Definitive Technology BP 9020 Review

[@jgsabato]

Like other bipole and dipole speakers, these will sound best when pulled out well away from the rear wall, like 3 ft+. I had a friend that had larger, older gen BP that had MTM's on both the front and rear plus a larger built in sub. For WAF reasons, he had 2 positions set up in the room. For informal listening, background listening, the back was about 8 or 9 inches from the back wall. For serious listening, he pulled them out into the room so that the back of the speaker was about 4.5 ft from the wall. This totally changed the sound of the speaker, more spacious and less muddled at higher volumes. In a dedicated room, you could avoid all the monkey motion and leave them optimally located. Between having them in the living room and having little kids running around, the 2 position strategy worked well. Def Tech went through a learning curve with the BP series, initially both the front and rear arrays played at the same level. They later found that with the way people had them setup in their rooms ( not optimally) they sounded better with the rear array playing at -6db relative to the front. Just a little history on the BP series.....

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

Thanks for that info, Joe! Pinned. 😉

[@johnsmith-i5j7i]

Yes placement from wall placement is paramount.

[@chrishernandez2490]

My mind is kinda blown right now 😂 As I was sitting here reading your comment, I thought to myself: "Hmm, I wonder if it would be beneficial to have the rear facing speakers play a bit quieter than the front to kinda mitigate any placement issues" and then I read how you said they started designing their rear facing drivers to play -6DB 😆 I guess I really am learning about this speaker designing stuff!

[@Audfile]

I will never own a speaker that *has* to be near a wall. Gross. I'm like 8 feet out.

[@spdcrzy]

@@Audfile wait until you hear what an in-wall system can sound like. It's NUTS.

[@brooklynknightss]

Im still running my BP20s! I bought them brand new in 93 31 years later and they still sound AWESOME

[@csdstudio78]

You're running the good stuff! Back when Def tech used high quality vifa drivers and built solid. I've got a set of bp8's but they are nothing like the 20's.

[@brooklynknightss]

Yes great speakers build like tanks... love them.​@csdstudio78

[@krishnataveras8734]

I still run the BP2002TL I bought in 2001. Still sounds amazing

[@brooklynknightss]

@@krishnataveras8734 i also have bp2000s power monitors 700 and studio monitors 450s brand new in the box

[@bryanmcafee759]

I’m rocking BP30s in my bedroom. Still some of the best speakers over ever heard. The Bass is incredible!

[@Gk2003m]

I got to hear these some years ago. Amazing presence and clarity. If I had space, I would have purchased them

[@TheBassallyear100]

Good stuff! my son has a set of Def Tech's. he actually ended up disconnecting the rear mid and preferred the sound. this review certainly provides reason for that.

[@Masterslessons]

That's hilarious but true but then you see how small the crossover network is and cry so not suggested

[@Wuppie62]

Disconnecting the rear speaker immediately crossed my mind as well, hearing Erin's observations of the soundstage.. :)

[@philipketchum1407]

I purchased my 9020 4 years ago. I love them. They are my least expensive speakers but out perform many of my more expensive speakers. And I thought they sounded better than the larger 9040

[@rx7dude2006]

The BP3000's with 1500watt built on amp with 18" subs are amazing.

[@josephlee6470]

I have those!

[@brooklynknightss]

Monster speakers!!!!

[@brooklynknightss]

I have the bp20s and bp2000s studio monitors 450s power monitors 700s

[@DrNoahBoddy004]

Erin! You are a w e s o m e! I love your approach on sound! It’s down to Earth and not preachy, and snotty! You are a brilliant blessing to us non-rich normal folks!

[@jameshobbs1460]

Running a mostly DefTech system.. 8060's in the front.. I've had polks, jbl, svs, klipsch and others.. (still using my pioneer elite bookshelf for back since they were dolby atmos ready) .. 10 years in and I love them... I have a SVS 2000BP 12 and my bought in 1998 Velodyne FSR-15 .. but only turn them on for movies.. the ST have plenty of Bass for music.. Great review!

[@danielezzet8870]

Always interesting to see the data from an unconventional design speaker, you subjective thoughts are so helpful in those cases. You sense of humour also makes the review more entertaining

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

I agree. Unconventional speakers are really fun, too dive into. Especially in relating how the measurements linked to what you hear. Also, thank you for the kind words.

