Thanks for all the input. I still can't seem to get an answer to one question: are the Def Techs good speakers? I am sure there are better choices, but in itself, are these decent? I have read some glowing reviews, but people on the forums, here and avs, don't mention them much.
I can answer that one for you. I mean my name is AcuDefTechGuy afterall.
Everyone will have their own personal opinion. Speakers will also sound differently based on their placements and interactions with room acoustics.
So if I walk into a dealer and think some speakers sound subpar, it may just be that the speaker placement is poor or the room acoustics may be poor or the setup is not great or my personal taste may be different than others.
I've owned the DefTech BP7000SC (flagship), BP7001SC, BP10B, CLR3000, SM450, & Trinity Sub.
I thought the BP7001 & BP7000 sounded better than the $23,000 B&W 800D that I auditioned TWICE at 2 different locations.
Def Tech, and probably Klipsch, usually don't have the best measurements (FR, Polar Response, Resonance, etc.). But they do sound great to a lot of people, including myself.
The one major issue with DefTech that has caused a lot of bashing and disrespect is their marketing - they "lie" about their frequency responses on their website and listed specs.
Some people can't stand that. And not everyone will like the sound of every speaker out there.
Ask yourself these questions:
1) How important are others' (audiophile) perceptions of your speakers (peer pressure)? This may also affect resale value, which no one thinks about when they buy speakers.
2) How important is brand name recognition and prestige?
3) How important is actual speaker measurements to you? Do you just care about how the speakers sound to you? Or are things like better accuracy and better polar response matter just as much?
To a lot of us, if the speakers don't measure very well on the on-axis frequency reponse and off-axis frequency reponse (polar response), they get no respect from us regardless of price.
For example, the new $24,000 B&W 800 Diamond measures superbly in terms of cabinet resonance (lack of resonance), but it measures POORLY in terms of both on-axis FR & polar response. As a result, B&W gets absolutely no respect from people like me, GranteedEV, AJinFL, and many others who care about the basic fundamentals of great speakers.
You could say the same about Wilson Audio and a lot of other ultra-expensive esoteric speakers out there.
At the same time, I've also auditioned speakers that measure pretty solidly, but ended up sounding very mediocre at best to me.
So you have to look at both measurements and actual audition.
In conclusion, I find that Def Tech speakers sound very, very good to my ears, as they do to your ears. They won't win any awards for speaker measurements, but their on-axis and polar response (off-axis) measurements aren't as bad as some other speakers either - even ones that cost 5 times more.
