Def Tech StudioMonitor 65 before and after break-in period

[huggy55]

I have to tell you all that I came here to this forum because I just bought the Def Tech Studio Monitor 65s along with a Marantz HD-AMP1. I was curious about how long it would take to break in these speakers. I can hardly imagine them sounding any better than they do out of the box with this particular DAC-AMP. The more I turn them up the better they sound. I play nothing but 48khz flac for my music. I use them just in stereo. I think I need a much larger room to really appreciate what they can do. They work well with the TV for high definition Blu-ray ripped movies. Avatar in a 24gig Bluray rip is really out of this world. They sound like huge speakers. I couldn't be happier.

 

[Hetfield]

That really is the most important part. That you're happy with them. Like I said, I had the 55's and was pretty happy with them. I know the 65's are a nice step up. I'll bet your system sounds great.

FWIW I swear my Ultras sound better now than when I first got them.

Yeah I don't think you can go wrong with either speaker to be honest. I think we chose well. I said before that I wish I had tried 5 ultra bookshelf speakers first. Now I'm obsessed with PSA speakers, very much actually. That is the route I'd like to go in the future, also been looking at Ascend acoustics too. That's for the future though, can't do didley right now.
By the way the Def Tech Studio monitor line is being replaced this fall. Have to see what they come up with. Apparently they have been working on these new bookshelf speakers for quite a while.

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[Hetfield]

I have to tell you all that I came here to this forum because I just bought the Def Tech Studio Monitor 65s along with a Marantz HD-AMP1. I was curious about how long it would take to break in these speakers. I can hardly imagine them sounding any better than they do out of the box with this particular DAC-AMP. The more I turn them up the better they sound. I play nothing but 48khz flac for my music. I use them just in stereo. I think I need a much larger room to really appreciate what they can do. They work well with the TV for high definition Blu-ray ripped movies. Avatar in a 24gig Bluray rip is really out of this world. They sound like huge speakers. I couldn't be happier.

It really is a great line from Def Tech. They did a great job designing them. They are being replaced this fall with new bookshelf speakers. Fingers crossed they will be as good or better than this line. We'll see. I listen to a good amount of 5.1 music and its fantastic on these speakers. The SM 65's are really, really impressive but the SM 55 surrounds are no slouch.

 

[shadyJ]

Yeah I don't think you can go wrong with either speaker to be honest. I think we chose well. I said before that I wish I had tried 5 ultra bookshelf speakers first. Now I'm obsessed with PSA speakers, very much actually. That is the route I'd like to go in the future, also been looking at Ascend acoustics too. That's for the future though, can't do didley right now.
By the way the Def Tech Studio monitor line is being replaced this fall. Have to see what they come up with. Apparently they have been working on these new bookshelf speakers for quite a while.

Don't be obsessed with the PSA speakers, seriously. Some people will inevitably start to rip on me here saying 'shady has a grudge against PSA,' but I was at a GTG with a bunch of other guys, we were comparing various high-sensitivity speakers, one of which was the MT110. The PSA speakers were totally underwhelming, just got blown away by even the Behringer 215XL speakers which were half the price. It wasn't just me who thought so, there were about 20 other guys there and that view was pretty much the consensus.

By the way, there is a chance that there will be a review on some new Deftechs sometime this fall, but nothing is set in stone at the moment.

 

[Hetfield]

Don't be obsessed with the PSA speakers, seriously. Some people will inevitably start to rip on me here saying 'shady has a grudge against PSA,' but I was at a GTG with a bunch of other guys, we were comparing various high-sensitivity speakers, one of which was the MT110. The PSA speakers were totally underwhelming, just got blown away by even the Behringer 215XL speakers which were half the price. It wasn't just me who thought so, there were about 20 other guys there and that view was pretty much the consensus.

By the way, there is a chance that there will be a review on some new Deftechs sometime this fall, but nothing is set in stone at the moment.

Wow that is the first non glowing thing I ever read about PSA. I'm looking closely at Ascend also, I'd like to hear that RAAL Ribbon tweeter. Hmm review on new Def techs, that sounds awesome.

 

[shadyJ]

Wow that is the first non glowing thing I ever read about PSA. I'm looking closely at Ascend also, I'd like to hear that RAAL Ribbon tweeter. Hmm review on new Def techs, that sounds awesome.

PSA uses cheap PA drivers and shoves them into a cabinet that pretends they are home audio speakers. Also PSA's supporters can be fanatical. Say something other the highest praises about their products and then be ready for an avalanche of bile. In fact, I have to wonder how many of them I have just triggered with the above statements. By all means, go out and audition some of their products if you have a chance- just don't drink the Kool-aid.