[@GB-je5tc]

Hey Vern 😂😂😂 Thx Erin for the retro review. I bought my set-up back in the late 90s: BP10s X 4 (FL,FR,SL,SR) CLR2002 Centre X 1 BP8s X 2 (SBL,SBR) SUPERCUBE II (1200 WATT) SUBWOOFER X 1 You hit the nail on the head... TONALITY VS IMAGING challenge or trade-off. Some EQ'g is definitely a MUST, but then afterwards that imaging feeling of "being there" in concert lifts your heart. My generation of towers have all IDENTICAL drivers pointed forward and backward. BP10s had those 1in. Tweets & 6.5 in. Mids... BP8s had 1in. Tweets & 5.25 in mids I found as i built up my 7.1 bed layer over 5 yrs that with more and more identical drivers came EVEN MORE "being there" feeling. Ie. A car driving in a 360 degree front to back, then front again manner, sounded SO REALISTIC. 😮 They DO NEED to breath so I pulled them ALL 2 ft away from all 4 walls. More than 2 ft and they lost imaging I found for my room/ears. I recently EQ'd everything to mediate the nodes ...(30 & 50 hz was crazy abubdant, so now set to -17bB ...so boomy before, much flatter/cleaner/uniform now). They will never sound like my sister's KEFs layout OK, but I mainly go for Home Theatre and Concerts sound programs. I prefer my set up. 👍 THANKS for the evaluation. EVERYBODY'S DIFFERENT RIGHT? GOD BLESS ERIN. 🫡🫡

[@donalddeorio2237]

I have a pair of Infinity Interlude IL50s, they have a 10" 250watt powered sub andI love them. I've had them since 2003, I followed the Manufacturer instructions to leave the subs powered on it goes into standby after 5 minutes. Only had to repair the Amp in one sub after 17 years

[@MrCommunistGen]

Where/how did you get the Amp fixed? I know there was a guy on eBay that would have you mail in your amp and he'd fix it for you. I had him fix the powered amps in a pair of Polk RTi1100 powered speakers back in 2020, but his store seems to have gone dark since then. I recently gave away my pair of IL50s to a friend because 1 amp died and the other was on its way out... and I was moving into a much smaller space where the IL50s simply wouldn't fit. I'd love to get the subs working properly for my friend though.

[@jamesjenkins9267]

Have them as well with some Definitive Technology 7004s for surround. Man my setup in extended stereo is insane once I dialed them in. I decommissioned the plates on the DTs and modeled them with 2 triads DSP subwoofer rack amp and man. I'm definitely getting some serious lows that the plates with their baked in filters could not reproduce.

[@MrCommunistGen]

In the early 2000s when Circuit City was going out of business I picked up my first pair of what I'd call full range speakers, a pair of Infinity IL50 tower speakers. They were a similar hybrid passive + powered sub design, also with a side-firing subwoofer (in this case 10", 250W RMS). I've only recently realized how boomy the bass was, but back then I was excited just to have a pair of speakers that would play below 20Hz in-room. IIRC, everything above ~80Hz was pretty neutral, but they had pretty dull soundstage. Recently got rid of them (gave them to a friend) because one of the plate amps had died for a second time. I'd fixed it myself the first time because I was able to visibly see the burnt resistor, but the 2nd time I had no idea what was wrong and I'm not an electronics expert. I suspect the 2nd amp is on its way out too as even at quite low volumes I was noticing distortion, when in the past I could play the speakers SUPER loud (rattling the windows and walls) and not hear any distortion. What's a bit annoying is that the midbass driver has a high-pass filter at ~150Hz, which is where it crosses over to the powered sub. But if the amp is off (or dead) then that speaker really doesn't play below ~100Hz. Still, even with the high pass filter and no subs they sounded better than the home theater in a box Polks my buddy had, so it was an upgrade for him. I now live in a much smaller space and have a pair of KEF Q150 bookshelves that I picked up last year when they were on absurd sale ($300?). I was surprised at how low they played considering they only have a 5.25" mid-bass, but the real eye-opener for me was the soundstage! I'd never heard anything like them before!

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

I remember those speakers! And I’d love to get my hands on some.

[@MrCommunistGen]

@@ErinsAudioCorner They'll always have a special place in my heart. Another fun detail: They have a built in single band parametric EQ built in. Though with the huge rear firing port, there's no saving them if you've got them too close to the wall. To even have a chance at flat response I feel like you'd need to pull them out at least 3 feet. I never had enough space to do that with them, so I always listened to them with a huge ~15dB bump around 40Hz IIRC due to wall reinforcement and room modes.

[@psyphonyxaudio]

Love these speakers back when it was just 2002 BP TL .. 90s models. Really cool kinda design. I tried a few of the 350 bookself models ..and it was not " clear " enough for my taste. Nice to see them getting a once over. Thanks Erin !

[@khoi83]

Some high end speakers (brands) have a rear tweeter in each Tower, like the Aspen FR30 by PS Audio, but not a rear midrange woofer. My main speakers are the big and impressive Canadian PSB T8 PLATINUM which have also the rear tweeter on the back of each Tower.

