Summary: I bought these from Sears and they arrived undamaged via UPS. I have been listening to them for about a week now and they sound great. But I think I may have an interesting take on the percieved brightness of these speakers. When I first hooked them up I, too, was struck with the overpowering highs from the tweeters. I read the forums and read about "break in" and the posts about Ed Frias and his work with BIC speakers. Then I read an article about air suspension speakers, and it said that an enclosure can't be completely airtight, it must leak enough air to equalize the pressure between the inside and the outside of the cabinet. Although not air suspension, these speakers are in an airtight enclosure. So I simply removed one of the passive radiators from each speaker enclosure and then reinstalled it. The difference was immediately apparent. All frequencies blended in nicely and the highs are indeed crisp and detailed but no longer overwhelming. Perhaps I was just speeding up what would have occured naturally had I broken them in for a month, and I am actually surprised that it worked. (The article also stated that paper cone speakers naturally equalize because paper is porous, but the DV84's are not paper) Anyway, as crazy as this sounds, it worked for me. On a side note, I may still ask Mr. Frias if he will upgrade my Xovers. I haven't made up my mind yet, These speakers sound awfully darn excellent as it is. I really haven't heard a speaker that sounds this good for such a small price. I auditioned towers from Klipsch, Cerwin-Vega and Sony that cost up to $300 each and none of them performs as well as the BIC's in my opinion..
Would you like to Comment? Join AudioReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
Summary: These speakers replaced HTD Level 3 Towers, and are now in use for over 40 hours. I experienced some change in the sound from day 1 until now, and now provides very good detail and excellent transient response. The bass of these speakers allows me to cross over to my subwoofer at 40 hz, and this has tightened up my sub's response as well. I won't compare these to other speakers, as not to show any preference to a brand. I've played both CD's and Records, and the speakers perform very well with either medium. The receiver driving the speakers is an Onkly TX701, and the power is sufficient to drive the speakers to very loud without any perceivable distortion. They handle voice, violin, piano, horns, drums with ease, and efficient (meaning I have the volume at a lower setting than my previous speakers). I feel the price on the Net are very good for the quality you receive. I highly recommend these speakers to anyone looking for a retro design, not depending on high price leading technology to deliver good sound.
Would you like to Comment? Join AudioReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
Rating Reviewed by: D. League(Unregistered User)
(Audio Enthusiast)
Review Date September 21, 2009
Overall Rating 5 of 5
Value Rating 5 of 5
Used product for 1 to 3 months
Review 3 of 7
Price Paid:
$0.00
Summary: I've read everyone's review and I immediately noticed a consistent issue. "I hook them up and started listening", another said "I turned them on for a few hours". I'm sorry folks, these are old style speakers with butyl surround and you can't do what you're doing and judge what these speakers can do sound wise. Mine didn't smooth out until I had about 40 listening hours (I kept a running tally of time, as I always do), and that isn't unusual. The tweeter was the same, somewhat bright at the beginning, and smooth and detailed now. Ed Frias must be making a fortune of the BIC buyers, who want their sound and want it now. What he's doing is changing the output of the speakers emphasizing one part and de-emphasizing others. The sad news is that the speakers will do that for you if you just hang in their. Oh well, I listen to alternative rock, classical, jazz, etc., and these speakers are a dream. The greatest attribute about their sound is they don't fatigue your ears (after break in), having just had a 5 hour session, and I really hated to stop then. I would recommend these only to folks that have the patience to allow the speaker time to reach their potential, and I wouldn't let Ed Frias close to them. In listening to my vinyl collection, I've heard details that I've never heard before, usually somewhat startling when they pop up. I have Decca, Phaze 4 albums that never sounded right with AR's, Infinity's, and KEF's, and I stopped playing them. However, that has changed with these BIC's, and thank goodness I listened to my friend's speakers, who got his 8 months ago.
Would you like to Comment? Join AudioReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
Summary: ill start by saying the guy below with the shipping problems, granted this is not your fault, but this should not deter your opinion of the sound quality or build of the speakers, for which you tared below because you were mad at the shipping service!
These speakers came a little slow from the shipper, but thats to be expected these days. UNpacked these bigger than I thought speakers, and did notice a bit on the chepap side for packing, although I have definately seen worse packing than these. Unpackes and put on the nice rubber stick on squares on the bottom of the speakers which are nice and make for a NON-STICK on my hardwood floors which is a plus. I just purchased a new pair of mono-blocks rated at 500W into 8/ohm.
I started a Rick Derringer cd, and turned up the volume on my B&K PRO-10MN pre-amp, i right away noticed the nice tight bass from these, and the VERY CRYSTALLINE highs from this highly praised tweeter. BIC has been known for their bass since the mid-70's, and now I know why.
