faithfully reproduces all types of music, can handle up to 500 watts of amp input

weight

These are the first bipolar speakers I own and they have turned me into a believer of this speaker design type. I purchased my BP20's in 95 and the speakers just get better with age. I also believe this is the speaker that put Definitive Tech on the map in the speaker world. My BP20's are part of my main stereo system (there are four at my house) which consists of NAD 218 THX amp, NAD 118 Digital preamp, Revox 760 digital tuner, Revox A700 open-reel, Sony CA8ES CD changer, Dual CS-750 turntable and NAD PP-1 phono preamp. The sound from this system was quite satisfying when I first added the NAD 116 preamp along with the NAD 118 THX amp to the system two years ago. It has just become fantastic since I replaced the NAD 116 preamp with the NAD 118 digital preamp. The bass just becomes that much more solid because the NAD 118 can digitally expand much of the compressed musical passage on many CD's. The ability to do sound contouring just adds that much more details to any music. At any rate, the BP20's do justice to just about all kinds of music. If you have a good sound source - both hardware and software, they will deliver. I have not auditioned any recent DT offerings and will need to do so when I am ready to assemble my first HT system. Given my wonderful experience with BP20's, I will definitely consider the recent DT bipolar/subwoofer combo speakers - who needs that bulky standalone subwoofers if it can be part of a bipolar with reasonable footprint. All in all, the BP20's will remain to be part of my main stereo system for years to come and I intend to keep the main system two channel since I really do not have any multi-channel music to play. The BP20's do represent tremendous values for the money and I just hope the recent offerings from DT follow the same tradtion.

Similar Products Used:

none

I listened to these speaker powered by an Onkyo Integra amplifier. The bipolar design and the "correct" placement allows the speakers to give off a very warm sound. But the problem is that it is extremely difficult to determine the directionality of the sound field. Another way of putting it is, that a wall of sound would come at you. It was difficult, if not impossible, to determine where the sound was coming from.

Efficient, fills the room with sound beautifully, non directional

Id have to agree with other that if i need a weakness it would be weight, BUT who needs to move them!?

If had these speakers since 93 and ive never regreted buying them. I could have purchased a system that would have dentical speakers all around, but when i heard these speakers i know id have to go for a surround sound system with fll range mains. Had i waited another year i probably would have purchased a model with integrated subs but i dont mind having missed out. I dont plan to ever have to upgrade from these speakers. I have yet to find ANYTHING that comes close to their quality.

Similar Products Used:

B&W, Klipsh(sp?), Energy, Infinity

tight bottom, robust well-defined midrange, laid back high end, very forgiving of source material quality, easy placement

big and heavy

Consider me a convert to bipolar speakers. I've had these for maybe 8 years now. Just for kicks, last summer I got some Paradigm Ref 20's to compare (admittedly not full range, but they were matched with a Vandersteen sub anyway), and I simply just plain prefer the "wall of sound" of the BP-20's that another reviewer mentioned. The Paradigms sounded thin and too "exposed." The entire room is the "sweet spot" for the DTs, not just equidistance from each speaker like typical monopoles.

JBL 4311B Studio Monitors had "muddy" bass compared to the BP-20s. The JBLs didn't "struggled" with the sound when played loud.

To properly position monopole speakers, they must be at least 3 feet from any wall, to minimize room-boundary reflections. Most people do not, and can not do this. Bipolar speakers are designed to take advantage of these reflections. I've had mine 6 inches from the back wall and they sounded very good. I've got them about 1 1/2 feet out now, and they sound spectacular.

Some people are concerned with time and space "correctness" of the sound. My own personal opinion, is that if you'd ask a musician what they'd prefer, they'd go for the wall of sound. Why? Because that's what it sounds like in any concert venue or rehearsal hall. These speakers replicate that without any artificial DSP.

Maybe I'm biased, but I prefer full range speakers like this *without* integrated subs. Gives you more flexibility for placement of a separate sub, and allows you to spend what you'd like for that performance too. (Subs typically sound best in a corner.) Almost all (integrated) subs have terrible distortion problems at lower frequencies. You have to go for Velodyne or Paradigm with servo control or Vandersteen with feed forward error correction to get low distortion in a sub.

These speakers are not fatiguing, and do sound better the louder you play them Sensitivity is an admirable 91-92 dB so they are easy to drive.

I like these so much I'm now considering upgrading to BP-30's up front and moving the 20's to the rear.