[@khoi83]

The PSB Platinum T8 was the ONLY PSB speaker also which had the MTM or d'Appolito arrangement, with an impressive 3 x 8 inch bass woofers on each tower! 25Hz-33kHz, ±3dB (anechoic on-axis)!! Unfortunately this was a commercial flop for PSB as quite few were sold... and also the only time Paul Barton, the well known long time owner and chef designer, offer a PsB speaker with this MTM configuration.

[@NackDSP]

I got to listen to a similar pair of Def Tech speakers a few weeks ago. They were pretty entertaining with the dipole pattern. For $500 and lows in the mid 30's, that's a good speaker. Dipole speaker pattern is half way between forward firing and omni. In my experience true horizontal and vertically Omnidirectional speakers, by giving your ears reflected sound from everywhere, locate the sound very precisely at the speakers location or on a line between the speakers. Its just like a person standing in your room talking to you. You locate the sound as from that one location by all the reflected sounds. So the Dipole gets you part way down the path to the omni experience, starting to localize the sound to the speaker more than the forward firing or cardioid speaker.

[@disienna]

This speaker is actually a heck of a deal. I’m really into wide dispersion as well, and for a company to pull it off this well for this little is unique.

[@Masterslessons]

I've always liked it; once you get real serious in this stuff you can't live without putting a subwoofer to every channel. That's 13, 15, 19 subwoofers etc and that's how I end up building for. It's crazy but this speaker company actually understands this and for many many years. Congratulations DT for the consistently putting bass drivers in everything. 👍

[@michaelj.4187]

well done Erin, great value speaker, sending love to everyone...

[@ChrisW-cr3st]

Great review Eric. I bought these over a year ago and quite like them. I'm not an audiophile and I mainly use these for home theater. They work great. I was so happy you addressed the sub performance down to 30 hz because these things work quite well and eliminate the need for a separate sub in most cases. Of course they are not a replacement for a dedicated subwoofer that gets down to or below 20 hz. I would also like to point out that I did buy the BP 9040s and returned them. I actually preferred the the bass performance of the 9020s which I thought was weird because the BP 9040 had a 300 watt amp and bass radiators compared to the BP 9020s 150 watt amp and ported speaker design.

[@nickcronin9307]

I enjoyed this review. It’s fun to see how a speaker of this style measures. I had been curious. Thanks again for the live stream last night Erin.

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@randyroberson1179]

These remind me of an old pair of carver cs 5.2 towers that I have in my garage. The side subs are not powered but they also have a rear firing 2.5" driver.

[@homeboi808]

I’ve read many cases of their amps failing, but also many cases about great customer service in getting their amps replaced.

[@johannjohann6523]

It does make sense that having just 1 rear firing mid-range speaker could be an issue, especially since there is not a rear firing tweeter along with it (as I initially thought it had 2 rear firing drivers). So how about just disconnect the rear midrange speaker if one must place these speakers close to the wall? Just a thought. I must say I do like the design using a small subwoofer to create the bass. It saves space, and still could/does sound good. Helps save a few bucks but still offer a good all around product since you do not need a subwoofer. And having two 8 inch subs, instead of just 1 subwoofer like most people have, is also an improvement. I Would like to hear these speakers. They "Definitely" have caught my interest.

[@DonnieMulligan]

More Great Stuff Erin. I did not know Def. Tech. was making speakers at this low price point. Like you said, I wonder if just disconnecting that rear speaker would fix the midrange suck out.

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

Well, depending on who you ask, the price was a bit higher initially. But they seem readily available on Amazon at $250 each now.

[@eddievega1100]

Yep ! I have the Bp 9060’s . They sound great in my small room . All the sound I need for all my music . Everything from Avant garde to Zydeco and all music in between. I really don’t need to turn past the 8 o’clock position .

[@demwillams8898]

I used to have a pair of the old school BP7001sc and the CLR3000. They were very expensive new, and heavy AF. Ultimately they were too harsh at reference levels and I went with a full psa loudspeaker setup afterwards. I enjoy the psa more, but some of the DT speakers are no joke. They DEF (eh?) have lost a lot of their brand luster over time. Their flagship line was a big deal, the lesser models weren't bad, but you were paying for the name when it had the credibility. My very first non-soundbar setup was a pair of SM45's, too. We definitely didn't have the huge assortment of quality budget speakers available back then.

[@rogerdavis2056]

I'm running bp2002 and they are still kicking!

[@JoseCastillo-ol8eh]

I need to know how many watts I should power these speakers with, since there isn't any, not even on the official website.

