some guy

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Price Paid:  $265.00 from ebay

Summary:
as shown, i only paid $265 on ebay, plus the seller lives 25 miles from me, so i just picked them up, no shipping $. i sold a pair of b&w 601's and a pair of kef q15's for almost $500 because i figured i would have to spend every penny to get something better. even at their retail price of $800 they are a steal!!! as i said i had b&w 601's, not the best speaker in the world, but pretty darn good for a bookshelf speaker, and the def tech bp8b's definitely blow the b&w's away (and the kef's of course) hands down. obviously they take up more space than any bookshelf speaker, but if you dont mind using towers, these are the way to go, used or not. i have noticed so much more with all my music, and i find myself listening to so much more, classical, blues, some jazz even. the b&w's sounded great but piano music was harsh, the bp's actually remind me of when my mom used to play the piano in our house, because they actually sound like a real piano, something i have never heard from such a low priced brand. i have auditioned almost every brand out there, def tech cant be beat for the price, as far as i have heard, they cant be beat for at least 3 times the price.

Strengths:
everything you could expect from a $2000 and up speaker, for $800 tops. the bass is amazing for such small woofers and the soundstage is huge.

Weaknesses:
i find myself getting startled constantly from the sound they create, example, im home alone, i hear a noise in the kitchen behind me, i turn around to see who is about to attack me, only to find out that its the def tech soundstage being so lifelike it actually scares me, no joke these sound that good. i listen to alot of heavy metal too, now i hear the sound of the metal foot pedal for the bass drum right before it hits the drum, these things bring out every detail of the music, sometimes that detail becomes annoying because you tend to notice sounds that arent really music, feet shuffling, doors opening and closing, people coughing or talking in the next room, any amount of distortion from the instruments or the recording process etc. im not really sure these should be weaknesses, but be prepared for some things you have never heard from your music or movies.

Similar Products Used:
b&w 601's

musiclover60

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $325.00 from Pawn Mart

Summary:
Well, after 20 plus years my JBL L46's finally gave out. The foam surrounds on one woofer were cracked, on the other seperated. Strong bass notes meant distortion every time. So I'm thinking to myself, "These speakers were good, and cost $400 twenty years ago. I should be able to pick up something of similar quality for around $600 now." After trips to Best Buy, Circuit City, and others of that ilk, I found out how wrong I was. Everything sounded like crap! Regardless of the price! JBLs, Infintys, Polks, and everything else sounded worse than my twenty year old broken down speakers. So I decided to jack my budget up to $1000 and head to some REAL stereo stores. Now the speakers sounded good, but my one grand looked puny. Paradigms? Sounded good, but needed a sub woofer. $1400 dololars. Listened to Klipsch, yuck! Listened to some Def Tech 7006s and the first words out of my mouth were "Oh my". They sounded better than speakers twice their price. Still they were $1200, $200 over my self imposed limit. Did they have any BP10s or BP8s? No, the closest store that carried those models was in Chicago, a 4 hour drive. So I kept looking and found a store in town that carried the Vandersteen 1Cs (a great speaker) and decided on those for $880 including stands and setup. I stopped in a pawn shop the same week I was going to put the money down on the Vandersteens, and lo and behold, a pair of used Def Tech BP8b's were standing right there. What's the price? $350. I talked him down to $325, and got 1 week to try them in home.
The verdict? FANTASTIC! I kept 'em.
First, their depth of stage, like all Def Techs, is unequalled at any price. There just aren't enough superlatives for them. Second, their width of stage, though not as good as their depth , is still very good. The imaging is fantastic in a speaker in this price range. The highs are crisp and clean and smoother than you would expect from an aluminum dome tweeter. The midrange is slightly recessed but accurate and true ( a sub set to cross at about 50 hz or so should bring the mids out more). The bass is much better than I expected, able to handle all but the lowest organ notes and synthasizer notes. You don't really need a sub with these puppies.
Placement is modeerately critical. When I first set them up I had them 10 inches from the rear wall and the bass was quite boomy. I moved them out to 16 inches and started losing that wonderful depth. I moved them to 14 inches from the rear wall and viola, no boominess (well very little) and that wonderful depth was back.
Are they as good as the 7006s? No, but they are $400 cheaper new, and they stay under that magical $1000 mark. If you're looking for a quality speaker for under a grand, you owe it to yourself to audition these!

Strengths:
Unmatched depth of stage
plus
Very good width of stage
equals
Excellant imaging
Clear, crisp highs
Good bass
Don't require a ton of power, but can handle it
A TRUE hi-fi speaker for under a grand

Weaknesses:
Slightly recessed mid-range, so if you like an in-your-face sound you might not like these
Placement is critical, so you really need to try them in your home

Similar Products Used:
JBL, Boston Acoustics, Vandersteen, ADS (showing my age here), Paradigm, B & W, Magnapan, Epicure, Advent

Price Paid:  $600.00 from Audio Etc.

