Strong foundation to "tweak". Potentially an audiophile quality speaker.

Sounds very harsh and bright out of the box, and no "burn-in" will cure it.

For the gentleman who thought my review of the DV736 was absurd on the review list for the DV636, I suggest you listen to several "high end" speakers, as well as low end speakers, and compare the BIC's to them if possible. What I spoke of will become very evident in the face of what speakers should sound like, and what the BIC's sound like out of the box. Perhaps, you're an individual who likes to stand in front of a fire engine and listen to the siren? Really, if you like the way they sound, that's up to you, sir. But for the rest of us, the speakers are very bright and fatigueing. Vocals truly sound like people singing through cardboard tubes. I am fortunate to have several other brands and types of speakers to compare them to, and I can see they have great potential, especially having listened to them after the EFE Technology modification. I still haven't had mine modified, and I won't use them until they're fixed. I drug them out again yesterday and put them in line next to several different models of Wharfedales, Dahlquist, Acoustic Research, and some less famous brands. Almost any brand of speaker has some shortcomings. The other speakers I have lack bass, or in one case present too much bass. Others are too bright, and some lack mids. However, the BIC DV736 tower, out of the box is the brightest and harsheset of any I've ever auditioned. They have a wonderful low end, but they really need the tweak to balance out the mids and highs. I have Wharfedale Rubiance tower models 25 and 27. Their mid/high range is very bright, but they are extremely clear and detailed. Although the highs are very bright, the clarity they provide is exceptional and not forward. The mids are very good, especially female vocals such as Diana Krall, Shirley Horne, Sarah Vaughn, and Peggy Lee. The low end is totally absent on all but the model 27, and it's not very impressive at that. Although they're bright, they remind me the BIC's should be clear and detailed without colouration. Those Whafedale Rubiance towers as well as the bookshelf models demonstrate how a speaker can be bright without colouring the sound as the BIC's do. I mentioned before about the vocals and "cardboard tube" syndrome. This is the colouration I speak of. I have some Dahlquist towers that are very balanced and provide severe lows comparing favorably to the BIC low end. However, the mids and highs are very well balanced, with clarity and detail. I know this can be achieved with the BIC's, but only after the crossover mod by ED. I strongly recommend the BIC DV736 speaker, as it is a very good foundation for an audiophile quality sound, but as they come from the factory, they are merely party speakers for the untrained ear. And I daresay, after extended listening at high volume, you will destroy any ability you now have to hear high frequencies unless you have them balanced (crossover mod).

Just so some of you don't think my negative evaluation of this speaker is due to inferior equipment, here's what I've tried them with:

Yamaha M40 amplifier
Sony ES amplifier
Adcom amplifier
Forte' Model 3 amplifier
Vintage Pioneer SA9500 amplifier (2 different units using the integrated preamp, as well as external preamps)
Yamaha AVC-70 preamp
Adcom preamp
Sony STR-DE805G A/V receiver
Technics SADA8N A/V receiver
Yamaha CDX-1030
Yamaha KX-530
Pioneer TX-9500
Pioneer DV626D

High quality interconnects with gold plated connectors of various brands.
Speaker cables include 10AWG Oxygen free copper, 12AWG oxygen free copper, Extremely high quality bi-wire, and even home brew braided cables made from Category 5 Enhanced LAN cables similar to Kimber.
All cables employ high quality gold plated banana plugs.

I urge anyone interested in these speakers to take advantage of the deals online, and then have the crossovers modified by Ed Frias of EFE Technology. I heard the modified versions as I said in the review below, and the difference is phenomenal. It makes an otherwise annoying, harsh also-ran, into an audiophile quality product you'll enjoy listening to for hours on end.




Please note: there is now a category for the BIC DV736, and you must scroll down the list of "B's" to get to it. The list has BIC divided into two different sections.

Similar Products Used:

Dahlquist, DB Dynamics, Acoustic Research, DIY, Canton, Jamo, Wharedale, Dunlevy, Vandersteen, Parasound, BIC, Merak, Axiom, Thiel, KEF

Phenomenal sound for the price.

None at this price.

I don't know how these speakers sound out-of-the-box direct from BIC. All I know is that the modified pairs I got from Frias were shockingly good considering the price.