[@FOH3663]

Coup de grâce? Some could argue pièce de résistance may be more appropriate at the beginning ... highlighting the rear firing driver. However, coup de grâce ... becomes more appropriate by the conclusion! Either the Freudian Slip accurately cut right through, or with full intention all along. Regardless, spot on, ... coup de grâce it is! Coolest thing about them is the exploded cutaway illustration! (at which they've excelled for decades)

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

Probably right. On all accounts! 😂

[@basberends332]

Hi Erin! What if you cut out the mid range back speaker? Should not be too difficult?! Or is that problematic with the distribution and sum of energy and ohms to every involved speaker?

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

The speaker is wrapped entirely in grille cloth. I didn’t see any way to remove it. And therefore I couldn’t get to the rear mid. In fact, I had to use a flashlight to figure out where the tweeter is.

[@simoSLJ89]

I just don't understand the price, I can only find them at 1300 € for the pair. Is it correct?

[@jamesjenkins9267]

I have been taking their speakers apart (7000 series) have frequency dividers on the mids and I think the tweeters. I don't know if they incorporated into these. I decommissioned my plates on my 7004s with two triads DSP subwoofer rackamps. Man it is night and day once I got them dialed in. Man

[@rrd1975]

I've always wondered if adding a rear tweeter/midrange was a quick and dirty way of getting a larger or more spacious soundstage. There is no free lunch, and you highlight the penalties paid in imaging precision and response roughness. I also question whether more costly speaker designs that use rear radiating tweeters can overcome or minimize these trade-offs? Thank you for this great review, and I'm glad that you're able to comprehensively test larger, floor standing speakers.

[@RocketBrothersBand]

I bought these speakers a couple of months ago, Just installed Gaia III feet, (probably not worth it), but it did improve imaging slightly, and tightened up the bass a little. Pretty much agree with Erin's take on these. I think they sound best with acoustic music, jazz, classical. Okay with rock and pop music. The sub bass can be pretty awesome for home theater use, but that is probably room dependent. I haven't EQ'd these to exactly where I would want them, but overall, I'm pretty satisfied with these speakers.

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

Thanks for sharing your experience with them. I’m sure others will appreciate it as well.

[@medeuce]

Loving the voices in this one. Lol keep ‘em coming 😂

[@stevekalle6969]

I have these and for the money, there's nothing better even at 800/pair 3yrs ago. Compare the base from these to a single $600 SVS sub and its hard to notice a difference. I use them 95% for home theater. Just wish i had gotten the 9060 since they've been discontinued and the new speakers cost WAY more. I have SVS prime center and Kef Q150 surrounds which sound amazing together.

[@datdudeinred]

What bourbon did you have before making this video Erin? 😂 Whatever you drnak keep having that shit. 😂

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

😂😂 I didn’t have anything to drink, I promise. Funny thing is I knocked this video out in about 25 minutes. Normally it takes me longer to record, but I was trying to hurry up because I needed to be somewhere to pick my daughter up. So actually what you’re seeing is how I normally am when I’m not trying to micromanage the words that are coming out of my mouth. 😂😂

[@coochiecrook7120]

Do these count as full range speakers? Or should you set them as small?

[@Masterslessons]

OK on another note. I do believe it's time, for perhaps DT to make the 🔊 speakers that face the wall be modular. There can be slot expansions on certain spots modifying the speaker's purpose. Tweeters are something I personally upgrade at times and change its location and how it's directed with this kind of technology can be game changing. DT can perhaps offer this kind of methods and it can not only solve the issues you say but also expand the capabilities of the speaker tower. Tower speakers on the lower end tend to waste a lot of space if you know what I mean. Thanks for your time as always

[@ActuallySettle]

The rear facing midrange is a sort of 90's idea; it boosts the treble in the reverberant field, definitely helping in overly damped rooms (like many home theaters). Many high and manufacturers did this with rear facing tweeters, but a mid is a much more sensible solution, especially a small mid. The increased mid and treble in the reverberant field does not affect direct sound much and should give some of the charm of dipoles without all the problems that dipoles have. The increased treble energy you report is probably to compensate for off axis listening. It's cheaper to remove some ohms from the tweeter than make the speaker six inches taller, and sibilance would likely be in the 3-5khz region where the tweeter level is highest with small midranges like this. This is an interesting design. Definitive is a weird company, sort of stuck in the past but that isn't always a bad thing. KEF is bringing this form factor - the skinny speaker with side mounted woofers - back to the forefront, but this is a 90s era treatment of that idea. 500 dollars a pair is quite impressive.

[@veroman007]

The backfiring driver is a great idea but it should be limiting to frequencies above at least 4000 Hz

[@brooklynknightss]

Def tech made some of the best speakers in the 90s no if and buts about it!!!! They still make good speakers the bookshelf D11s sound awesome!!!!

