Definitive Technology ProCinema 800 SV1106 - Manual

test reports
Daniel Kumin
or years, Baltimore’s Definitive
Technology has produced phalanxes of
tall, imposing, powerful floor-standing
towers. Nevertheless, the eyes of the
company founder Sandy Gross always
seem to take on a special twinkle when he sings the
praises of his latest pint-size production, which sug-
gests he gets a special buzz out of squeezing the
mostest from the leastest — like the ProCinema 800
array seen here. Not pint-size, exactly (quart-and-a-
half would be closer), but impressively small
nonetheless, Definitive’s latest ProMonitor 800 satel-
lite design employs an unusually located passive
radiator firing straight up to help the bantamweight
speaker produce enough low-frequency output to
“reach” and blend with a subwoofer effectively. The
same technique is found in the matching center chan-
nel, in doubles.
SETUP
Definitive sent a pair of their inexpensive fixed-
height stands for the front speakers, which worked
fine in my room. The ProCenter went on a stand
below my 50-inch Samsung’s screen. It has no tilt
adjustment built in, and only one rubber foot (the
front edge has molded-in hard feet), but I dialed in
the substantial uptilt I need using a couple of stick-on
feet I had lying around. The ProMonitors for the sur-
round channels went on my high shelves flanking the
listening position, angled back to bounce off the rear
wall as I usually do with direct-radiating surrounds.
Acoustical balancing was a bit more involved.
First, I found that all three front speakers benefited
greatly from a little tilt: Rocking them back on their
heels several degrees made important improvements,
opening and defining the upper mids and airing up
the treble. Proper adjustment of the subwoofer level
and crossover also proved absolutely critical. After
initial meter balancing, the system sounded a bit dis-
appointing: heavy in the mid-bass and not particular-
ly impressive down low. What a transformation was
won by an hour or so of fiddling! I finished with a
superb blend almost entirely free of boom or bloat,
and with surprisingly deep-bass extension. But too
much sub level (or too high a crossover) and the
Definitives could sound “woofy” or a bit bloated (and
the sub would localize); too little or too low and they
could become gaunt.
Small differences of even 1 dB in sub level made
very obvious changes, as did experimentation with
crossover settings. I settled on 75-Hz crossover from
my flexible processor, with 6-dB high-pass and
24-dB/low-pass curves — which, as it happens, is
pretty much what Definitive’s own circuits yield if
you use the sub’s speaker-level inputs instead of the
LFE/line connection I employed. The fixed 80-Hz
filters of many inexpensive receivers, which use 12-
dB/24-DB per-octave filter slopes, should also work
quite well.
MUSIC PERFORMANCE
A brief session with the ProMonitors playing full-
range alone confirmed that they don’t produce
enough bass for satisfying sound on their own — but
that nonetheless they play amazingly loud without
obvious distress. These are strictly satellite speakers,
but they do go lower and louder than I’ve had
guessed on sight.
With the system tweaked and tailored, I started as
usual with stereo listening, finding a generally neu-
tral, open sound with a slightly warm cast to male
F
The Short Form
+
-
Snapshot
A must-hear for those who insist on a
ver y small, accessibly priced system.
Plus
:: Excellent overall tonality.
:: Good bass output, extension.
:: Surprising volume potential.
Minus
:: Needs careful setup. (But don’t they all?)
:: Center shifts tone at off-axis seats.
Price $1,099 (AS TESTED)
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Definitive Technology
ProCinema 800 Speaker System
“A must-hear ...
very pleasing and
surprisingly high-end
sounding”
“this is a marvelously
high-value system”