Definitive Tech Speaker Owner's Thread

[MatthewB.]

I would set the system up as mains + rears and Phantom center till you can afford a good center or another pair of 450's Properly placed mains can simulate a very good phantom center and as a matter of fact many people prefer using no center if the mains are good (which the 450's are). i would also see if you can find refurb Onkyos maybe last years model (many internet sites have them for sale for very cheap and they are just as good (in some cases better than this years model.. The 805 is an example.

 

[MatthewB.]

Placement, i would place the mains on both sides of the display, toed in to the main sitting position. The rears since your couch is against the back wall, I would place on both sides of the couch, on the sides wall, up high, this way the the sound will reflect on the back wall and give you a diffuse sound. You should get a very good sound quality with four 450's.

 

[GomGom]

Placement, i would place the mains on both sides of the display, toed in to the main sitting position. The rears since your couch is against the back wall, I would place on both sides of the couch, on the sides wall, up high, this way the the sound will reflect on the back wall and give you a diffuse sound. You should get a very good sound quality with four 450's.

Toed that you mean is on eye level, right? Do I need speaker stands for the mains and the rears for the best placement and sound quality?

Btw, how long is the break-in period of this speakers?

 

[MatthewB.]

No, toed in means you turn the speakers slighty in to make a perfect triangle configuration between you (at the apex of the triangle) and the main speakers as the other two points, so that they are aimed directly at your main sitting position. Having the mains at ear level is always a good thing and you should place them on stands so that they are at ear level. The rears should be placed a few feet higher than ear level so that they give a diffuse sound instead of beaming directly into the ears. I feel break in is a myth and speakers should sound good right out of the box. The coil and driver on the speaker should work great from the second it is activated and no amount of time will change this, but others swear by "break-in" I just don't hear it. I would get speaker stands for the mains and mount the rears directly on the wall about 3-4 feet above the sitting position, close by the back wall so that the sound from the side speakers will travel along the back wall, giving you a diffuse sound all along the rear of the sitting position(s).

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

how is the DT SM450 sound, is it bright or warm?

I thought they sounded very neutral.

The Audio Critic did a review on the SM450s and they said the SM450's midrange and tweeter sounded very much like a B&W 800 Matrix.

So there you go!

 

[MatthewB.]

Thanks AcuDeftech, I remember reading the article but couldn't remember which B&W speakers they were (except they were the 800 series)

 

[GomGom]

Cannot wait to have them arrive and I'll hook it up with my uncle old Rotel amplifier while I'm shopping for a receiver. I will definitely make a noob review for the SM450.

Matt, what do you think if I have 2 pairs of SM450 as mains? I just feel not right to have surrounds very close to the wall and our seat.

 

[GlocksRock]

It's ok to have the surrounds close to your seat, you just have to level match everything so all the speakers are the same volume at the listening position, and when you get a receiver, it will let you set the distance so the time delay will be correct. I wouldn't have 2 sets of mains, as you could run into comb filtering issues.

 

[GomGom]

As for the main speaker stands, do you think 16" speaker stand is too short or should I go with 24". The 16" is going cheap at parts express. If I mount the surround on the dry wall, is it okay? is the dry wall strong enough to hold it?

 

[GlocksRock]

You can mount it to the drywall, just use wall anchors. As far as the speaker stand height, I would go with the taller ones, you want it close to ear height. Or, figure out where your center channel will eventually be, and get the stands that will place the speakers as close to that height as you can get.

 

[MatthewB.]

I would go with the 24" stands, which means that sitting the tweets will be about three feet from the ground and that is generally where your ears are at the sitting poistion. I would install small shelves on the surround speaker position to support the weight of the 450's (they weigh about 20 pounds each) and shelves (screwed into wall studs) is a very cheap and easy solution to hang the speakers. Stores like Home Depot have many options. I also agree with Glocksrock, do not use two pair of mains, you will get severe lobing issues which will hinder the sound quality. By properly setting up the rear speakers with a sound meter or your recievers setup function (Audyssey) it will properly adjust the sound level. Trust me my Mythos gems are two feet from the back of my head (I had placement issues) and the level is adjusted so that the sound doesnt blast me and blends well with my 450's and towers. A sound meter is the best investment one can make when putting together any system.

 

[MatthewB.]

One other note, about surround sound, the speakers themselves get very liitle use, they are actually there for ambience effect (like rain falling) giving you the illusion that you are smack dab in the middle of a rainstorm. Otherwise they remain quite. You have to remember that the center speaker handles 50% of the overall sound, the mains handle 30% and the surrounds about 20%. Since you are using a phantom center your mains will handle roughly 80% of the sound and the surrounds still about 20%. Surrounds are very important though and you truly appreciate them when they are active. (Action movies get alot of use with surrounds). I would never use two pairs of mains and just use the one and one pair for surrounds and when money allows buy a center (with matching 6.5" drivers) and you will be golden.

 

[GomGom]

I'm aiming to get this speaker stand from Parts Express
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=240-767

It's either 24" or 31" now since 16" is too low, as i suppose.
Any thought for these stands?

 

[GlocksRock]

also keep in mind that when you have a receiver, it will allow you to play music in either 5 or 7 channel stereo mode, so all your speakers will be playing music at the same time.

I have those same speakers stands, they work very well. I got them for less from buy.com and I also saw them for less on amazon.com also check ebay, I'm sure you can find a better price than that.

 

[GomGom]

Which one is the best in your opinion?
- Sanus Euro Foundation Series III Speaker Stand - $45
http://www.buy.com/prod/sanus-euro-foundation-series-iii-speaker-stand-steel-black-sanus-euro/q/loc/111/90112077.html
- Sanus BF31b Basic Foundations Speaker Stand - $32
http://www.buy.com/prod/sanus-bf31b-basic-foundations-speaker-stand-wood-black-pair-sanus/q/loc/111/90049756.html
- Sanus BF24b Basic Foundations Speaker Stand - $29
http://www.buy.com/prod/sanus-bf24b-basic-foundations-speaker-stand-wood-black-sanus-bf24b/q/loc/111/90049755.html

 

[GlocksRock]

The Euro Foundation ones are nicer, and made of metal, the basic foundations like are still nice, and work very well, but are only made of wood. However, they may be more stable since it sits on 4 pegs, not 3. But they are very easy to put together too.

 

[GomGom]

I finally made my purchase of everything but the receiver and subwoofer. I'm still shopping around for those parts.
Anyway, I just went to visions (like best buy in US) and I demo'ed KEF KHT3005 and I love how the center channel plays part in the system. Now I'm wondering what center would match nicely with Def Tech SM450? Should I get Def Tech center speaker too or I can go with other brands?

 

[GlocksRock]

I would stick with a def tech center to keep the front channels timbre matched.

 

[AVRat]

The DT ProCenter 2000 would be a good match.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I finally made my purchase of everything but the receiver and subwoofer. I'm still shopping around for those parts.
Anyway, I just went to visions (like best buy in US) and I demo'ed KEF KHT3005 and I love how the center channel plays part in the system. Now I'm wondering what center would match nicely with Def Tech SM450? Should I get Def Tech center speaker too or I can go with other brands?

I would just get another SM450 (SINGLE) to use as a Center Speaker.

TAC found the SM450's midrange and tweeters to be very accurate compared to the B&W 800 Matrix, which would make it a very good center speaker for dialogue.

The bass response only goes down to realistically 50 Hz @ -10dB, but that's decent for a small size speaker. Good enough for Center.