[@salmesquivel]

Hey Erin, long time viewer... You mentioned not to connect the LFE inputs to the back of the speaker, and I was wondering why that is. If the pair were going to be both my 2 channel and home theater set up without a sub, don't I want to take advantage of the LFE connections for movies? If so, would the LFE from the home theater receiver interfere with my 2 channel sources?

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

There is discussion about it in the manual. The implication I got was that using the LFE input would be a secondary consideration, but not the primary.

[@josephlee6470]

Allegedly the crossover in there is better than all the other options so you would want to set your speakers to Large in your AVR.

[@madcrabber1113]

I have 4 of the older BP7004's that I bought in 2009 and loved them before they started humming and other issues at different times. I called their customer service and to get them fixed it would cost over $300 per speaker plus shipping as a deposit. No replacement amps were available for sale so they are now in storage.

[@wrxkyle]

don't these tend to have their amps blow out after a few years and that is why they can be bought second hand really cheap due to reliability concerns?

[@tshd4B2ZNWS]

I wish someone sent him a d17 or d15 which went on sale a couple weeks ago

[@christopherstorrier5560]

Unusual design...I would dis-connect the rear 3 1/2" mid range .....it will cause reflections resulting in cancellations, the results depending on the room & listening position...or maybe a couple of damping panels mounted on the wall behind...Martin Logan used to do a Maggie style speaker with a 8" or 10" moving coil active bass/sub woofer cabinet with the electrostatic panel securely mounted on top of it....it was a very good speaker...

[@hifiguy77]

There is so much to unpack in this video.... That these were discontinued by Def Tech over a year ago; that they were originally $750 each; that Erin seems to have no knowledge of a bipole speaker design; that Erin seems to think that side firing woofer designs are unusual / uncommon (powered or not); and the lack of knowledge of Def Tech (a powerhouse in the speaker industry) or why they they have "fallen of in the high end market over the past 10 years".....

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

You can still purchase these today for $259/each. Someone sent them to me after having just purchased them for that price. I understand bipole. This isn’t rocket science. Side mounted woofer designs are unusual (mainly in consumer floorstanders). Unusual = not usual. DefTech name doesn’t carry the same weight it once did. You missed a lot of my words in this video and seem to be having an emotional response rather than an informed response.

[@hocheye]

My Hyperion speakers are very neutral if there is such a thing.My high end recognition has diminished quite a bit so a fairly sibilant high end would be good for me.

[@hiresaudiocosta873]

Did you let these speakers burn in? 😊. Speakers can sound harsh when brand new. Just curious 🧐?

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

I set a match to them.

[@sage11x]

Had a pair of Cambridge Soundworks that were just like this. MTM up front, pair of 8 in- one powered and one passive radiator.

[@BobbyBass-x6i]

I had the same the T500 towers. The bass was amazing. The problem is one of the amps needs repair and I’ve been wanting months with still no resolution. I’ll never buy a powered speaker again. Although for $500 the investment in these isn’t too dear if they don’t last.

[@dlloyd6300]

How on earth do they pack an aluminum dome tweeter, a powered sub, and ship it to your door for that price! That's kinda insane value.

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

They are discontinued, but I still wanted to do the review because they are so readily available on Amazon for this price.

[@Bradimus1]

One of my buddies has a DT surround system. It's pretty nice! I think I didn't like the tweeters the best in his room, but they weren't bad either.

[@nhennessy6434]

Great review Erin. That's pretty cheap for a tower speaker. As you said, you won't fix that lower midrange with EQ, but the sibilant highs can be addressed. So, not terrible, IMHO especially at that price.

[@avnut5517]

Not too bad for the money. I would probably just disconnect the rear driver, possibly add a dummy resistor.

[@michaelwang9535]

$250 for a bipolar floor standing speaker with built-in 8 inch power sub and is fully integrated to attach a matching upward firing Atmos speaker module is a STEAL. It can sound really good in both 2-channel and multi-channel system if it connects to good matching components and has good speaker placement. Given its bipolar nature and side firing sub, it definitely needs room all around to breathe and to shine.

[@tobiasjames6949]

I've got a set of BP9020 in our home cinema powered via Yamaha RX-V4A, works really well, im building a really wacky 3 driver 1.5 way / full range open baffle dipole centre channel too ahha, Very interesting regarding the passive crossover internally feeding the input to the subwoofer amp, i didn't know that. I have the fronts set as large i believe but also using the LFE input from the AV receiver too, going to experiment.

[@willbrink]

For that $, not a bad choice for a low cost HT system I'd think.

