$3500 System Recommendation

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Yes, music is important as well.

I like the idea of not having a sub.

So the SM350 would be the center channel as well as the surround speakers?

Thanks for the help!

Yes. The SM350 would be used as the C, SL, & SR. I emailed Def Tech regarding the frequency response of the SM350 +/- 3dB. They usually email me back within 24hrs.

Some people actually prefer using 5 identical speakers: L/R/C/SL/SR.

If I had the budget, I would get 3 more BP7000SCs so that I would have 5 identical BP7000SCs. Yes, that would be 200% overkill. That would be having five 53" tall speakers + five 1800-watts 14" subwoofers!

Some people also believe that center speakers are best stand up vertically. That makes sense to me because all the other speakers stand up vertically, why not the center?

Let me tell you. My first sytem was the NHT SuperZero bookshelf speakers + SW2P powered subwoofer. They sounded pretty good to me. At first, I was really into music. But the NHT system was not GREAT. The subwoofer was good & powerful, but the bass was not very tight. So I slowly loss interest in music! Eventually, I was 100% into movies and 0% into music.

But my DefTech BP7000SC changed all that. Now I love 2-channel stereo music. Now I am 50/50 music/movies. Sometimes I watch an NFL game w/ the TV sound off while I listen to 2-channel music thru my BP7000SCs.

A lot of good receivers (including Onkyo) have a "pure direct" stereo mode, which bypass most of the circuitry & BASS/SUBWOOFER management. This is for cleaner sound. Less interference. More pure. But no bass management is a big problem when you REQUIRE an EXTERNAL subwoofer.

If you look at the super expensive preamp-processors, like the $24,000 Mark Levinson, you will see very little features. You will NOT see any bass management. Why? I think it's because less processing = purer, cleaner sound. Besides, if you can afford a Mark Levinson, you can affford speakers that can handle FULL range---meaning it has an internal powered subwoofer!

If you think having one subwoofer is good, having TWO subwoofers is GREAT.

Anyway, like everyone has said, it is extremely important to audition the speakers.
When I first went to audition my DefTech speakers, they did not even have the BP7000SC. They had the BP7001SC (one notch lower). They used a Yamaha receiver. The sound was not very impressive in the store. I got the BP7000SC in my home for audition the first time. Initially I had the speakers 1 ft from the wall & the active subwoofers facing the walls. It sounded terrible. So I moved the speakers about 3 ft from the walls and faced the active subwoofers towards each other. Then they sounded GREAT.

Speaker placement is very important. That is why audition is a must. You don't know how speakers will interact with your room!

 

[fish4life]

I went to audition the Def Techs at Ultimate Electronics today at lunch. They sounded awesome.....The 350's are discontinued so they are not availalbe unless I hunt them down. So instead I looked at the CLR 2002 for the center at $499 and the surround UIW BP/A at $499 a pair.

They discounted the package 12% so I'm at $1932 for the speakers.

Are these surround and center speakers comparable to the 350's?

Is this package at this price a good buy? Or should I look at others?

 

[GlocksRock]

Check audiogon.com and videogon.com for used def techs, that's where I got my BP1.2x's and my CLR2002, and both were in mint condition, and I save a ton of money over buying them new. The full range towers are also very good, a buddy of mine has an older pair of BP2004 towers with the built in subs, and they sound great.

All Def Tech speakers are voice matched, so you can go with any series and match them up with any other of their lines and still be ok.

I would also suggest not using the XBOX 360 add on HD-DVD drive, since I've read not so favorable reviews on it, and it can't decode any audio formats, so you will be stuck with only regular dolby digital and dts. Since HD-DVD players are getting less expensive, it would be worth your while to get a stand alone player. Amazon sells them for good discounts, so keep an eye there.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I went to audition the Def Techs at Ultimate Electronics today at lunch. They sounded awesome.....The 350's are discontinued so they are not availalbe unless I hunt them down. So instead I looked at the CLR 2002 for the center at $499 and the surround UIW BP/A at $499 a pair.

They discounted the package 12% so I'm at $1932 for the speakers.

Are these surround and center speakers comparable to the 350's?

Is this package at this price a good buy? Or should I look at others?

The CLR2002 is okay, but the CLR2300 is MUCH BETTER than the SM350! It has a built-in 150-watts RMS subwoofer!!! If you get THREE CLR2300 & 2 BP7006, you will have 5 subwoofers!!!

Another option:
BP7006 (L/R): 1" tweeter, 4-1/2" midrange/upper bass, 8" 300-watts RMS Active subwoofer
CLR2300 (C): 1" tweeter, 4-1/2" midrange/bass, 8" 150-watts RMS Active subwoofer
ProMonitor 800: 1" tweeter, 4-1/2" midrange/bass, 4-1/2" passive Low Frequency radiator

Tell Ultimate Electronics that Digitalcraze can sell you the BP7006 for $850/pr, CLR2300 for $575 ea, PM800 for $200/pr for a TOTAL of $1,625.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I went to audition the Def Techs at Ultimate Electronics today at lunch. They sounded awesome.....

