Hey guys I'm here with my brother-in-law and he is considering buying Definitive mains (with built-in subs), center and surrounds. He said the price is $1400 for all five through a dealer. Any opinions on Definitive? Thanks.

Definitives are very attractive to the nonaudiophile listener, it is hard not to like the ridiculous amounts of bass they put out, but a pair of M22's with an HSU or SVS sub will produce much better sound than Definitive speakers. It sounds like he is getting quite a good deal, though, so he may be hard to convince otherwise. Are the surrounds full range as well?

I disagree. I find Definitives to be very nice speakers. My local dealer has a room set up with some very nice McIntosh equipment and it sounds amazing.

The Definitive's that I've heard (no built-in sub) sounded pretty good except for a bit of mid-range glare(which could have been more a fault of the room than the speaker). I also listened(near field) to one of thier center ch. speakers the other day and was pretty impressed with it's accuracy and resolution(as well it should be for nearly $800).

$1400 for 5 Def Techs sounds too good to be true. Checking thier web site, thier least expensive 5 speaker system would cost about $2000(msrp). Is the $1400 for thier bottom of the line system? Is it used or demo or discontinued models?

The problem with built-in subs is that they can't be moved around within the listening environment to maximize bass response. For example, if there is a bass null at the listening position(sweet spot), a separate sub can often be moved(as little as several inches in some cases) to compensate. With built in subs, you are stuck with one position. For that reason, I'm leary of the "built-in" sub concept. I heard some NHTs with built-in subs and the bass was awful until I had the salesperson move one of the speakers until the bass came into focus but then imaging suffered. Personally, I would rather have the flexibility of a separate sub because it makes for easier speaker setup relative to the room. Btw, most ppl overlook the importance of the roll that the room plays in speaker setup. A poor listen environment can make even the best speakers sound mediocre.

I had a pair of Def Techs pro tower 400's now I have a pair of Axiom m80's.I had alot of trouble with the amps on the Def Techs.The amps would turn on even when the rest of the system was off.I would be sitting there and hear a pop out of them and the amps would be on.That got pretty annoying afer a while.I had the amps replaced once on them but that didnt help they still did the same thing.I liked the sound of the 400's but I ended up selling them and bought a pair of M80's.The Axiom's are a far better sounding speaker in all area's.It seems $1400 for a whole set of the Def Techs is a pretty good price.The 400's I bought (2 years ago) were $850.