[@parker4551]

Bought a pair of Def Tech BP-2006 same setup in 2006 in think they were about 800 for the pair. Powered sub at the bottom. Use them as rear surrounds now. Have to watch the bass can overwhelm the speaker. They require some proper tuning. About to phase them out this year been trending towards more hifi equipment.

[@NakeanWickliff]

Do you have pictures of your listening room? Do you have absorption in it? Any REW measurements of speakers in your room? I'm just really curious what kind of room you're working in. Just another data point.

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

I’m weird about showing photos of the inside my house (other than my office, of course). I have stuff that I’d prefer to keep private and not have to take down for photos/videos for every review. I have plans for my next house to make it where I can show photos without much concern. But not in this rental house. It’s not something I want to share photos of.

[@NakeanWickliff]

Not weird at all. I respect that. Do you have absorption and or REW measurements of your room? @@ErinsAudioCorner

[@phillipcooper4329]

Look up the old Boston Acoustics VR965's. Same idea without the rear driver. Used to have a pair and I loved them. Should have never gotten rid of them.

[@Corwin74]

I was really considering these Def Tech speakers a couple of months ago, wanted to find some towers for my living room in the $400-600 range. Ended up getting the Emotiva T1+ for $499/pair and boy am I glad that I did! Unfortunately (or fortunately) Emotiva has redesigned their entire speaker line and they are sold out of the T1+, maybe forever??

[@dlloyd6300]

I would love to see how reversing the polarity of the rear speaker would effect the Klippel data!

[@m.k.1340]

Agreed. An open-baffle dipole speaker has an inverse relationship front to back, not the same output front and back. Aft-firing mid or tweeter speakers are an effort to replicate that effect out of a box-built speaker.

[@marct9587]

I'd be interested to see the D17 tested.

[@NosEL34]

I can remember Def Techs from the 90's..very popular speaker in my area though I've never owned a pair. I was just talking to someone at Best Buy the other day and he was telling me the new Def Tech BM80's have ridiculous bass. Authority down to 20hz. His exact words were "They pound dude" Would love to see some data on them.

[@tylerrynberg]

I had Paradigm bi-polar speakers for many years. It's a pleasant sound but it's tricky to make it work properly in real living rooms and it applies that same kind of effect on every single song. I far prefer my Revel Performa3s, which have a wide soundstage but are chameleons with different songs.

[@dentman67]

This can not be overstated. Placement is hyper critical with this style of speaker. I hope potential buyers read your comments

[@jasonsantomauro8569]

If you have a sound bar with an external amp for rear speakers, this is the way you wanna go to upgrade !

[@jedi-mic]

Well sounds like a good contender for tilting it back five seven degrees ,Other thing putting on a cement block! not concrete block!! you can put the cement block in a cushion or pillow case. with the mid-range in the back is depends which phase it's in?? they should have put a switch, if it's against the wall put it out of phase if the speakers further out like three or four feet then keep it in phase. Help with having as well in line one and a half ohms resistor, eliminate dip your getting. it sounds that is like the phase is 180° what you could do is put a heavy book hanging over the back 3" that might reduce your cancellation will help anyway, really it's in the wrong place I would have put it behind the tweeter

[@craigenputtock]

DefTech makes great speakers

[@Novilicious]

Question: Are Martin Logan Electrostats the same concept because they have a back wave ( 11:00 dipole). How come those don’t screw up the midrange? I’m fascinated 😮

[@thomaslutro5560]

I'm sure Erin will answer this better than me. But there is a difference between bipolar and dipolar. In a bipolar you'll have front and back in phase, in a dipole they'll be opposite phase front and back. In either case how the front and back (or direct and reflected) sums at the listening position will be different for the two radiation patterns, but also very dependent on room dimensions and distances between speakers and walls. What strikes me as strange about this is that it's made bipolar, even approaching omnipolar for a limited frequency band, on purpose. I can't really make sense of that.

[@jgsabato]

Being Dipoles, the rear wave of the ML is 180 degrees out of phase from the front, you can still have cancellations, but it will likely be at a higher frequency since the planer panels are wider and more directional down to a lower frequency because of the baffle width. With Dipoles, you have to be willing to have distance between the speaker and the rear wall and do some careful aiming to get a strong direct sound at your listening position. The longer distance to the back wall helps assure that spl of the reflected rear wave will be lower, so even if parts of the spectrum are out of phase, the differential will result in a weaker dip due to cancellation. Back in the late '70's, I had the Magnaplaner Tympani 3 panel speaker ( each speaker was 4' wide, 6' tall and about 1.5" thick) I was lucky enough to have them in a LR/DR that went from the front to the back of the house, so I had them about 9' from the back wall, essentially acting as a room divider. Set up like that, they were great, but they were still a PITA to set up for best sound, but a lot easier than if I had to have them close to the rear wall. If you can't accommodate how these speakers need to be placed to sound best, you are probably better off with a monopole speaker.