What did I tell you! My DefTechs make listening to music exciting again. Even plain DD & DTS sound GREAT in movies.

Even classical music sound great and exciting. Heck, practically all music sound exciting through my DefTechs. My wife listens to some cheesy music like Britney Speakers, etc. But thru my DefTechs, it actually sounds great. Don't know how, but true.

Get the Onkyo, DefTech, & Blue Jeans Cable.

 

[fish4life]

Yeah the guy at Ultimate was putting the hard close on me. "what can i do to get you to commit to these speaker today".......

I know he wasnt far off on the speakers but check these prices out for Monster cable:

6' HDMI $99
6' Component $89
6' Optical $79
100' 12 guage speaker wire $100

Monster Line Conditioner Surge protector $199

I checked ebay and I can get that stuff for less than half.

 

[fish4life]

The CLR2002 is okay, but the CLR2300 is MUCH BETTER than the SM350! It has a built-in 150-watts RMS subwoofer!!! If you get THREE CLR2300 & 2 BP7006, you will have 5 subwoofers!!!

Another option:
BP7006 (L/R): 1" tweeter, 4-1/2" midrange/upper bass, 8" 300-watts RMS Active subwoofer
CLR2300 (C): 1" tweeter, 4-1/2" midrange/bass, 8" 150-watts RMS Active subwoofer
ProMonitor 800: 1" tweeter, 4-1/2" midrange/bass, 4-1/2" passive Low Frequency radiator

Tell Ultimate Electronics that Digitalcraze can sell you the BP7006 for $850/pr, CLR2300 for $575 ea, PM800 for $200/pr for a TOTAL of $1,625.

You like the Pro Monitors better than the Bipolar surrounds?

 

[jonnythan]

Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa.

Don't buy Monster cables!

Even at half price, you're spending WAY too much money.

Go to Monoprice.com. Get your 6' HDMI cable for $5, 6' component cables for $5, 6' optical cable for $3, and 100' of 12-gauge copper speaker wire for $28.

If you *absolutely have to* spend some more money, you can get your HDMI and component cables from Blue Jeans Cable for half the price of what you see on eBay for Monster.

By the way, that $200 "power conditioner" is a rip-off. Get yourself a nice surge protector and fugeddaboudit.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

You like the Pro Monitors better than the Bipolar surrounds?

The Bipolars are definitely better, but they are also a lot more expensive. I like to keep all of the tweeter & midrange drivers the same size if possible. The BP7006 has 1" tweeter & 4-1/2" midrange/upper bass drivers. So I like to have the center & surround speakers the same size drivers. But this is more critical for the 3 front speakers. The surround speakers are a lot more forgiving & less important. I think the more expensive Bipolars will be better than the PM800, especially if you are going to place them in-wall. Will they let you audition the speakers in home for free? Can you return them without restocking fees? If so, you can always try both and see if the extra costs makes enough difference between the two surround speakers.

In my setup, all 7 speakers have 1" tweeters & 6-1/2" midrange/upper bass drivers.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Yeah the guy at Ultimate was putting the hard close on me. "what can i do to get you to commit to these speaker today".......

I know he wasnt far off on the speakers but check these prices out for Monster cable:

6' HDMI $99
6' Component $89
6' Optical $79
100' 12 guage speaker wire $100

Monster Line Conditioner Surge protector $199

I checked ebay and I can get that stuff for less than half.

I would buy nothing else from UE besides the speakers.
My first choice would be Blue Jeans Cables.
Second choice would be CablesForLess & Monoprice. I've bought cables from all three places.

Yeah, eBay is GREAT.

All DefTech dealers will try to sell you at MSRP. But I definitely don't believe in buying anything MSRP.

Edit: Unfortunately, UE don't sell Onkyo.

 

[fish4life]

How about the BP1.2x at $299 or BP2x at $399?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

How about the BP1.2x at $299 or BP2x at $399?

Yeah, both the BP1.2X & the BP2x will be great. They also look great with the CLR center & the BP7006 speakers! More money = more bass = subjectively better looks. But since you will need to set the speaker setting to SMALL for the surround speakers w/ the LFE cut-off at 80 Hz, anyone of them will do. Comes down to budget & looks.

I would set the L/R as Full/Large speakers. The CLR2300 also Full/Large. But anything smaller (CLR 2002) & all those surround speakers mentioned would be set Small with the LFE cut-off at 80 Hz.

 

[GlocksRock]

My CLR 2002 sounds great, I opted for a center with out a sub since I'm not sure how well I would hear the bass from the sub because of where the center is placed, and the CLR 2300 uses such small midrange drivers, I thought the mids would suffer. I paid $225 shipped for my BP1.2x's and $325 shipped for my CLR 2002, both purchased from Audiogon.com and I got my BP10s for $400 and my BP8s for $150 locally off Craigslist. I had actually bought a second pair of BP8s for $200 but found the BP10s a few days later and unded up selling the BP8s I just got for $325! So if you keep your eyes peeled and have some patience, you can get some good equipment for cheap. Also look on ebay, I see some good prices on there as well. Generally people who buy high(er) end audio equipment tend to take good care of it, so you should be ok.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The 350's are discontinued so they are not availalbe unless I hunt them down.

