DefTech 7002 questions... (1 Viewer)

[StewartG]

I'm finally upgrading all the speakers in my HT setup!

Been auditioning several products. Currently have SM 350s right and left, CLR 2300 center, BPA inwalls for surrounds (HSU VTF-3 HO subwoofer arrives on Thursday!)

I went with the SM350s because the wife wanted bookshelf speakers. The CLR2300 really overpowered the SM 350s. Finally got clearance from the wife to get towers today!

I'm thinking about going to 7002 left and right and the clr 2500 to match the 5.25 inch mid drivers. I think this should sound GREAT. I'm going to try and set up an audition, but I'm new to bipolar speakers, so I have a couple of quick questions:

1. How will this setup do with two channel music? I like to listen to my music the "old fashioned" way (two channel right and left speakers only).

2. I've read some reviews that indicate these speakers are very touchy about placement. Anyone have any feedback/experience/opinions about this issue? Because of room set up and wife factors, I may not have much flexibility.

 

[Arthur S]

Hi Stewart

Happy New Year

I have auditioned a few bipolar speakers. The best are the flat panels such as Magnapan. The best have true ribbon tweeter. May cost even more than 7002, however, are true high end and for stereo they are just about the best bipolar available. WAF may be a problem, however, with HSU VTF-3HO, 7002 is a major waste of bass from these large speakers.

I have 2 VTF-3HO + Turbos and I wouldn't dream of spending that kind of money on anything other than the Magnapan. There is a huge thread on Magnapan and most everyone who can possibly manage them is trying as hard as they can to get in and upgrade to 3.6 or higher.

Keep in touch.

 

[mrdap]

Stewart

Congrats on your upgrade!

I just bought a pair of 7002s after comparing them to the 7006's and 7004's, as well as Paradigms. I have the C/L/R 2500 also but to date the only way I have listened to them at home is in two channel stereo. I am absolutely thrilled with them for 2 ch. music! They have very good low frequency perfomance (not sub). With 4 5.5" midranges, there is plenty of midrange punch. And the highs are very good as well, although I am sure there are many more expensive units that will out perfom in terms of clarity, they sound great to my ears. I auditioned them with a Clapton live stereo and 5.1 DVD. In my opinion the 2 channel performance far overshadowed the 5.1 for music. The 5.1 did not hurt, but it did not sound any better to me.

As far as placement, you cannot put them right up against a wall or right in a corner. They perform best a foot or two away from the back wall and the side wall and angled slightly to your listening position. The 7002's have a powered 12" woofer on one side and two 12" passive radiators on the opposite side. You can experiment with swapping the towers left for right to have the powered woofers face "in" or "out". "In" is recommended and that is how I am running mine. The soundstage is fantastic, practically the whole room becomes a "sweet spot". Some people who are used to non-bipolar speakers will complain that the imaging is not good because it is not as easy to point at a speaker and say where a sound is coming from, but my opinion is that the music was not created from a point source anyway.

My local Def Tech dealer had all of them on sale for 15% off and I was able to negotiate 20%, so the pair cost me $1,758 + tax.

I haven't listened to Magnapans for many years so I can't compare to them, and I have no idea how much they cost, however, my guess is that you cannot touch a pair in that price range given equivalent bang for the buck. They would probably perform better for classical and/or a lot of strings.

Good luck, let us know what youe end up with!

Happy New Year!

 

[StewartG]

Thanks very much for the responses guys! And Happy New Year!

Arthur - you make a good point about possible "overkill" on the bass, but given the size of my room (almost 8000 cubic feet) and the openness of the floorplan, I don't think I can have "too" much bass energy pumping away in there! (I could be wrong, I guess we'll see on Thur when the Hsu arrives!)

I will see if I can find a dealer for the Magnapans here in Houston and give them a listen. Thanks for the suggestion! I like the sound of the bipolar speakers. To me, positioning is not as important as full, rich sound.

Mr. Dap - I'm having a hard time finding a dealer that will budge at all on the price of the speakers. There is no question, they are great speakers, but the markup on them is around 40 to 50%. I don't mind my local dealer making money, obviously, I just don't want him making a WHOLE LOT of money on *ME*! If I could find a local dealer that would do 20%, I'd pull the trigger on that deal today. (Assuming the Magnapans didn't steal my heart!)

Thanks for the tip on placement, by the way. Given the speaker construction, I can see that having a bit of a toe in on placement will create more "interesting" reflections from those speakers.