Customer Reviews

Definitive Technology StudioMonitor 450 Speakers (Pair, Black)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

These are awesome speakers. Given that they are listed for $660 presently, I thought it was a mistake when I saw them for $300 (e.g. I thought perhaps that was meant for each speaker), but the other review shows it is possible to find this price for the pair. I have quality whole house audio with in-walls. The media room though was always planned to have stand-alone monitors, and these really fit the bill for that. I mated an old (but good) dedicated amp just to drive these as a pair of stereo mains, and they excel. I'm still in the break-in period, but I think I'm getting to the point where these are opening up. When first hooked up, the highs were a bit harsh (and stood out in a bad way), but that's basically gone now. I have these in a small room, with plenty of power to spare on the amp, so I'm surely in the clean range of power, and that's plenty to make these speakers sing. Musicality and soundstage are excellent. It's almost hard to believe how such small speakers can create such a significant sound separation - the passive element seems to do a lot in this area.

Some qualities and quick tips I've found that I think are notable based on what I've read:
- some reviews suggest that you need a lot of power to open these speakers up. I don't think so. Perhaps the person was using a lower quality amp.
- the bass on small, cheap speakers is usually either muddy (like many that use a separate subwoofer), or very weak. The bass on these speakers is really tight and punchy. They give my main listening room mains a run for their money.
- note that I do have these literally on bookshelves, laying on their sides with the passive element facing upwards. and plenty of space for the cabinet to add to the bass - so perhaps I'm helping the speaker a bit with that, but if the speaker was poor, no cabinet or placement could help.

Top-quality sound for the price. I wouldn't want to run low quality MPEGs through them - they would probably expose all of the lost sound features.

I bought these to use for television monitors as movies would overwhelm the TV's built in speakers. I power them with a 100 wpc amp fed from the TV's output. These speakers sound fantastic. Voices are smooth and natural. The speakers are so good you forget about them, you can believe the actors are speaking right in front of you. Heavy bass passages do not overwhelm this speaker. I am very happy these are the ones I choose out of about six I was considering.

I like to start by saying that I had full intentions on buying Klipsch RB-81's for my bedroom sound system. I have and love Klipsch Reference speakers for my main system. I never really gave Definitive Technology a chance. In the process of trying to save money I saw the 350's at a local store and liked the way they sounded. However wanted a bigger driver for a more full sound experience even though I already have a Klipsch sub hooked up in the bedroom. The 450's were recommended to me and I was assured the 450's would fill my room with plenty of sound. I wasn't willing to pay the listed price, or wait for them to be ordered, so I started hunting online.

I found the 450's for 300 bones a pair NIB shipped. I've seen Bose,Polk, Klipsch Synergy speakers go for about 30-100 bones less and in my opinion sound terrible.The 450's are by far the best bookshelf speaker for the money and size IMO. The speakers sound amazing in my bedroom, accompanied by a Klipsch Sub and Klipsch center speaker.

I placed them on stands to get the full affect on each side of our cabinet and directed them toward our bed. I love these speakers. They sound incredible they fit the bill in every aspect. They truly have big sound in a little package. They do seem a little large for wall mounting in a small/medium bedroom IMO. The instructions mention a 20-40 hour break in period for the speakers to reach their full potential.

I highly recommend the 450's to anyone with a small/medium bedroom,office,or den. They would also make excellent surround speakers period for someone lacking room for a full size setup.

These are very efficient smallish speakers that almost sound like they have subwoofers in them. They will play relatively loud and clear without a massive expensive amplifier running them at most sane listening levels.

I build professional grade mastering quality systems for people that don't blink at popping $25,000 for Sonus Faber speakers, $50,000 Krell amps and the rest... I am flat out amazed how musical and capable these little buggers are for the money. The only thing that tips you off that they are not truly audiophile speakers is a slight harshness and lack of inner detail compared to most $2000 small monitor bookshelf speakers. But they are less than a third the price! And they have better bass!

You may find they benefit from being placed rather close to a rear wall for a little additional reinforcement of the lows up through the lower mids. It makes them sound "fuller." On the other hand that merely makes them stick out less in your room, so that's a good thing, right?

I DID find that putting something sound absorbent directly behind and to their sides greatly reduced the "boxy" colorations that occured from pushing them so close to a wall. I used Sonex panels...

For the record I am using seven of these with an Onkyo TX-NR2008 receiver. The room had two 15 inch Velodyne subwoofers in it but I took them out as I much prefer NOT using a sub because they are too loud late at night AND if you run a crossover setting with the Onkyo the digital gets VERY gritty sounding. Full range, no crossover just sounds so much prettier. And I can listen just fine without the "earthquake effect" thank you very much.

In short I would give these a strong "buy" as they are very cost effective for what they offer. I am not turned off to go listen to movies and music upstairs in my little theater room after having been ravished by my main stereo system downstairs. And that is saying a LOT.

I had a pair of sm350's and am very happy with them. The sm450's are even better. More efficient and a bigger accurate sound overall. I highly recommend if you have a smaller size listening area.

i've been very happy with these. they look nice. they sound great.

bigger than a lot of the mini-speakers you see these days. which to me gives it a nicer fuller more classic look. and nice full sound.

On balance, these speakers do it all, and very well. I find no category of sound reproduction in which the 450's would fail to appease anyone who is not a dyed in the wool psychotic audiophile. I happen to be one, and these speakers work for me. Properly placed with a decent sub, these will satisfy most people looking for a well balanced sound system that works well for any application where discerning individuals want more than just sound. Their retail selling price is justifiable which at this time is $658.00 for the pair, and would be a good buy at that price. Getting them at $319.00 was an absolute steal for me, and I would suggest that you keep an open eye, and some patience, and you will be rewarded with an extraordinary purchase.

The Good:
Let me begin by saying that Definitive has taken a good idea and design approach to these speakers by trying to make full range bookshelfs. These speakers have amazing high end detail and a soundstage as wide as the Nile. They blend perfectly with just about any subwoofer ( mine for example is an Infinity SW-12) due to the way thier crossover network has been wired for flatness rather than the usual mid bass (80 - 200hz) spike that most smaller speakers have. They are damn attractive with the wrap around grill and the black gloss end-caps that believe me will rate high on the wife approval factor scale.

Now for the bad.....
If first want to start out by staying that all critical listening test that I performed we complete using a pair of Polk Audio RTi38s made back in 2002. They are real wood vieneer and as solid as a rock. They proved to be a serious challange for the $658 Studio Monitor 450s. Let me remind you that the Polks i am using to compare are $450.
The first thing to draw attention to is that the build quality of the Def Techs is not on par with what IMHO it should be considering the price of these speakers. DOn't get me wrong they are solid speakers but once the grill is removed you start to see things in the wood that you should not be seeing at this price point. In addition to the fact that these speakers are produced in CHina and it shows. This in no way effects the sound but it should be noted by Def Tech to get on par with the price point your a selling at. If I by a BMW i don't want a BMW shell with a hugo motor under the hood. All and all with the pros and cons that I have noted these are a quality set of speakers sounds wise but could use a cabinet facelift for sure.