[@Gamez4eveR]

Martin Logan panel speakers have a quite fucked midrange

[@JimConnaughton-s4p]

What did you say about the price on the 9020 model I hope your wrong 500 a pair

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

They were $500/pair when the fellow who sent them to me ordered them a couple months ago.

[@NykoLUniko]

I’m surprised Erin dint disconnect the +\- from the rear firing driver or lower the output as Deftech suggested. The measurements would’ve been gold. Also, I’m of the thinking more companies should pursue this design. It just makes sense to purchase an actual full range tower. Hope Kef can make a poor mans LS60, because this is almost that without the concentric.

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

I did not see a way to disable the rear firing speaker. I just pulled up the manual to make sure I didn’t miss it and I don’t see anything there either. The optional Atmos speaker spot that mounts to the top is the only speaker leads I see.

[@nonsuch]

Definitive Technology's high end line of speakers are really good.

[@ScubaDiverPicker]

Great speakers

[@analogkid4557]

For 500 bucks they looks alright. Disconnect the rear midrange.

[@Dracayala]

What would happen if you reverse polarity for the rear midrange?

[@sudd3660]

maybe it is already flipped, did he say that he checked for that?

[@Dracayala]

@356h7 he believed he said it was in line with the front

[@Dracayala]

I believe he said it was in line with the front.

[@sudd3660]

@@Dracayala i hope the owner when he gets the speaker back can try this

[@davevolz6138]

Bipole becomes a dipole. With delay

[@CrowbarOfJustice]

Did you review the emotiva xb1

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

Nope. They haven't sent me anything despite me asking many times.

[@rdrx9530]

Can you suggest center channel that goes with these? Centers from deftech kinda expensive

[@SGTOldSchool96]

Monoprice Monolith THX 365 C is a great 3way center channel for the price.

[@harryburnett7086]

I wonder what disconnecting the rear bipole bipole speakers would sound like

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

It can’t be disconnected. Not at least as far as I could tell. The whole speaker is wrapped in grill cloth and I didn’t see an easy way to remove that.

[@edgarortiz4681]

I would like to see a comparison to the Golden Ear version. I suspect it is virtually the same speaker. Very suspicious. 🤔

[@Openeyesopenheart42]

Great review mate, love the humour 😂

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@Openeyesopenheart42]

@@ErinsAudioCorner it’s great to see you so happy again, you deserve it Erin.

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

@@Openeyesopenheart42 well thank you!

[@Kerwonderful]

I bought Definitive Technology home theatre towers many years ago. The capacitors burned and they don’t supply the parts for them. Sorry, never getting Definitives again.

[@jasonsantomauro8569]

Oh mine are only a foot away from the wall. Maybe you need more space on way bigger speakers, but not these. I have Bose 701 ii for fronts they are about 2 1/2 feet out . I have definitive technology 9040s for my rears and side Speakers klipsch 820f for front upper speakers . I love them for the everywhere sound . In the beginning of Game of Thrones is a bug that flies by anyone in my room starts swatting by their face, thinking something Is flying by their face and when like a phone rings in a movie you see them looking close by them to pick it up. I don’t know how great they are for music listening but for movies effing amazing.

[@honumoorea873]

I got a jbl similar but the woofer is, horizontal in the bottom of the speaker... Pretty old speaker

[@thebigdoghimself]

If I remember correctly, these were $1500 per speaker. They have been discontinued for something like 3 plus years.

[@n.o.b.s.8458]

That makes way more sense ha ha. I was scratching my head how they even afforded all these components at this price point, let alone the R&D to actually make it sound decent. I mean for the price of these, you could almost buy a pair and use it as parts to save money on a full DIY setup XD

[@thebigdoghimself]

@@n.o.b.s.8458 The other thing I noticed is that there is supposed to be a left and a right speaker but they are only selling them as singles so you will most likely get two identical ones.

[@hifiguy77]

My thoughts exactly.... one of the first major points I expected to hear was that these are an old model (who knows how Amazon ended up with these they are blowing out). The BP9020 were the smallest smallest of the line; they should have retailed at $750 each ($1,500/pr).

[@abelfelix5244]

No, they were $650 new, I bought them when they had recently came out. But I got them at $520 each with the center cs9040 $500

[@PublickStews]

Props for correctly pronouncing "Coup de Grace". Most people incorrectly say "Coup de gra"

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

Holy crap! I got it right!?!?

