the return period is selling snake oil. ;-)

A few other considerations for you…it is also important to make sure you are getting a signal into both the bottom set of binding posts as well as the top set. This can generally most easily be accomplished using the brass straps that come included with the speaker. Alternately you can bi-wire the speaker…either method is fine as long as you get signal into both top and bottom sets of binding posts.

Finally the positioning of the speakers will play a substantial role in your perception of the sound. If you are using these for a desktop nearfield hifi, and you have them toe-ed out (facing somewhat away from each other), try shifting the angle of toe in so they are more directly facing you. The more you swing the speakers over toward your head the more treble you will hear. You will have to strike a balance between too much direct sound from a close range and not enough direct sound from off axis. Also remember that there are other factors contributing to the end result (referring here back to break-in).

As for the SuperCube, I would want some more information before I made a recommendation…will the sub be geared for use with music or movies? How loud do you tend to enjoy the system? How large is the room the subwoofer will be in? Will the subwoofer be used in the same system as the StudioMonitor?

Best regards,
Adam

 

[Impulse]

Thanks for the reply!

So far its been 6 days, and ive been playing them for a good 15 hours or so.

Ive noticed the midrange opened up a bit more, but what im also noticing is the treble seems a tad weak. I say this because my old monitors had very bad mids but a crisp tweeter.

I use these fellas for music only. They are great for vocals but sometimes i feel it is just way too muddy, could be my room though..

On high quality flac and CDs they sound beautiful. As a matter of fact, I dont think ive ever heard a pair of boomshelves sound so nice with my rock collection. Same with instrumentals. I have toed them in and they do have a better higher end which i like.
My only concern right now is trying to get them to "open up" a bit more... They just sound so very focused. Could this be a break in thing?

As for the sub, music mostly. Room is small, maybe 16x12

Heres the setup for suggestions:
http://imgur.com/a/cflTg