Very nice speaker especially for the price.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigms and JBLs

My family brought my father these wonderful speakers for Christmas three years ago. After finally getting them positioned correctly for our music and movie listening, the result was superb. However,by the time we were finished our backs were aching something fierce. Let me tell all of you prospective BP 30 buyers, go out, make all due speed to buy the new upgrade of the original BP 20. Why, you ask? Well, for starters the bipolar effect makes music and movies sound terrific, but the real story is the bass. It is thunderous when connected to the McIntosh MC 300. It blew me away when I put Telarc sound test disc in my CD player and went to the terminator demo. The bass at the end was awesome! While they are not the be all, end all of pinpoint imaging -- this is the nature of a bipolar speaker, even for the Mirage M-1's(an awesome speaker), but still does not compare to a B&W 801 series iii. I love this speaker because its fun to listen to, has a small foot print, it's powerful and not fatiguing like other similarly priced speakers. Two thumbs up from me.

when the bp20s first came out,( I had to have them ) I was looking for just the right sound in a speaker, I had lisened to infinity, bose ,polk, b&w and the list go's on. when I listened to the bp20s I couldent belive the clean, natural sound these speakers were putting out!! BUT...these speaker have to be set up correctly in a room to get the proper sound!! drivin by my adcom the sound was smoth , clean, crisp, and clear, I have owned a lot of good equitment and doller for doller these speakers in my openion can't be beat!!

I've heard Thiel's, Mirages, B&W's, and other high-end speakers and have to say that the BP-20's hold their own for 1/10th the price of some of these. I've had them for 2 years and they only get sweeter with time. The only speaker that caught my attention were the Martin Logan's. I heard an outstanding Martin Logan theater system at a highend Boise store and thought this would be an upgrade to my theater system (I've got a Paradigm ps-1200 sub which couples unbelievably well with the BP-20's) But there's no question, the BP-20's are probably in the top 10 for price/performance ratio for any speaker on the planet.

Prior to owning my BP-20s, I had a pair of Yamaha NS-1000M (Studio Monitors). They, believe it or not, still are one of the great speakers ever made by a japanese company. The Yamaha's only failing was a lack of lower depth. They had fast punch, and some of the best voice characterstics I have ever heard (and I sold audio equipment in Manhattan for several years, so I got to listen to quite a bit of nice stuff).
I had searched, with money burning a hole in my pocket for two years to replace my beloved NS-1000Ms, and had decided upon a pair of Alon speakers I had grown to admire. Lisset Wilson, a New York based jazz musician paid me $3000.00 cash for my Yamahas wich cost me $1200.00 six years earlier, and I was armed and ready to pick up my new Alon speakers. When I went to the dealer, he had just gotten in the BP-20s. This was in 1993. He suggested I give them a listen; which I did, and become instantly enamored by every facet of their sound.

I bought them on the spot, and have had them ever since. But their were troubles in the early production runs. Some of which have only manifested as of late. Their were internal bracing anomalies, where the "I" brace would "give" at the corners and rattle due to inadequate glue, and then later the "surrounds" on the woofers began to seperate from the cones due to (again) inadequate glue. Nontheless, Defintive stood by the product, resolved the issues, and sent all new drivers, even out of warranty to make things right.

The only real problem was breaking them in again with the new drivers. So on with the assesment:

These speakers are worth every penny spent. They bloom like nothing I ihave ever heard. Voices and reed instruments have depth, presence and clarity that is astounding. The bottom end will make you go simply speechless; it is so rich. You can take the most demanding Telarc classical recordings and slam tons of power through these things and they just blush with clear dynamic sounds. Get into a reggae mood, and you could throw a full blown party with the amount of thump and bass they create.

In the mood for some sweet voices? Break out a Chesky recording of Sara K or Kenny Rankin, and have the tissue ready, because these things will bring tears to your eyes; and that is no exaggeration. I am a Sade fan, and man does she come alive throuhg the BP-20s. A great test for any speaker is to purchase the Patriot Games soundtrack, and play track #2 (Attempt On The Royals). There is about a 17Mghz tone that hits throughout the piece, that is mostly something felt, not heard. This is the only speaker that has ever been able to send this tone shuddering through concrete flooring underneath carpet. [This is no exaggeration.]

The mark of any good speaker is its ability to change character with the music being played. The BP-20s do this quite well, and strut when asked. Capable of absorbing loads of power, it is best to not underpower these behemoths. Clarity, detail, soundstage...its all there.

Equipment Currently In Use:

(2) SONY TAN80ES Power Amps (Bridged Into Mono) appx. 520 watts per side.
SONY TAE80ES Analog Pre-Amplifier
PS Audio Ultralink II D/A Converter
Straight Wire (In Bi-Wired Pairs)
All interconnects are Acrotec.

Not nearly as nice sounding as Paradigms (4 stars) or the PSB Bronze or Silver (5 stars). Might as well go out and get some Eosone's.

I have to agree to a certain extent with Manny. Only these are worse than Eosones (which suck too). The only reason dealers carry these is they need something with a high profit margin that the public will dig because of all the ad hype (gee, like Bose). They get 2 stars, they still aren't bose (1 star all the time)