A much better execution of high-output home audio speaker would be the JTR Single 8, except JTR is using a MUCH higher-end driver. If you are interested in high-output speakers, one speaker that might be a real hidden gem is the QSC K series II. I do want to get my hands on some for testing. Maybe my local Guitar Center will let me barrow some return stock or something. I think those have tremendous potential for home theater applications as a very high bang for the buck solution. If you have a pro-audio store around you with these setup, go and give them a listen. Tell the salesman to run them in monitor mode.

Regarding RAAL tweeters, they are nice on the occasions that I have heard them, but I wouldn't get hung up on any one driver. I have heard lots of great tweeters, dome, AMT, ribbon, compression, ring-radiator, electrostatic, etc. Actual measurements are going to tell you what these speakers sound like much more than a parts list.

 

[zieglj01]

PSA uses cheap PA drivers and shoves them into a cabinet that pretends they are home audio speakers. Also PSA's supporters can be fanatical. Say something other the highest praises about their products and then be ready for an avalanche of bile. In fact, I have to wonder how many of them I have just triggered with the above statements. By all means, go out and audition some of their products if you have a chance- just don't drink the Kool-aid.

Are they like more directional sounding with no real soundstage?

 

[zieglj01]

FWIW I swear my Ultras sound better now than when I first got them.

Maybe they are getting use to you.

 

[shadyJ]

Are they like more directional sounding with no real soundstage?

Compared to the other speakers, when we switched to the PSA speakers it was as if the soundstage collapsed. To be fair, we did not give them a lot of time, but everyone was so disappointed that we just decided to move on to the next speaker. By the way, I did not say anything to anyone to try to sway opinion, and I think few people who were in attendance at that time were aware of my decidedly acrimonious history with PSA.

 

[Tom V.]

Hi all,

For those interested in our speakers and how they sound here are a few links that should be interesting.

http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/speaker-subwoofer-reviews/113313-power-sound-audio-mtm-210-speaker-review.html

Please note the extraordinary amount of objective performance verification in the above review. It's funny how a measurement microphone cannot be "banned" for skewing reality

Here is another very good GTG where they attempted "blind" listening sessions to minimize bias. Our speakers did very well overall scoring very high, even against competition costing much more. But please don't take my word for it---take the time and read through as many comments as possible.

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/89-speakers/2141266-boston-gtg-jtr-psa-reaction-audio-1099-s-comparison.html

Another link that may be of interest.

http://hometheaterreview.com/power-sound-audio-mtm-210t-speakers-reviewed/

And, of course, anyone can goto our "speaker" thread at AVS and read the impressions of literally hundreds of customers.


If a speaker sound-field or image suddenly "collapses" it can be as simple as the speakers being wired out of phase. Now, I certainly cannot think of anyone who would ever want that to occur at a GTG they attended.. But no speaker will ever sound best to everyone of course.

Tom V.
Power Sound Audio

 

[shadyJ]

Lol, nice try, but I was not involved in hooking up the speakers, and a half dozen guys can attest to that. The speakers were in phase. Having out-of-phase sound in stereo doesn't really lead to a shrunken soundstage, in fact, quite the opposite; it leads to a 'headphone effect' that has an unnaturally wide soundstage, and that can be heard here in the guitar phase samples.

 

[Hetfield]

Oh good I'm glad you found this thread Tom and responded. I never heard a bad word about your speakers so this is new to me. I'm glad you could respond directly.

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[Darenwh]

It's a good thing to be happy with your selections! Just don't go and listen to better stuff

ps Or this could happen
View attachment 20041

Carefull, that's not a rabbit hole, it's a money pit...

 

[slipperybidness]

It really is a great line from Def Tech. They did a great job designing them. They are being replaced this fall with new bookshelf speakers. Fingers crossed they will be as good or better than this line. We'll see. I listen to a good amount of 5.1 music and its fantastic on these speakers. The SM 65's are really, really impressive but the SM 55 surrounds are no slouch.

This line of DT SMs are fairly new, already discontinuing them? Good time for a deal!

I'm pretty happy with my DT SM350, bought then for $200 from NewEgg several years ago.

Granted, these are probably the worst speakers in my collection from an objective viewpoint. I really do like them with Jazz recordings more than most other music genres. And, they sound even better when paired with my Dynaco ST70 tube amp.

For the day that I finally have the room to do 5 channel HT right, these DT SM350 will likely become the surrounds for my GE T2 mains--I suspect that these will be a close enough match for surrounds, considering the history of each brand.

 

[Hetfield]

This line of DT SMs are fairly new, already discontinuing them? Good time for a deal!

I'm pretty happy with my DT SM350, bought then for $200 from NewEgg several years ago.

Granted, these are probably the worst speakers in my collection from an objective viewpoint. I really do like them with Jazz recordings more than most other music genres. And, they sound even better when paired with my Dynaco ST70 tube amp.

For the day that I finally have the room to do 5 channel HT right, these DT SM350 will likely become the surrounds for my GE T2 mains--I suspect that these will be a close enough match for surrounds, considering the history of each brand.

