Audio Video News

Definitive Technology is a company closely associated with bipolar speakers due to its longstanding use of that design approach in its products. At CEDIA, Def Tech is showing a family of four brand-new bipolar SuperTowers, all of which feature built-in powered subs and second-gen BDSS (Balanced Double Surround System) midrange drivers. But powered towers are just the start of things: The new lineup also includes matched center-channel (including two models with built-in powered subs) and surround speakers.

My face time with the new models started out with a music-only demo of the top-of-the-line BP-8080ST. At 48 inches high but only 7 inches wide and 16 inches deep, the 8080ST is about as slim as a speaker packing a 12-inch active woofer and two 12-inch passive radiators is likely to get. The 8080ST rocked authoritatively on a Porcupine Tree (an S+V fave) track Def Tech had spinning, delivering the kind of huge soundstage I expect to hear from a bipolar speaker. And when the demo switched over to a full HT system built around the slightly smaller BP-8060ST, the speakers managed to convey the multilayered soundtrack of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland (not in 3D, but, hey, it’s an audio demo) with pinpoint precision. Looks like we’ll be getting the best of both worlds with these. Stay tuned for a review in an upcoming issue.

—Al Griffin