Cosmetically, they very much look like
a member of the Def Tech family, with a
wrap-around grill set between piano black
glass tops and bottoms. Without question,
it remains a simple and elegant look,
fitting nicely into most decors. More
importantly, at this size, it can fit easily
and subtly as well. The PowerMonitor
500s are rear ported, but can be used on a
bookshelf or in a cabinet, as they need
only about an inch of room to be effective.
Set up takes a bit more work, as there
are more variables to deal with. Each of
the speakers, much like a subwoofer, has
level controls, forcing you to manually
adjust each one to get the perfect sound. It
only took me a little time to get the hang of
it, setting our reference Onkyo TX-DS989
receiver in a neutral fashion and making
the major adjustments at the speakers.
The PowerMonitors found an acoustic flaw in my room, too.
Having never placed speakers capable of sound below 50 Hz on
my side surround shelves, I never knew there was a resonance
buzz at about 40 Hz. I ended up having to remount a lighting
bracket, which had previously been quiet, but was brought to
life by the nearby bass source.
While my lighting bracket was less than delighted, the room
otherwise seemed to come alive. All of the PowerMonitor 500s
extended deeply into the sub-30 Hz area, matching the bass per-
formance of the better high-end towers.
Better yet, the center channel speaker matched that bass per-
formance of the other four speakers, going more than 20 Hz
deeper than what I’ve found with most center channel speakers.
Aside from smoothing out the bass response, the built-in subs
also cut down on room mode, the phenomena that causes bass
sound to be lower in some parts of the room. Moving around
my theater, I heard a pretty consistent bass response.
The sound was nothing short of impressive. I began my test-
ing with stereo music, as usual. Rapidly, I was blown away by
the detail and imaging. Mark Knopfler’s vocals on Sailing to
Philadelphia
were deep and rich, with instrument placement
clearly distinct. At the same time, bass response was outstand-
ing. If there’s a bass hole in this system, I couldn’t find it.
Five-channel audio was just as good,
again richly detailed. The upper end
had more than enough clarity to reveal
the difference between Dolby Digital
and DVD-Audio. I played Natalie
Merchant’s Tigerlily both ways and
found the crispness and spaciousness
drastically improved by playing it in
DVD-Audio mode.
Movie soundtracks were just as
much a revelation. Dialogue was very
sharp and clear. As an example, the
sometimes murky banter in Austin
Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me
during the party scene came across
sharp and clear.
Interestingly, another side effect of
the built-in powered woofers was the
seeming movement of bass sound,
adding realism. I noted this particularly
while watching the plane explosion
scene in Cast Away. I really
couldn’t hear a flaw in these speakers. The tweeters
are clear, sharp and well defined like the best of
British speakers, but the powered woofer gives them
a deep, strong lower mid-range I’ve rarely heard
before from such extremely accurate speakers, and
certainly not in this price range.
Considering that Def Tech sent me more sub-
woofer than this system needs, one could put togeth-
er an exceptionally good performing system for less
than $3,000. Not to mention that you can get tower-
like sound if you don’t have space for towers (or live
with someone who will begin tossing your posses-
sions out the window if you try to put them in their
living room), the PowerMonitor 500 is hard to beat
from a number of standpoints. This may be the best
value on the speaker market today, a great blend of
affordable pricing and world class performance.
11433 Cronridge Dr. • Owings Mills, MD 21117 • (410)363-7148
www.definitivetech.com
R E V I E W S
“the PowerMonitor
500s extended deeply
into the sub-30 Hz
area…the powered
woofer gives them a
deep, strong lower mid-range I’ve
rarely heard before from such
extremely accurate speakers”
“richly detailed…the tweeters
are clear, sharp and well
defined like the best of the
British speakers”
“I was blown away
by the detail and
imaging…the sound
was nothing short
of impressive.”
“Mark Knopfler’s vocals on
Sailing to Philadelphia were
deep and rich…movie
soundtracks were just
as much of a revelation”
Definitive Technology
PowerMonitor 500
Loudspeaker $425
C/L/R 2300 $599
ProSub 200TL Subwoofer $549
ProMonitor 80 $225/pair
• 1-inch pure aluminum
dome tweeter
• 4 1/2-inch cast-basket
upper bass/midrange
• 150-watt powered 8-inch
side firing woofer
PROS
Frequency response of large
towers in a very small package.
Outstanding dialogue
reproduction. Excellent
balanced response for
multichannel audio. Fabulous
stereo imaging.
CONS
More complicated to set up
and calibrate than
unpowered speakers.
www.definitivetech.com
Reprinted from E-Gear Magazine,
© North American Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
“the PowerMonitor 500
is hard to beat…I really
couldn’t hear a flaw”