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since Def Tech knows which sub-
woofer is going to be used with the
mid and upper portions of the main
speaker, they can optimize the
entire system to take advantage of
what each part does best.
Speaking of optimizing the sys-
tem, building a good bipolar speak-
er means more than just slapping
the same drivers on the backside of
the cabinet and shipping it out the
door. Definitive uses separate and
"the sound coming
out was big — way
bigger than what
I thought was physi-
cally possible!"
different crossovers for the front
and the rear drivers because, with a
bipole, it's the total output of the
front and rear that's important. The
company spends oodles of time
fine-tuning and voicing the speak-
ers, doing real-world analysis in a
real anechoic chamber at the NRC
in Canada — an expensive,
exhausting step other manufactur-
ers often choose to forego in place
of computer modeling. For speaker
designers, the NRC is the equiva-
lent of Mecca, the Vatican, or
HT Labs Measures: Def Tech BP2006TL Speaker System
This graph shows the quasi-anechoic (employing close-miking of all woofers)
frequency response of the BP2006TL main L/R (purple trace), C/L/R 2300 center
channel (green trace), and BP2X surround channel (blue trace). All passive loudspeak-
ers were measured at a distance of 1 meter with a 2.83-volt input and scaled for
display purposes.
On-axis response of the BP2006TL L/R measures +1.48/-4.13 decibels from 200
hertz to 10 kilohertz. The -3dB point is at 33 Hz, and the -6dB point is at 31 Hz. Imped-
ance reaches a minimum of 2.99 ohms at 123 Hz and a phase angle of 20.25 degrees
at 166 Hz. Sensitivity is 86.5 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz.
On-axis response of the C/L/R 2300 center measures +3.66/-1.58 dB from 200 Hz to
10 kHz. An average of axial and (+/-15 degree) horizontal responses measures +2.12/
-1.99 dB from 200 Hz to 10 kHz. The -3dB point is at 30 Hz, and the -6dB point is at 26
Hz. Impedance reaches a minimum of 2.89 ohms at 326 Hz and a phase angle of
43.78 degrees at 1.06 kHz. Sensitivity is 88 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz.
Three-point averaged response of the BP2X surround measures +0.45/-4.14 dB
from 200 Hz to 20 kHz. The -3dB point is at 98 Hz, and the -6dB point is at 83 Hz.
Impedance reaches a minimum of 3.09 ohms at 70 Hz and a phase angle of -29.29
degrees at 158 Hz. Sensitivity is 89.5 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz.—AJ
"My couch shook
like a teenager on
his first date."
Cooperstown, depending on your
religion. It's kind of like the differ-
ence between taking batting prac-
tice on your PlayStation and walk-
ing up to the plate and really
swinging at 90-mile-per-hour-plus
fastballs. (We know which one
McGwire does.)
Listening to the BP2006TLs, the
first thing I sensed was that some-
thing was wrong. As far as tower
speakers go, these aren't that big,
and yet the sound coming out was
big — way bigger than what I
thought was physically possible!
And that was the impression with
just casual listening. Acoustically
simple pieces like "Fatherless at
14," a sad but sweet song by
Kendall Payne (from Jordan's
Sister), came across with the
"Sandy Gross,
founder of Definitive
Technology, is the
Mark McGwire of
hi-fi. Somehow, this
guy has been able
to come up with
one incredible
speaker home run
after another."
singer's voice rock-solid in the cen-
ter, flanked by the guitar accompa-
niment on the left and right. You
could easily imagine yourself sitting
there in the studio with her as she
cut this piece. The detail was pin-
point and precise, like a fine
European speaker, yet the bass was
not shy (nothing dinky here!). The
soundstage was big and bold.
Additional discs confirmed that
these are not just fine music speak-
ers — they're fantastic music
speakers.
"hold on for dear
life because, man, it's
one hell of a ride"
Next out of the box was the
C/L/R 2300. At only 5 3/4 inches
tall, 19 1/2 wide, and 12 deep and
sporting a black sock and end caps,
it looks right at home on top of most
any big tube or projection TV. To go
along with its dual 4 1/2-inch mid-
bass drivers (the same ones found
in the BP2006TL), there's an 8-
inch long-throw woofer with a dedi-
D
D.
The C/L/R 2300 is goose-bumpingly
great... There are several reasons why a
powered subwoofer in a L/C/R like this
makes definitive sense."
"the detail was
pinpoint and
precise, like a fine
European speaker"
cated 150-watt amp. The woofer
fires out of the top of the speaker
(when positioned horizontally).
There's even an LFE input on
the back.
"Now, surely," you say, "that's got
to be overkill. What's a powered
subwoofer doing in a center chan-
nel? If I'm using a Dolby Digital
system, the bass management is
going to send all the bass to the
LFE output anyway. Give me a
break." Well, the break, my friend,
is in your logic. There are several
reasons why a powered subwoofer
"the inclusion of a
powered woofer in
the C/L/R 2300
makes it sound
like a much larger
speaker, quite decid-
edly fooling you into
thinking you've got
another BP2006TL
right there in your
system"
in an L/C/R like this makes defini-
tive sense. In an ideal home theater
system, you'd use three identical
speakers across the front. However,
most of us are willing to compro-
mise our ideals in the interests of
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