Yeah it surprised me too that they are working on new bookshelf speakers.

 

[Pogre]

This line of DT SMs are fairly new, already discontinuing them? Good time for a deal!

I'm pretty happy with my DT SM350, bought then for $200 from NewEgg several years ago.

Granted, these are probably the worst speakers in my collection from an objective viewpoint. I really do like them with Jazz recordings more than most other music genres. And, they sound even better when paired with my Dynaco ST70 tube amp.

For the day that I finally have the room to do 5 channel HT right, these DT SM350 will likely become the surrounds for my GE T2 mains--I suspect that these will be a close enough match for surrounds, considering the history of each brand.

I was thinking the same thing. The current batch is still fairly new. I'm curious to see what they're working on now. Deftech is capable of making good speakers. I like the current SM line. I have a pair of SM55's still and the 65's are pretty legit. I've never heard anything from the older series, but I'm sure they're good too. Not as purty tho. I'm not big on the sock.

 

[Hetfield]

I was thinking the same thing. The current batch is still fairly new. I'm curious to see what they're working on now. Deftech is capable of making good speakers. I like the current SM line. I have a pair of SM55's still and the 65's are pretty legit. I've never heard anything from the older series, but I'm sure they're good too. Not as purty tho. I'm not big on the sock.

Yeah that sock, why?

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[Hetfield]

I was thinking the same thing. The current batch is still fairly new. I'm curious to see what they're working on now. Deftech is capable of making good speakers. I like the current SM line. I have a pair of SM55's still and the 65's are pretty legit. I've never heard anything from the older series, but I'm sure they're good too. Not as purty tho. I'm not big on the sock.

Also i agree they are capable, but philosophy may have changed when Sandy left. I'm looking at a bunch of different speakers now. Ascend acoustics and PSA are two.

 

[shadyJ]

Also i agree they are capable, but philosophy may have changed when Sandy left. I'm looking at a bunch of different speakers now. Ascend acoustics and PSA are two.

I wouldn't write off Deftech just because Sandy Gross is no longer there. They still have capable engineers.

Ascend and PSA are very different design philosophies, I don't know how you are deciding between those two. Ascend will be a highly-linear, wide-dispersion design where PSA will be a high-output, narrow dispersion speaker. These are very different speakers. If you want extremely fine linearity and also a very wide dynamic range, look at the JBL LSR6332. It has a wide dispersion and extremely flat response like the Ascend speakers, but also the big dynamic range of something like PSA. At 1500 each, they are not cheap, but that is an endgame speaker, THX pm3 certified, meaning they are literally a reference speaker, not 'reference' as a marketing term. They are not the prettiest speaker, but they are much higher performers than speakers that are far FAR more expensive. Also check out the Pi Three speakers, very linear and extremely powerful, and also a very easy load on any amplifier.

 

[Hetfield]

I wouldn't write off Deftech just because Sandy Gross is no longer there. They still have capable engineers.

Ascend and PSA are very different design philosophies, I don't know how you are deciding between those two. Ascend will be a highly-linear, wide-dispersion design where PSA will be a high-output, narrow dispersion speaker. These are very different speakers. If you want extremely fine linearity and also a very wide dynamic range, look at the JBL LSR6332. It has a wide dispersion and extremely flat response like the Ascend speakers, but also the big dynamic range of something like PSA. At 1500 each, they are not cheap, but that is an endgame speaker, THX pm3 certified, meaning they are literally a reference speaker, not 'reference' as a marketing term. They are not the prettiest speaker, but they are much higher performers than speakers that are far FAR more expensive. Also check out the Pi Three speakers, very linear and extremely powerful, and also a very easy load on any amplifier.

Just looking at different brands, smaller companies, more audiophile speakers. Kinda looking to take a big leap up, not a small one and it will be expensive so I'm really, really doing a lot of research. I will annoy everyone and all the companies involved by the end.
I keep hearing about JBL but I kinda think of them as mass purduced, get out there quickly and sell a ton for big profits. Plus am I going up the wrong JBL website because I don't see those speakers that you mentioned and others mention. I must be going to the wrong site because I only see very inexpensive JBL speakers.
Ascend acoustics has really caught my eye now. I'm looking for speakers that are incredibly detailed, dynamic and accurate. Something when you hear it you can't deny how awesome it sounds. The Sierra 1s and the new Luna's would it send for that bill.
As for Def Tech I'm starting to think of them as I do JBL. Just get out there quick, in quantity and reap the profits. Look at the bipolar wedge speakers that used to build, the BPVX and BPVX/P as compared to the SR9040 and 80. That is what I'm worried about with them.
That being said I'm listening to the SM65 and SM55 I have now and it's wholly cow awesome. It really, really is. I'm just afraid that might be the last of the really high quality speakers they produce. I hope and just may be wrong.

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