[@hifiguy77]

If you're not saying "cut da grass", you're saying it wrong 🤣

[@joywonderful5804]

Please review Polk Reserve TallBoy (one of r500,r600,r700)

[@csdstudio78]

Baseline here... If you have Def tech pre-2k then it's great. Anything after that... Boo.

[@peperpimenta]

let me see if ii get this right, you do a speaker review that supposedly you received 2 weeks ago and you don't even show the speakers themselves or room placement where you done your tests? same for the KEF R5's video.. 🤯

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

Do you think this data is created in MS Paint? LOL And I showed the KEF R5. In my living room. Go look again. 😂😂😂

[@peperpimenta]

@@ErinsAudioCorner show us the gear man, that's what new viewers are here for :D

[@peperpimenta]

@@Mishael_Agyei-Boamah no, but when i look into yt reviews i like to see the product in question, not just a random bloke showing his face talking and a couple of graphs 👍

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

@@peperpimenta bro, if all you want are some pictures or video of something in a review, then you can save yourself a lot of trouble and just go to the manufacturers website and see what they have.😂

[@peperpimenta]

@@ErinsAudioCorner i know that, but looking at the product in test setup or even behind the scenes while you speak is much more appealing.. you should try and watch a videogame review where the person doesnt show the game irself 🙂 just a positive criticism buddy, nothing personal or against your methods.. each one to his own i guess.

[@boowiebear]

They sound great but I had a center, tower and sub all fail. Their amps have terrible reliability.

[@jebrehbaker8613]

Fluance sold mtm with side firing woofers. Oddly, crossed over at 900hz

[@ATommy-lz4jd]

11:40 this is how I imagined Amir to be speaking before he appeared in his first video!

[@CC-xu2yz]

Erin?

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

Amir? What’s that? 😉😂

[@Clobercow1]

And what if you disconnect that read mid speaker?

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

Can’t. The speaker is entirely wrapped in grille cloth. Kinda like Vandersteen speakers.

[@IsmaelMartinezPR]

Are you sure about the $250.00 I can't find it anywhere listed.

[@howard5992]

At Amazon, $250 each with free shipping. He has a link in the description.

[@jordenb9469]

Used. They haven't made those in 10 years lol

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

That’s the current Amazon price. amzn.to/481sCiv

[@mw4609]

Finding a couple odd comments in this video... You haven't encountered bipole speakers before - speaker mfg's have been doing this for a very long time and there is no shortage of these models over the years. Also find it odd that a speaker reviewer is surprised by a built-in sub amp - again, it's been done many times and significantly prior even to the existence of DefTech. Take for instance Sandy Gross' other speaker line design - the entire GoldenEar Triton series, where all the models above Triton 3+ have this feature. I've hear the entire DefTech BP line and I totally agree that DefTech tweeters are harsh and sibilant (almost as bad as B&W) - but even a cursory glance at the speaker (or reading of the speaker's description) will tell us that. If it has an aluminum dome tweeter - it will very likely have sibilant highs (anything I've ever heard). Another visual clue to sibilant behavior is the tweeter having a cup or ring built in front of the dome. Ask yourself, why would they shield part of the tweeter (answer is somewhat obvious)... because if they didn't, the shrill sound would pierce a hole through your eardrum. Even the top of the BP models has this same issue. What do we learn? If you have normal hearing in the upper frequencies, stay away from aluminum-dome tweeters - its common sense.

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

Well.... First, I said I hadn't measured a speaker like this. Never said it's not been done before or that I've never heard one before. I'm not sure how you got that out of what was actually said. As for aluminum dome tweeters, that's not at all true. The breakup modes are not at 4-6kHz. And, FWIW, the "shield" is a waveguide.

[@seoulrydr]

are the 8" woofers mirrored?

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

No. These are sold as singles.

[@wheelstandr]

Went up $100 since I last watched this. Now $350 each.

[@scotteaton4868]

One of the best surround sound systems I've ever heard was with the older passive DT towers. BP'20s I believe. Back then their designs were better quality and legitimately hifi. Ever since the BP2000s this company has been button feeding and their speakers have gone down hill. Flabby bass and choppy response. Emotiva B0s are orders of magnitude cleaner. Its a shame because old skool DT made nice products.

[@bossunimportantstuff]

Please test the Auna Linie 501 FS

[@danielacosta1998]

I purchased these in april 2023, I loved the aesthetics more than the sound, the sound was AWESOME but, certain songs seemed to miss the magic and midrange you hear/feel when listening. I showed my dad and he played his favorite 3 songs, and something felt off, vocal harmonies and musical notes from pianos/synths/pads, seemed like they were MISSING or at least “quiet” . But if your using this as a PARTY speaker, it sounds awesome, great first impression but for me, it lacks some magic and soundstage that i love. Its a pass for me.