Decisions, Decisions...

Velocitydreamer

Big Polk fan here, owned a fair share of their speakers... this question though, is regarding two different brands. I want to compare my current setup, with a prospective setup.

Pioneer Elite VSX-42
Mirage-
Fronts: OM-6
Center: OM-C2
Sides: OM-RS2
Sub: BPS-400

vs

Receiver: none, but I'd get one
Def Tech-
Fronts: BP2000TL (Supertowers)
Center: SLR3000
Sub: Technology PowerField SuperCube I
Sides: none, but I'd get some

Love the looks of the Mirages, and they sound great But I'm really liking the idea of those towers, center, and the subs... well, which setup do ya'll think would be better for home theater, which for music? My ratio is pretty 50/50. The room, well, forget that, I'm asking in general So which setup, and lastly, compare the subs for me if ya could. Sorta need advice asap, GREATLY appreciated!

P.S. Try not to be bias, as I know Def Tech was started by the co-founder of Polk :P

EndersShadow

No worries mate. I believe falconcry and mantis will be your go-to's on this. Falcon IIRC had some similar (if not the same) Mirage's and Mantis has setup sold and owns a bunch of the Def Tech stuff. VR3 & Leroyjr1 have also had Def Tech setups.

You could probably search their forum posts for their thoughts on those brands as well.

Velocitydreamer

Meant CLR3000 on the Center... and thanks!

PS - To be clear, I love the setup I have and I think it looks amazingly elegant, but really, really enjoy in-your-face bass (not muddy, but I like to feel the pressure) and the def techs look to really fit the ticket.

Velocitydreamer

By the way, love the screen name. Awesome series of books!

EndersShadow wrote: »

No worries mate. I believe falconcry and mantis will be your go-to's on this. Falcon IIRC had some similar (if not the same) Mirage's and Mantis has setup sold and owns a bunch of the Def Tech stuff. VR3 & Leroyjr1 have also had Def Tech setups.

You could probably search their forum posts for their thoughts on those brands as well.

falconcry72

I had all those mirages at one point, and I liked them a lot. That OM-C2 is one of the best ceneter channel speakers I've come across.

Sounds like you need a real subwoofer. Don't try to match the brand of the sub with the speakers. Get an SVS or (2).

Velocitydreamer

Yeah, I was considering an SVS or a higher Velodyne. So you think I should pass on the Def Tech BP2000TL/CLR3000/SuperCube I? (and thanks!)

Hoping Mantis will chime in from the def tech perspective, having owned them. I do love my Mirage setup, so we'll see.

falconcry72

Velocitydreamer wrote: »

Yeah, I was considering an SVS or a higher Velodyne. So you think I should pass on the Def Tech BP2000TL/CLR3000/SuperCube I? (and thanks!)

Hoping Mantis will chime in from the def tech perspective, having owned them. I do love my Mirage setup, so we'll see.

I've never heard those deftechs, so I'm not offering advice there. If what you're after is bass, you're not going to find it in new speakers; you're going to find it in new subwoofers.

Velocitydreamer

Yeah, the SuperCube seems pretty nice... that aside, those towers do have powered 15's though, and the center a powered 10... and all seem to hit pretty low.

Velocitydreamer

On a side note Falcon, how would you compare the OM-RS2 to the OM-R2? I was considering getting ahold of some R2's to replace the RS2's.

Mystery

I'd vote for Deftech but I don't think you'll need that supercube sub in addition to BP2000TL's built in subwoofers.
I have BP10's and they don't need a sub, at least not the 8" one.

Velocitydreamer

That's what I was thinking if I went with the Def Techs... that aside, I'm scouring for different forum posts regarding the two front-sets and the vast majority say the Mirages are much, much better Musically, and 50:50 say the Def Tech towers are muddy.

But I wonder "how muddy" and if the Def Techs would be better on the Home Theater front. Granted, I never trust the Manufacturer's claims, but they're claiming 15hz on the towers... wonder how those towers stack up to "decent" subs. I have always been fond of the 5.0/7.0 setups (very clean looking without a dedicated sub) if the towers can hold their own in bass, but yeah...

