Definitive Technology ProCinema 800 SV1106 Brochure

Also see for ProCenter 1000: Brochure Reference Brochure & specs Specifications Owner's manual

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testreports Daniel Kuminor years, Baltimore’s DefinitiveTechnology has produced phalanxes oftall, imposing, powerful floor-standingtowers. Nevertheless, the eyes of thecompany founder Sandy Gross alwaysseem to take on a special twinkle when he sings thepraises of his latest pint-size production, which sug-gests he gets a special buzz out of squeezing themostest from the leastest — like the ProCinema 800array seen here. Not pint-size, exactly (quart-and-a-half would be closer), but impressively smallnonetheless, Definitive’s latest ProMonitor 800 satel-lite design employs an unusually located passiveradiator firing straight up to help the bantamweightspeaker produce enough low-frequency output to“reach” and blend with a subwoofer effectively. Thesame technique is found in the matching center chan-nel, in doubles.SETUPDefinitive sent a pair of their inexpensive fixed-height stands for the front speakers, which workedfine in my room. The ProCenter went on a standbelow my 50-inch Samsung’s screen. It has no tiltadjustment built in, and only one rubber foot (thefront edge has molded-in hard feet), but I dialed inthe substantial uptilt I need using a couple of stick-onfeet I had lying around. The ProMonitors for the sur-round channels went on my high shelves flanking thelistening position, angled back to bounce off the rearwall as I usually do with direct-radiating surrounds.Acoustical balancing was a bit more involved.First, I found that all three front speakers benefitedgreatly from a little tilt: Rocking them back on theirheels several degrees made important improvements,opening and defining the upper mids and airing upthe treble. Proper adjustment of the subwoofer leveland crossover also proved absolutely critical. Afterinitial meter balancing, the system sounded a bit dis-appointing: heavy in the mid-bass and not particular-ly impressive down low. What a transformation waswon by an hour or so of fiddling! I finished with asuperb blend almost entirely free of boom or bloat,and with surprisingly deep-bass extension. But toomuch sub level (or too high a crossover) and theDefinitives could sound “woofy” or a bit bloated (andthe sub would localize); too little or too low and theycould become gaunt.Small differences of even 1 dB in sub level madevery obvious changes, as did experimentation withcrossover settings. I settled on 75-Hz crossover frommy flexible processor, with 6-dB high-pass and24-dB/low-pass curves — which, as it happens, ispretty much what Definitive’s own circuits yield ifyou use the sub’s speaker-level inputs instead of theLFE/line connection I employed. The fixed 80-Hzfilters of many inexpensive receivers, which use 12-dB/24-DB per-octave filter slopes, should also workquite well.MUSIC PERFORMANCEA brief session with the ProMonitors playing full-range alone confirmed that they don’t produceenough bass for satisfying sound on their own — butthat nonetheless they play amazingly loud withoutobvious distress. These are strictly satellite speakers,but they do go lower and louder than I’ve hadguessed on sight.With the system tweaked and tailored, I started asusual with stereo listening, finding a generally neu-tral, open sound with a slightly warm cast to maleFThe Short Form+-SnapshotA must-hear for those who insist on avery 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)PHOTO BY TONY CORDOZADefinitive TechnologyProCinema 800 Speaker System“A must-hear ...very pleasing andsurprisingly high-endsounding”“this is a marvelouslyhigh-value system”

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