supports Definitive's reputation Extremely accurate Affordable

don't give them too much power; Fans of Korn, Static-X, and other heavy sounding bands need not apply.

I heard these speakers in the sound room playing Metallica's fade to black and almost started crying. I wrote a check for only $450 (retail for $800)due to the fact the store was going out of business. I figured I couldn't go wrong. That same day I compared them to Boston Acoustics, Snell, and bookshelf B&W's. I liked my BP8"s the best, especially at this price! My system consists of the Lexicon DC-1 (insane), adcom amps (good enough),pioneer dvd player a yamaha cd player. Cambridge Soundworks 5.1 's are used for the sides and the surrounds. All in all I like these speakers. Pink Floyd, Dave Matthews, Seal and other relatively easy sounding discs sound unreal. NIN, pearl Jam, Ozzy, and house music sounds better than most speakers. However, these speakers, in my opinion, don't sound terrific with heavy music. I love Static- X, Disturbed, and Korn. Unfortunately, when I want to jam on these speakers I can't. At low volumes they are alright, but who listens to such material low. Especially with friends over. One friend said "crank it" and I held my breath. All dvd's I've played sound really good,though. All in all I'm happy with these speakers. If you like more acoustical stuff and home theater, give them a listen. Oh, you will need a sub. These speakers have 5 1/2 in. drivers. In my opinion, that is not enough. Stereo Review loved these speakers and said the bass was good. I disagree. My 80 watt NHT sub is currently being replaced with the fan favorite 15 in. 500 watt monster. Maybe this can help the weak sound associated with the heavy sounding discs.

Gives music incredible depth. Very lifelike.

Can get a bit harsh when played loud.

I started out with the Polk RT 600. I really enjoyed their sound but I wanted to trade up to the big brother RT 800. These sounded horrible! Male vocals sounded as if they were singing in a box. I then drove 1 1/2 hours to Lexington to a shop that carried Paradigm,Def Tech,Klipsch and Polk. I intended on buying Paradigm Monitor 7's until I heard The Def Techs. I was blown away!!
A year later I'm so glad I made this choice. The sound is terrific. Jazz and blues sound live. On studio music like Steely Dan or Dave Matthews, you can almost "see" the depth. My favorite listen, Pink Floyd's Pulse on vhs, is out of this world!! The bass is impressive for a speaker of this size. Plenty deep for music though a sub is useful for movies. They may not have the pin-point detail of good direct radiating speakers but the size of the sound stage
more than makes up for that.
The only fault that I can find is the fact that they tend to get a bit bright when really cranked up. Not a big deal, just turn down the treble a little.
If your in the market for new speakers, give these a listen. You will not be disapointed.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm Monitor 7, Polk RT 600,800.

clarity, bass response, good-looking

deep bass beyond 30hz is lacking

I purchased 4 of these babies plus Definitive Techs C/L/R 2002 to upgrade my home theater/music system.

With music, these speakers are fantastic. These units produce decent bass depending on material being played on them. On some CDs bass is plentiful while on others a subwoofer is needed. I guess it's not the fault of the speakers themselves but how the CD was mastered, engineered or whatever you want to call it. I listened to 'The Dave Brubeck Quartet' CD, Stan Getz's 'Bossa Nova', Shirley Horn's 'Here's To Life' perhaps a million times since I purchased these speakers. The speakers are easy on the ears, they aren't harsh in upper range and smooth in the mid-range, bass is nice but again a subwoofer adds re-enforcement in that department.

With movies, I can set each speaker to 'LARGE' and have bass coming from all directions. I've watched Jurassic Park I, II, III, Phantom Menance, Alien and am impressed with how these speakers have really improved my home movie experience. I still use my subwoofer but now I don't have to worry about over-burdening it with bass from the other channels.

I say, if you looking for floor-standing towers give these a listen with your favorite CD(s). You will be plesantly surprise with sound these speakers produce.

Rich tone and sound. Great bass. Will not give up when kicked in the ass with power.

A bit bright in the mid to high range.

Using these speakers for HT or 2 channel, they never produce a bad note. I cannot say enough about how good these speakers are.

If there is a dealer with-in reasonable distance to your home or apartment, go audition these or any other Definitive speaker. For the money you just cannot beat these speakers.

System:
Marantz sr5000
Pioneer dv-c302
Main: def tech bp8b
Center: Pro c-2
Sub: Sound Dynamics rts-1000
Surrounds: bose 2-2 (will be getting bp1.2x soon)

Clear Highs

Weak Midrange Initially, but it gets better. Weak bass, unless you crank up the bass knob. (Add a sub instead!)

These speakers sounded really good in the store.

When I took them home, the upper range was very clear.

The midrange sounded muddled initially, but with proper break-in, it got a lot better.

The bass lacks quite a lot with the treble and bass defeated.

If you turn up the bass all the way, it sounds like there is a built-in sub even though there isn't.

I would not use these speakers without a sub though. With a sub, the bass sounds more natural than maxing out the bass knob.

This is how I ended up with the BP-8's:

I had 1200 bucks to spend.

I compared the Definitive 2006's to Boston 965's. They both have built-in subs. 2006 = $1200 965 = $1000

The 965's sounded better than the 2006's in the midrange.

The 965's bass was boomy though. It also goes down only to 29 hz, which is not adequate.

The 2006's goes down to 18 hz and is not boomy. So the 2006's beat the 965's in the bass dept.

The 2006's go up to 30,000 hz and the 965's go up to 25,000 hz, so the 2006's have better highs.

The whole range of the 2006's was 30,000 hz to 18 hz.

The whole range of the 965's was 25,000 hz to 29 hz--adequate for highs, but not that impressive bass-wise.

The Definitive 2006's beat the 965's highs and lows, so the Bostons were out.

