Deftech vs Polk quality (1 Viewer)

[Neil_Rak]

I am looking to buy a 5 speaker plus sub set for a HT. My budget is around $1500. I was most impressed by two setups I heard which I will list below. Does anyone have experience with either or maybe even both of these so as to make a recommendation. If you feel that there is any other much better option for $1500 please feel free to inform me.

Deftech:
front - BP6B towers - $600/pr
center - Procenter 100 - $200
rear - BP 1.2x - $350/pr
sub - Prosub60 - $280

Total = $1430

OR

Polk
front - RTI8 - $635/pr
center - CSI3 - $165
rear - RM101 - $150/pr
sub - PSW404 - $350

Total = $1300

 

[gene c]

My current setup (this week anyway!) is Polk Rti8's, Rti6's and a Csi5 purchased as open box or on sale for $770 minus $100 from the sale of a free PSW10 sub. This leaves me with a very nice sounding setup for $670 plus $250 for two Dayton 10" subs. Only two complaints. The midrange is just a tad thin, mostly on the bookshelves but not so much on the Rti8's, but a little tweaking of the bass/treble smoothed things out. Second, the Rti8"s are pretty tall. Over 41"'s. And with only two 6" drivers an a tweeter, they don't need to be that tall. Something closer to 36-37"'s would be much better for me. But that's a minor complaint. Build quality is very good to excellent. Especially the black one's. The cherry one's look and feel like cheap plastic laminate. I don't have any experience with Deftech but haven't heard many, if any, complaints.

 

[MattCPT]

I own the Def Tech BP30s ($1,200) a pair and their center channel. They used to be (and may still be) the largest speaker offered without a powered sub built in. I intentionally avoided the built in sub because I found the BP 30 to have IMHO very good bass response that sounded more accurate than the powered sub. The salespeople at Audio advisors agreed with me and stated that they thought the powered sub compromised the speaker cabinets ability to produce good bass on its own. "It seems that everyone wants a powered sub regardless of the increased cost and potentially compromised sound. Speaker companies are happy to cater to them" the salesman stated.

I've had my speakers for about 10 years and I think they sound great. I'm still blown away by the sound of SACD through these speakers. I've had no quality concerns, and the speakers still look great. If I bought speakers again I would keep Def Tech in the running, but would also compare them to some of the internet only companies (ascend, SVS new line that is due out, etc...) to see if I'm missing out or not.

I once tried the SVS PB1(?) sub with my set-up, but with my Marantz receiver's 80hz cut off I found that I lost a lot of the warmth of my Def Tech and the bass improvement wasn't noticeable unless I ran the SVS hot(which if I want to I can just boost my speakers bass for the same effect). In the defense of SVS, I thought that it had very accurate/tight bass and wasn't displeased with the quality. It's just that I didn't find that it made an improvement to my set-up, and couldn't see spending around $600 for it. If I were to go with smaller speakers than I would buy either the SVS or HSU sub. That includes Def Tech's smaller speakers. Thats of course just my opinion.

I hope that this helps you.

Matt

 

[Neil_Rak]

That definitely helps.

I guess for now I would go with the Deftech speakers and buy my sub from SVS or HSU.

The only thing lingering in my mind is that several people have said that if i go with a direct sales company like Axiom, I will get speakers for the same price. Should I consider Axiom over Deftech? At least Deftech, I heard in a high-fi store, but Axiom would be hard to hear.

Oh well, thanks. And anyone who knows about Axioms can chirp in

 

[JoeHard]

I am a long time DefTech owner, BP2002 and CLR 2002. I can't speak for Axiom, as I have never heard them, but they certainly are well liked on this forum. As to Polk, with all respect, I don't think they sound as good as DefTech, but others may not agree.

 

[Neil_Rak]

Thanks for the info. About the Deftechs, I thought the CLR were center/left/right speaker for people who wanted one compact speaker to do it all. I was considering the procenter100 or procenter C2 which are cheaper, since I was going to buy the BP6 or BP8s also. Would you recommend otherwise?

 

[mylan]

Yes, the CLR is a speaker you can use as a center, left, and right, thus the name. Joe just used the BP2002 because he wanted a tower speaker. I have also never heard the Axiom but I do know you need a good amp to run them due to their low impedence, which I believe i've read is 4ohms.

 

[JoeHard]

Neil,
I have heard the procenters and am not as fond of them as I am other DefTech centers. If You are buying the BP6 or 8, both nice speakers by the way, why not look for a used CLR 100 if Your trying to save $.

 

[Neil_Rak]

Ok, I guess I will take your advice, and look for the CLR. I was going to get the ProCenter C2 over the cheapest CLR (CLR2002) because both claim to have two 5 1/4 midranges, and a 1 inch aluminum tweeter, both are about the same size, but the CLR is $200 more. I dont even know what the difference is and why it is so much more?

If you honestly tell me there is a significant difference in sound quality, then I'll just shell out $200 more instead of looking for a used one.

 

[JoeHard]

I would never tell You how to spend Your money. That's what wives are for. I'm sure some of the price difference is the plastic enclosure on the procenter. To Me the procenter can sound a little harsh, but that's just My opinion and You may not agree. Try to listen to both. There are currently 2 CLR 1000's on e-bay so it might be worth a look. Good luck with Your Def-Tech's.

 

[MattCPT]

Neil,
I own the C/L/R 2002 and I paid $400 for it 10 years ago. I didn't realize that it was the cheapest of the CLR speakers? At the time I remember it to be one of the better center speakers that Def. Tech. offered. I can't comment on any other centers but I can say that I'm very pleased with the sound of the CLR 2002. I set my Marantz SR 8200 receiver to large for the center and I have never heard the speaker strain. When playing SACD that uses a lot of center channel the speaker can produce some very clean impressive sound. I listen to a lot of concert DVDs and SACDs so my center speaker gets a constant workout at loud volumes, and again I'm very pleased.

If I were you I would look for a place that can compare the speakers next to each other with the same components running both of them. That is how I decided on the BP 30s and CLR 2002. You can only trust your own ears, and I have learned that auditioning audio components side by side can help you to make a clear choice without any regret. I spent a lot of auditioning time to make all of my audio purchases and I have never regretted a purchase. That being said I would personally consider an in home trial of one of the internet speaker companies before my next purchase (though I don't feel any need to upgrade my speakers). I'm also not on a strict budget and wouldn't mind paying the shipping to have the chance to audition them.

Good Luck,

Matt