Summary:
So I've best running around for most of my life trying to fall in love with a speaker. I have finally done it. I went into my usual audio store to listen to some B&W 603 S2's after hearing some paradigms (which sounded awful) at another audio store near me. The sales guy was more than happy to show me the B&Ws, but I then noticed the little monoliths sitting right near them. I asked about them and he says that they are Definitive Technologies, and are amazing. So I did some switching back and forth between the B&Ws and the Def Techs, and it was simply astounding. When I listened to the music from the B&Ws, I knew it was coming from a speaker box in front of me. It was clean, but it was still obviously coming out of some box. The Def Techs were a whole different ballgame. Each time I switched back to them, I was blown away, the notes were freed, music surrounded me in a way I had never experienced. I played Joni Mitchell, Simon and Garfunkel, Coldplay, the Zombies, Elliott Smith, and lots more and I played them to hear what they were supposed to sound like. I had always wanted to like the B&Ws, I figured it was what I was supposed to do if I knew what I was talking about, but the 3-D soundstage that the Def Techs throw is staggering, almost confusing in that it makes the music completely effortless. It's just music, not distortion, no filler, and all you can hear are the perfect notes, singers taking breaths, fingers shifting on the fretboards, and it's a magical experience. I now have them hooked up to a Marantz vc-5200, Luxman R-351, and am amping them with a Musetex amp. Giving them more watts definitely brings out more bass, but I am still looking into a subwoofer, although for regular music it isn't necessary. Daft punk fared well under low volume levels, but when the bass needed more everything went off kilter. So if you are confused, and don't know why you can't find the amazing speakers you crave for under a grand, seek out the Def Techs. I can't speak for you, but they had me sold four seconds into my first song with them. Also, they look awesome and the soundstage it really cool because it has almost no limits, go behind the speakers, they still sound great, in between them, it's all good, and in the sweet spot it's just heaven.

Strengths:
Treble, Mids, looks, soundstage, clarity, warmth.

Weaknesses:
The fact that I couldn't afford the model with the subwoofer built in. But that's a personal weakness, not a speaker flaw.

Similar Products Used:
Nothing is similar, but I've heard: B&Ws, Polk lsi9, Paradigms, Triangle, Bose (ha, haha, hahaha), JBL, Bang and Olufsen, Boston, Harmon Kardon, etc.

Price Paid:  $525.00 from ebay :-/

Summary:
Alright, here's the story: Well, when i was in high school (yes, I'm young...) I wanted to have a good home theater setup, so my dad and I went off to the local "boutique" A/V shop, and ended up with some Boston Acoustics speakers, a cheap Denon receiver, and a DVD player I still like because of it's immense ease-of-use (my c. 1950 mom can operate it...) Well, they people came in, installed everything and we looked forward to getting blown away by some intense HT experience... unfortunately the setup was pretty poor. The BA surrounds were of disgustingly poor quality, and the main speakers made you very aware of their presence. I made my dad return this stuff right away, and I sought out advice on how to do HT the RIGHT way... 3 months later we ended up with the BP8Bs, BP2X surrounds and a ProSub 100. The Def Techs are the only speaker to consider, they actually look decent in a living room, unlike those plasticky BAs, and various other brands.

Strengths:
The sound is awesome, really great imaging at times, and just a generally immersive environment for HT. The level of bass is just right for a tower + sub setup.

Weaknesses:
I think we still have not got that great a placement on the speakers, it's pretty hard to do, but a little work in this department has gone a long way. The speaker tops get dusty. I miss the speakers (In college, a little over a month until I'm reunited with my Def Techs) Kinda pricey, but rather bargain priced compared to other fashionable (alright, semi-fashionable) speakers. I would be interested in trying something with more bass, so I can have "large" mains setup on the receiver. have to be pretty careful to avoid damaging the speaker socks.

Similar Products Used:
Every product in the Bose lineup. Yeah right, shoot me first.

Price Paid:  $380.00 from David Rutledge Audio

Summary:
I recently bought 2 BP8B DefTech Speakers. Now I currenly own these two, and a C2 center, and PF15+ Subwoofer from DefTech. I am using a Harman Kardon AVR 110 receiver which puts out (ONLY)40 watts per channel. Now that my setup is complete every music cd, dvd, sounds the way the stuios and record studios wanted to to sound. I have 380 DVD's and I just found out that I can watch them all over again from A to Z. These speakers outperform other speakers thousand's of dollars worth. I still need to upgrade my receiver so I will have more power, but then my house will fall apart in a couple of months. (The house is only 2 years old) Finally what I can say is that these BP8B's are very nice looking, elegant, and powerful. I have heard really expensive speakers, but Deftech's beat every speaker especially if you look at the price difference between B&W or any other high priced speaker and Definitive Technology. What I decided is that I will be a DefTech customer until I turn deaf. I won't care what other companies bring out or develop, Deftech is the best no questions, None. If you want good speakers which work and will last you a long time, only buy Definitive Technology. Don't waist your time with Infinity, JBL, KLH,Sony, Cerwin Vega. I hope this review helps you folks who want DefTech's My Dream System has come true

Strengths:
Bass, Bass, Mid's, Mid's Perfect

Weaknesses:
None in this universe!

Similar Products Used:
Martin Logan