Velocitydreamer

I'm starting to come to the conclusion that I should keep the Mirages and change/add on the sub end.

mantis

Hello
Sorry I'm late to the party but I'll chime on all accounts as I have experience with everything mentioned on this thread.

Mirage system you own now.
It's mellow and very nice. I like the musical abilities of this system. I feel the receiver needs to be upgraded as I don't think it can really show off that package. Back in those days I really preferred Yamaha receivers to power them as Yamaha seemed to really bring out the best in them. Other consideration was B&K. B&K was uncanny with Mirage OM series speakers.
On a side note here , I loved them. I thought they where a nice balance towards owning a system that could perform music very well and theater very nicely. Not the most dynamic theater speakers in the class but did their jobs well.
The surrounds fill the room nicely and fully blend in with the system as they do not call any attention to themselves when properly placed and calibrated. Like any system if you fail at any of these things , the surround effect gets lost.
The BPS400 sub , yeah it's big and a bit heavy but never was one of my favorites. I liked it as it did it's job well but a Velodyne DD series destroys it on all levels.
Overall it's a good system and IF you considered keeping a new receiver and sub would really upgrade it.

Suggestion on a new receiver now would be a Pioneer Elite SC model used like a SC-07 , SC-27 , SC-37 , SC-57.
If you want that killer dymanics of what I was talking about with Yamaha , a RXV-1 was the model which in some cases as a DSPA-1 which was crazy cool. Not really something I would look for now as the pre amp section is to out of date. I have Listened to todays Yamaha models and as they are very nice , they don't hold a candle to the older models in dynamic range. The RXZ-11 was pretty nasty , it might be a choice but really the new Pioneer Elite SC models can achieve about 95% of that crazy dynamics those older models had and do it a bit warmer more musical IMO.

Definitive Technology
Ahh yes the older model BP series. They are bright and very different sounding compared to your Mirage speakers. They are in your face and slap you around. They can scare the hell out of you and then bend you over something while licking the back of your neck. They seem to have built in capacitors to help out and force out the DB's when called upon. All older Def Tech models do all of this.
The BP2000's where a pretty damn good sounding speaker for theater , I can't really fault them here as they really took you into the movie and gave you a nice ride. Music on the other hand I thought they where to aggressive for my personal tastes. I have heard them on many difference receivers and seperates and really never came to a common ground with them. They assault you all the time. No filter if you will.
The Center channel does blend in very nicely witht he 2000 fronts. You will have no trouble believing whats going on screen an they form a true front sound stage with very believable depth and movement. They excel here. If your a polk fan and have heard polk theater systems , polk was always very good at this was well.
Surrounds get the BPVX as they will blend in like the center channel does. They are remarkable at that position and I can't ever remember them being a problem. Very flexible in Installation.
the Sub is awesome. The Supercube 1 is a monster and very powerful and very good at anything you want to use it for. This is a place where Def Tech excels at well. I have always been very impressed with there woofers , will you need it? yeah I'd say go for it as it can do the .LFE channel by itself and you can run the BP2000's full range. This is a very good idea to do with this system. I would not send LFE to the mains and the Supercube 1. Leave all the LFE to the Supercube.

Receiver I would use with this system would be the same Pioneer Elite SC models of what you can afford , higher end the better as Pioneer and Def Tech go together extremely well.

Note:
The New BP series is much better then the older models by far. The new 8080 system is extreme and no external sub is required. They have a Mythos ability for music and a BP ability for theater , kinda like cake and eating it thing. If I where you , I would pass on the older system and get a brand new BP 8080 system. They are always on sale somewhere. You could if money is an issue , replace the Mirage system one piece at a time. If money isn't , then go for it man , you will blow away your Mirage system on all accounts.
Another consideration would be to get a full Mythos system. This is a level of music reproduction that just gets better and better depending on what you drive them with. I have owned the Mythos ST system for quite some time and it's extremely rare for me to hold on to a speaker package this long. I tried a few times to get something else but I have found a level of satisfaction I never got with other models I owned and would have owned that i considered replacing these with. I'm not unhappy with anything about them which is strange for me. I always find something , dwell on it and then get something new.

Good luck with whatever you do , if you need anything else just let me know.