That Ultimate Electronics Rep either does not know what he is talking about or he just lied to you!

I just talked to a Def Tech Rep, and he said that the StudioMonitor 350 is very alive and NOT discontinued! In fact, UE can speacial order a SINGLE SM350.

So I would go back to UE (or another one) and inform them that the SM350 is NOT discontinued (confirmed with Def Tech Reps). Ask them to match Digitalcraze's price of $200 per speaker (not listed on website, but as verbal quote). Inform UE that they can speacial order a single SM350 to be used as a center channel. Also ask them to match digitalcraze's price on the BP7004 for $1,200. Taxes included, of course. Total = $1,800.

The BP7004 has a 1" tweeter, 5-1/4" midrange/upper bass, 10" 300-watts subwoofer, Freq Resp: 27-20,000 Hz +/- 3dB (overall is 16-30,000 Hz). The SM50 has a 1" tweeter, 5-1/4" midrange/upper bass, 8" passive subwoofer, Rreq Resp: 57-20,000 Hz +/- 3dB (overall is 26-30,000 Hz). I would set all 5 speakers to Large/Full Range Plus Subwoofer.

 

[fish4life]

That Ultimate Electronics Rep either does not know what he is talking about or he just lied to you!

I just talked to a Def Tech Rep, and he said that the StudioMonitor 350 is very alive and NOT discontinued! In fact, UE can speacial order a SINGLE SM350.

So I would go back to UE (or another one) and inform them that the SM350 is NOT discontinued (confirmed with Def Tech Reps). Ask them to match Digitalcraze's price of $200 per speaker (not listed on website, but as verbal quote). Inform UE that they can speacial order a single SM350 to be used as a center channel. Also ask them to match digitalcraze's price on the BP7004 for $1,200. Taxes included, of course. Total = $1,800.

The BP7004 has a 1" tweeter, 5-1/4" midrange/upper bass, 10" 300-watts subwoofer, Freq Resp: 27-20,000 Hz +/- 3dB (overall is 16-30,000 Hz). The SM50 has a 1" tweeter, 5-1/4" midrange/upper bass, 8" passive subwoofer, Rreq Resp: 57-20,000 Hz +/- 3dB (overall is 26-30,000 Hz). I would set all 5 speakers to Large/Full Range Plus Subwoofer.

Interesting......I'll have to let him know when I go to pick up my speakers. They did price match digitalcraze on the 7006. I'm picking them up Sat. I've got some old surrounds and center that I'll use until I upgrade over the next couple of month's. With that said. What would be the best center and surrounds to go with the 7006's from the Def tech lineup.
I really like the looks of the bipolar surrounds and my room is small (11x16)

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Interesting......I'll have to let him know when I go to pick up my speakers. They did price match digitalcraze on the 7006. I'm picking them up Sat. I've got some old surrounds and center that I'll use until I upgrade over the next couple of month's. With that said. What would be the best center and surrounds to go with the 7006's from the Def tech lineup.
I really like the looks of the bipolar surrounds and my room is small (11x16)

Congratulations!

I do love Ultimate Electronics. Definitely my favorite store.

I would get the $575 CLR2300 (30-20,000 Hz +/- 3dB) for the Center since they match drivers: 1" tweeter & 4-1/2" midrange/upper bass. I would get the $300 BP1.2X for surrounds.

My personal goal: Get 3 more BP7000SCs ($5,400) for Center & Surround L/R!!! This means I would need a $4,000 Projector & Screen that is placed 53" above the floor since the BP7000 is 53" tall.
Estimated Time of Arrival: 4 years.

How high is your TV? Distance from floor to bottom of screen?

 

[fish4life]

OK Everything is aquired or on order but I need to order cables.

I have no clue what I will need here. Are there other cables besides speaker wire for these speakers. Seems like I read something about SUB wires or something.

I anticipate putting this all together by the end of next week.

TV-Panasonic - TH-50PX77U
Receiver-Onkyo 605
Def Tech BP7006 X2
Def Tech CLR 2300 (Decided to go ahead and get this)
2 older surrounds (Will upgrade in the next couple of months)


I'm holding off on the HD DVD on the XBOX for now. I may get a dedicated HD DVD later on.


Thanks!

I can't wait for this.......my television now is the one I had in high school....18years ago!!!

 

[GlocksRock]

congrats on your purchases... You will be very happy with your def techs. I would however suggest to save up for a dedicated subwoofer if you have room for it. The built in def tech subs are ok on the lower end bipolar powere towers, but they just can't hit the lows with authority like a nice SVS or HSU can.

 

[fish4life]

Thanks!

Yes I'm sure I'll do a dedicated SUB in the future but this will definitley work for now.

 

[flippo]

Mirage

I believe UE sell Mirage speakers also take a look at them also and see if they are your cup of tea.