I started with a pair of modified BIC bookshelf speakers
(DV62si). At $225/pair, I couldn't believe the sound. As
as good as my B&Ws.

When I learned from Ed that they offered a floorstanding model as well (736) for about $450/pair(modified), I had
to check them out.

Now, I'm not an audiophile, but I listen to a lot of music and take my listening seriously. The BIC 736s hooked up to
my ATI 1504 amp were phenomenal out of the box. Beethoven's 5th rocked the windows ... Diana Krall's voice put my hair
on end ... Miles' entrance into So What was stunning.

If you're looking for near-audiophile sounding speakers for under $500/pair, the modified BIC 736s are it. Contact Frias Enteprises for more details. Ed's the man !

Similar Products Used:

BIC DV62si (bookshelf)

Good Bass extension - Great speaker with the EFE Mod. Build quality is good, but it could use some internal bracing.

Initally the tweeter is too forward, speaker sounds unbalanced and is fatiguing.

I needed some budget full range speakers (I didn't want to use a subwoofer) for a stereo system and stumbled across these knowing that Ed Frias performed modifcations to the crossovers that made them sound better. I figured for the price I paid, how could I go wrong? After ordering the speakers I made an appointment with Ed and listened for almost 2 hours to his modified 736s. I also brought a couple CDs of my own. The bass extension was there and the speakers sounded pretty good. I was liked the sound of the modified speakers but haven't spent enough time listening to the unmodified speakers to make an informed comparison.

I went home and spent the next couple weekends listening to my unmodified 736s. The speakers sounded unnatural. I found this really evident when listening to U2's "Mysterious Ways." I could hear how a crossover mod would help as the mids and highs sounded very unbalanced. I was impressed with the bass extension given that the speakers have a six inch woofer. I really like guitar music and several of the cd's I own feature female artists playing the guitar. The unmodified speakers were overly bright with this kind of music and made it difficult to listen to it for extended periods.

To cut a long review short, I took the speakers to Ed and had him perform the crossover modification. Now the speakers sound very natural. The bass extension is still the same (for the reviewer below) and sounds much better now that the speaker is more balanced. The highs are smoother now and I can listen for hours on end. I don't think you can beat the modfied speaker for the price I paid. If you have these speakers, do yourself a favor and have Ed modify them. You won't be disappointed.

As a tip, I found that by raising the speaker a few inches off the floor (bringing the tweeter closer to ear level when seated) improved the sound tremendously.

Similar Products Used:

JBL, NHT, PSB, Paradigm, Energy

Appearance, Quality components, decent construction, decent tight bass.

"Rip your face off" harshness, out of the box.

After receiving these speakers with great anticipation (yet another tale of UBid's shipping woes), I eagerly opened the boxes, inspected the speakers, and hooked them up. I was shocked. Though they produce seemingly tight clean bass, the midrange and highs were harsh and overly bright. They become fatigueing after only a few minutes, especially at high listening levels.

I thought perhaps they would "lay down" a bit after a reasonable break-in period. But, alas, I was wrong. To me, these speakers out of the box are unlistenable. I have read many reviews praising these speakers, and I can't imagine what the other reviewers were listening to before they tried these. Simply put, these things are awful! The harsh sounds eminating from these things resemble the tiny tinny pocket transistor radios from the '60's.

Now, on the positive side, most reviewers on this site are aware of EFE Technology, and Ed Frias. I read review after review of speaker performance AFTER Ed modified them. I made an appointment with Mr. Frias, and he was kind enough to give me "the tour". After hearing the real potential of these speakers (after Ed's crossover modification which changes the slope of the mid/high frequency range), I must say I was impressed. Ed took a speaker that I was disappointed with, and turned it into an audiophile quality product, no kidding. It's remarkable! You can't believe the difference the mod makes.

Now to be fair, I haven't had mine modified yet, and the ones I listened to, belonged to someone else. I will send Ed my crossovers as soon as I get the time. So, I will rate these speakers as they came from the box. I will add/update my report after I get the modification done.
So...................

Similar Products Used:

Ultralinear 450, DIY's, DB Dynamics Eclipse, BIC DV62CLR, Parasound Perfect Image, Acoustic Research