Definitive Technology SuperTower BP7001SC Equipment Report

Definitive Technology BP7001
SuperTower Loudspeakers
"The BP7001 is an overachiever of major proportions..."
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C h r i s M a r t e n s
I
If you meet Sandy Gross, president of
Definitive Technology, you will discover
three things; first, he is every inch an
audiophile (as passionate about sound
quality as any TAS reader might be); sec-
ond, he believes in building speakers whose
price/performance ratios are exceptionally
good (more than a good business strategy, this
approach makes quality sound accessible for
more listeners); and third, he never forgets that
music reproduction in the home is supposed to
be fun (that's right—exuberant, childlike fun).
All three of these traits influenced the design of
Definitive's new BP7001
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speaker that promises top tier performance at
an affordable price, plus that elusive "fun fac-
tor" that entices you to enjoy whatever music
you want, whenever you want.
Enthusiasts biased in favor of small,
esoteric manufacturers may find it hard to
embrace a high-end speaker from a compara-
tively large and successful company like
Definitive Technology, but the truth is that
some large companies have research and devel-
opment resources small firms simply can't
afford. One example would be Definitive's new
multi-million-dollar Definitive Technology
Advanced Research Facility (patterned after the
NRC lab in Canada, but offering even more
extensive anechoic testing capabilities), where
much of the development testing for the
BP7001 took place. My point is that
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Definitive's BP7001 is a serious speaker
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designed by and for knowledgeable music
lovers; as such, it deserves to be evaluated with
ears (and minds) wide open.
The $3500/pair BP7001
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range, bipolar loudspeaker based on front- and
rear-firing D'Appolito driver arrays coupled to
a built-in powered subwoofer. Each D'Appolito
array comprises two 6" magnesium-framed
polymer bass/mid drivers and a 1" annealed-
aluminum dome tweeter connected via phase-
coherent Linkwitz-Riley crossover networks,
though the front and rear arrays use slightly
different enclosure volumes, low-frequency-
—an ambitious
crossover points, and crossover slopes (differ-
ences said to promote smoother, more integrat-
ed sound, and to improve phase response in
the crossover region between the bipolar arrays
and the subwoofer).The subwoofer is essentially
a built-in version of Definitive's excellent
SuperCube I.Like the SuperCube I,the BP7001
is a sensitive, full-
uses an onboard 1500-watt amplifier to drive one
10" long-throw woofer and two 10" passive radia-
tors,but with a fixed crossover point and phase
settings that are "digitally synchronized with
the bipolar arrays (an LFE input gives users the
option of controlling the subwoofer from an
AVR or multichannel controller). Plainly, the
BP7001
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is it truly a high-end contender? In four impor-
tant areas, it is.
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H E
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is a lot of speaker for the money, but
H E J
I G H N D O U R NA L O F
First,the BP7001
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scale dynamic shifts with grace, finesse, and
freedom from compression. The Definitives
offered up big musical moments with an
expansive and unstrained quality, yet helped
the dynamics of quieter passages become more
realistic in scale and more delicate and intimate
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in their appeal. In short, the BP7001
dynamic envelopes of notes right, bringing
instruments and voices alive in a way that made
many other speakers seem flattened and com-
pressed by comparison. The Liberty City track
from Jaco Pastorius' live The Birthday Concert
[Warner Bros.] features a potent big band horn
section whose huge swells explode upward
and outward in a sonic shower of molten gold.
Many speakers have stumbled on this track, but
TM
A M
U D I O & U S I C
s handled large- and small-
s got the
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