Definitive Technology Speakers??

MikeUp

Since this is a Polk Forum, I was hoping I could ask this without someone being offended as this is only my opinion.

My brother in law has the Definitive Mythos and some BP series towers. My father in law also had some BP towers.

After listening to all kinds of different brands over the years, I thought these BP speakers sounded very dark, muddy, with with bad imaging. Since they are bipolar, I figured this is what destroyed the sound. Even the built in subwoofer didn't go very low and didn't sound that great as they have small drivers.

Then I heard his Mythos STS speakers and I heard the same very dark sound that was lacking detail and sounded muddy, but had decent imaging. The built in subwoofers didn't offer very good low end as expected by their very small drivers.

I just don't get why people like these. I've heard much better sounding speakers that are 1/8 the cost of these and when coupled with a good inexpensive subwoofer, are far better in the bass as well.

What am I missing? I'm sure I'm missing something as this brand has a lot of fans.

tratliff

Sounds like you should move on to a different brand. Am I missing something?

mantis

Everything you described about Def Tech Mythos and BP series speakers is the exact opposite of how they sound.
The BP line is an excellent line with very clear top end , warm mid range and nice low end extension.
The Mythos Line has extended top end very warm room filling mid range and excellent built in Subs.

I gotta assume they where wired wrong , in a poor room with lower quality gear and not properly setup.

Your the very first person who had those kinds of comments about any Def Tech Speakers.

VR3

I have never heard anyone describe the Definitive series as "Dark", if anything they lean towards the bright side.

I will say as I have moved up the audio ladder, the bipolar series are pretty terrible for music. They are great for HT but there are much better options for music.

I do like my Definitive monitors alot, they are great for a relatively full range compact option. Even then though, for a true music performer, they are definitely not at the top of their class in reproduction but are more fun than most.

MikeUp

Happy Easter.

They may have not been setup properly. I set up the BP pair for my father in law using his midline Denon receiver. His room only had one spot we could put the speakers. We could only put them against a side wall, pulled out some, firing angled in, toward listening area. I remember just giving up on them because I couldn't get decent imaging and the bass was pretty weak following the way they were supposed to be wired according to manual. The highs and higher mids were muted as well. The sound was very muddy which I contributed to the rear firing bipolar speakers, which I heard the same in Bose speakers that used multiple speakers adding reflective sound everywhere.

I essentially told him to put a different brand speaker in and to use those in a different room where they may sound better.

My brother in law has the Mythos STS sitting out in the room being couple feet from the wall, they appeared to be wired with high level speaker wire only as is suggested by the manual. Powered by a mid line Marantz receiver. Since these aren't bipolar, it did seem to have decent imaging. The sound was still dark with highs and higher mids muted and the bass was pretty weak as would be expected with small 5" X 10" oval woofers being 2' from the wall. Maybe a better term would be warm or very laid back, as that seems to mean the same as dark, with more lower frequency energy than other frequencies. Definitely not bright as the sound characteristics aren't anywhere near that of those brighter sounding speakers out there.

I've heard my brother in laws BP series speakers previously before the Mythos and they followed the same characteristics my father in laws BP had.

Maybe these speakers are just finicky, like a vintage Klipsch Horn loaded speaker. That being where the room has to accommodate the speaker, where you place these speakers in an unfurnished room, then furnish around the speakers.

As I said, I'm sure they would sound good as they have a lot of fans, I'm just not hearing it and wondering why. If there is some way to make them sound like they should, I can give my brother in law some, indirect advise on different placement.

MikeUp

VR3 wrote: »

I will say as I have moved up the audio ladder, the bipolar series are pretty terrible for music.

Happy Easter.

Well I listen mainly to music. As long as you have a good subwoofer and speakers that aren't thin or attenuated in the midrange voice octave regions, most good speakers will sound good for HT.

I'm getting more convinced that these DT speakers are just more critical when it comes to placement and brother in law doesn't have an ideal placement for sure. However most people don't unless you use treatments in your room, like a recording studio.

VR3

The best I have heard from the bipolar series was my Modified bp2000, they really had a great sound and the bass was very smooth with the sealed 15s. They were built extremely well.

They just are not as refined sounding as a direct radiating speaker, but then again I don't think they are supposed to. The bipolar sound leans more towards a non critical listener, they can really throw down and fill up a space.

BindingPoster

Speakers are like tropical plants. They need to be in environment they were intended for, and with the right admirers. Few speakers work well in all rooms, and even fewer speakers are loved by everyone.

4Sounds

The BP's (the original 10's and 20's in my case) speaking specifically of the 10's. Sounded pretty good upon first hear. Though lacking some definition in the mid range they were very clear in their presentation and definitely on the bright side. The highs were the opposite. Very detailed and present..a little too present. Mitigated by positioning. The 6.5in woofers put out bass that literally defy their size. These speakers rattle everything..I am convinced my neighbors hate me lol. Anyway...they showed potential and I wanted to bring it out. I set them about 2' from the wall yet they are pretty close to the side walls, not optimal but they sound best there. In addition to this I modified the 10's starting w/new tweeters that has a more narrow face plate which somehow gave this speaker more focus. Then capacitors which did wonders for the mids and only made the highs better and smoother.

I was originally driving them with a Marantz Sr8001 receiver and Emotiva BasX A-300 but swapped that for an Adcom GFA 5500. This made things much better. I recently replaced the iron core inductors for air core's. These tweaks and the more powerful amp has transformed this system. The speakers sound happy now lol. Got way more detail, space, focus, low ends still thunderous yet with more definition and speed. So they went from decent sounding to sounding considerably better. Overall these speakers get down. I would agree with describing them as unrefined though. They are imo significantly better once upgraded and run with more power. And after saying all that..l still understand that not everyone wants to do all that...and in some cases is unnecessary..yet if a space itself is just bad for a particular kind of speaker then nothing helps except different speakers.

As far as the BP20, they sound far better in their factory state than the 10's did. I immediately noticed the mids were better and more detailed. Bass had more punch. And the highs were much smoother. I'm pretty sure this is due to each speaker having four 6.5in midbass woofers instead of two. Somehow the 10's though having just 2 midbass seem to go a tad lower than the 20's ...how? idk 🤷🏽‍♂️ could just be the room.


VR3 what was your first speaker after you moved up from the BP's?

VR3

I believe it was the Tyler acoustics taylo 7u

jbreezy5

FWIW, I always found the Denon surround receivers to be a bit on the dark-sounding side of the spectrum.

However, that’s exactly what I would pair a Def Tech with to get closer to neutral, since they veer slightly bright, IMO.

Also, be sure to check the bass/treble settings to ensure set to flat.

4Sounds

VR3 wrote: »

I believe it was the Tyler acoustics taylo 7u

Looked those up on Google and it led me back to this site to find your and others discussions on them. From what I've read here and on other sites..man they sound like a dream speaker.

Your comments on the missing/blotchy details of the DT's was a perfect way to put it..this along with other factors is what prompted me to mod. You also said how the flaws of the DT's showed up once you heard the 7u's. A thought that has been creeping around my mind for some time now. I am having fun with the DT's but I do plan to try other speakers. So when I read that.. I was like yep.. there it is. I know a similar experience is in my future lol.

VR3

Def tech is a great casual listener speaker, but once you move up, you will see what I mean