Now for the BP-8 and 2006 comparison:

The BP-8's have the same tweeters the 2006's have, so the uppers are the same.

The BP-8's have bigger drivers than the Definitive 2006's; therefore, the BP-8's have better midrange--like that of the 965's.

Now due to lack of midrange, the 2006's were out.

The BP-8's do not have the bass response that the 2006's have, so a sub is necessary.

I added a Definitive Prosub 80 to fill in for the lack of bass. This sub does down to 21 hz.

The 2006's were $1200. The BP-8's + sub was $1150.

I got better midrange, same upper range and virtually the same bass as the 2006, and saved 50 bucks at the same time.

The range of the BP-8 + Prosub 80 setup is 30,000 hz to 21 hz--almost enough to cover the 20,000 to 20 hz range the human ear can pick up.

This setup is clearly the best choice of the three.

Okay now that the technical junk is out of the way...

These speakers are great for music, but even better for home theater.

I listen to oldies mainly, so the sound isn't that great, but it's not the speakers' fault.

With well-recorded music, these speakers are very impressive considering they're not that big. You always need to leave the sub on though.

For home theater, they are amazing.

Sometimes I forget to turn on the surround speakers (I have BP1X's), and I don't even realize it because the main BP-8's provide a surround effect.

This effect is due to the bipolar sound. Bipolar sound is somewhat "fake" since it reflects a lot. Fake sound is no good for music, but it's great for theater.

Luckily, the bipolar effect doesn't occur too much with music.

Okay, I think I've written enough. For 1200 bucks, the set is great.

Similar Products Used:

Boston 965, Definitive 2006, Klipsch. Klipsch's tweeters are hideous by the way. Monitor Audio.

Clear highs, powerful bass (for it's size), size, and price.

Breakin period, and placement restrictions. A sub is a requirment if bass is most important.

The BP8 requires a extended breakin period. I have had these speakers for over three years and I think they continue to improve with use. I was disapointed for the first few weeks for their lack of midrange definition but this dramatically improves with use over time.

Bipolar speakers in general require special placement that may make some installations difficult to live with, depending on available space. These speakers do not perform well stuffed in corners. Careful placement away from corners and sidewalls will produce the best sound possible. Fortunately the BP8's size will not make placement too difficult, and their sleek appearance will blend into almost every decor.

Initially I was very pleased with the bass response, but after adding a Definitive PF15TL, I felt how much bass information I was missing. I guess I did not know what bass was. A sub really should be a requirement with these speakers.

Because of the extended treble response, these speakers may not sound good with an overly bright receiver/amplifier, or in a bright room.

I did not have a chance to audition these speakers or any of Definitive Thechnologies line and based my initial decision on available reviews and size. I have recently had the chance to listen to BP8, BP10, BP30, and all of the powered tower speakers and I prefer the sound of Definitive's passive line of speakers with the addition of a Sub. Because of the driver size of the 8Bs (14cm), good choices for center channel speakers are the C/L/R 2002, and C/L/R 2500.

I thank my luck stars everyday that I made this choice.

The bipolar design gives an airy ambience

no detail

The airiness of these speakers was slightly intoxicating at first, but after listening for a couple minutes I became bored with the sound. The speakers in my opinion don't have any detail at all. I auditioned them with some b&w 603's and some klipsch reference speakers. The b&w blew them out of the water with nice crisp sound. No doubt these speakers will fill a large room nicely with volume but if your loooking for an "accurate" sounding speaker I would suggest auditioning these speakers with any of the speakers listed above, except for the klipsch reference. The midrange is overwhelming and tends to drown out everything else.

Similar Products Used:

bose601, B&W 603, mbquart 404, kef 65.2, klipsch

Kinda bright highs, midrange was muddy at first but has improved through use.

I have the BP-8s hooked up to an old Yamaha m-45 natural sound amp and and C-45 pre-amp. I agree with some others that a sub might be good for movies, and the midrange can be a little muddy, but they fill my living room like nothing else I've heard. Lush comes to mind.

I first had these running on an older Sony A/V 970 100w receiver. Sounded OK, but the difference between it and the M-45 ( a nice neutral amp with lots of clean power to spare ) was night and day. The bass is tight and punchy and just throbs...all I can say is my neighbors hate me. These speakers can handle everything the amp puts out, no problem.

For the money I doubt you'll find anything close.

This is a followup to my previous posting.

Been building a "vintage" system with e-bay components. Over the past several months as I've added each better component, the sound of the Def Techs has inmproved. Midrange has come into it's own, details are tremendous, the straightwire intercons. tamed down the treble, and the bass is awesome. I agree with the previous post stating they like an extended break-in. They just get better and better.
These speakers are rated at 400watts...an 80w NAD or some JVC receiver won't even begin to bring out the best in these speakers. If you have lower-fi stuff and the BP-8Bs don't sound good it's probable that they're letting you hear the poor quality of your component(s) or they lack the power needed. Also, the wires make a huge difference...the Chorus and Monster cables brought out new levels of detail and the def techs let it shine through. These speakers are very sensitive to the components you use with them.

System:
Amp:Yamaha M-65 Natural Sound Amplifier Class A 160w@8ohms.
Pre:Adcom GTP-400 Preamp
Wires:Starightwire Chorus interconnects
Monster Z-series speaker cables
Source: Sony DVD ( forget my model number ).

Clean and detailed with a tight extended low end. Deep and wide sounstage.

none

The BP-8B is an excellent loudspeaker.
Very clean and detailed mid and high frequencies. Extended and tight deep bass response. Wide and deep soundstage. Great looks, compact size. A WINNER!

Similar Products Used:

magnepan, paradigm, mirage

magnepan, paradigm, mirage