I continued to turn up the volume to a higher than usual volume, and left the house for a several hours, I returned and turned the volume down right away, I became situated on the couch, and forgot i have no remote with the B&K so i had to get up again, i turned up the voume after changing my cd to Judas Priest's - Defenders of the Faith remastered cd- i gave the volume a nice almost halfway on my B&K, i sat back and was shocked--The bass was very nice sounding, the midrange was very good considering there 8 inch woofers, they were a tad muddy, but not to bad for my ears, the dv-64's I have heard are much better. I noticed the ear splitting hjighs of these speakers, now I know the term "bright" the trebble was so overpowering, i had to get off the couch and turn it down, im not sure about you, but this is VERY uncomfortable to listen to at high volumes, as its hard on the ears and makes one feel unease because of the high pitched sound. I emailed Ed Frias, and did the crossover mod from him. I had my crossovers back in a rapid 4 days, i was shocked at this. Put the speakers back together, and put on the same Judas Priest cd as the highs on that cd as you can imagine are very loud. I was JUST STUNNED at what ED had done, THERE WAS NO MORE BRIGHTNESS, and the bass was extended, midrange was more seperable from the other instruments, from which the trebble from the stock crossover was hiding. No matter what i put on the brightness was gone, I was now in audio bliss, and I can honestly say these NOW are audiophile quality sound. yeah, again we go into the " no way there audiophile because of the price,...yada-yada - yada. the difference Ed had made was just amazing, it rivaled my ALtec Lansing 508;s which are very nice sounding, and my much older B&W bookshelfs which are looking pretty shabby these days, but the drivers are all new and have been replaced, but still the BIC's just outshines all my speakers. This IS due to ED and the crossover fix he has done. I assure you this mod is a miracle for these speakers, and you will be shouting praises from the top of a mountain.
bass had much more detail & slam, midrange was so clean sounding, and all the harshness is gone, highs were very nice now and rolled off very nicely. the soundstage amazed me, it was EVERYWHERE, as the tweeters have been recommended in audio mag , as well as stereophile mag for its lifelike and pristine sound. I would suggest the dv-64's if you wanted a pair, this is Ed's specialty, b ut Im not complaining about my NEW dv-84's very open sound, and very real sound, alsomt scary real, if you didnt know better, you wouldnt know this was a stereo, youde think ALL your LP's were of the band in your home. I am shocked at these now, and am definately keeping them!!!! hey if you dont want them, thats finr to if your a brand name hi-fi snob. but these are excellent speakers now. I recommend these, butu you must pay the little extra for the crossover mod from Ed. Will be worth your time and is worth every penny!!!!
Strengths:
great sound, soundstage is everywhere, no dead spote, unless you get carried away and try to get sound from behind them!
stock speakers at low volumes are very pleasein and sound awesome!!!!
Weaknesses:
cabinets seem cheap, but have almost no resonance, as we have light plants on top of them, and even at high volumes they donr rattle or move about.!
stock sound is appaling and VERY bright, it hurts your ears at high volumnes
high volumes - forget it, have the crossover mod done!!!!
Similar Products Used: second time buyer of BIC America speakers, had a pair of Venturi bookshelves back in late 80's. those were fantastic, and had the bass of a 12 inch woofer , bookshelves had a 51.4 woofer i think, or maybe a 6.5, venturi port is probably the best ported design of the late 70's through late 90's.
ok, I bought another pair of these, just for the sake of giving time for break in, as they are not going to break your bank, I let these play in the basement at a pretty descent volume hooked up to a QSC GX 3 power amp running continuously for about 100 hours, the electric bill was a but staggering, but worth it. Played Judas Priest Sin After Sin new remastered cd, which is on the higher side of treble. after the alotted time, these did come around about 100%. the bass was so nice
Would you like to Comment? Join AudioReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
Summary: I was looking to buy a new pair of main speakers on Amazon and came acrossed the DV-64's which eventually led me to the DV-84's. I received the speakers in good condition without any shipping damage like the person below described. I hooked them up and WOW what a difference. They reproduce everything so clearly. Yes, the treble seems to be a bit high with these speakers but thats easily fixed by turning it down a setting or two. I primarily use these speakers for DVD's and music. Let me say, these things can get rediculously loud. They have yet to handle anything I can give them. I have had them as loud as my receiver will allow without any distortion.
Strengths: Great acoustics
Low price
Handles anything
Weaknesses: Treble a bit too loud
Similar Products Used: Too many to list
Would you like to Comment? Join AudioReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
4 of 5
5 of 5
Comments
