Speakers of the Year under $2000
Standmount Speakers of the Year under $2000
In our first loudspeaker price break, we have separate awards for standmount and floorstanding speakers — it seems likely that most people will be looking for one or the other. And for standmounters it was an easy call once we’d spent time with Definitive Technology’s Demand series, a trio of standmount models in which this pair, the D9, is the middle child, between the smaller D7 and the larger D11.
The Demands are unusual in several respects. With their magnetic cloth grilles on, they’ll blend quietly and effectively into any décor. But things are transformed visually if you choose to use them grilles off, as you then face that full silver baffle with the stylish driver technology on show. The tweeters are positioned off-centre, each to one side of the cabinet (there are clear ‘left’ and ‘right’ labels on the back of the speakers), and angled outward by five degrees. There’s a tangerine-like ‘Patented Linear Response Waveguide’ at the centre of the mid/woofer (133mm on the D9s), designed to extend both on- and off-axis frequency response. And most unusual of all is the oval passive bass radiator measuring nine by five inches, which is positioned on the top. Of course Definitive Technology has been harnessing this kind of back energy in its speakers for years. We’ve just never seen a radiator on top of a standmount before.
While middle children are notoriously ignored and subsequently troublesome, the D9 is both unignorable and a delight to have playing in your home. A particular highlight is their soundstaging, wide beyond the physical position of the D9s, and with wonderfully convincing imaging abilities. How precisely defined and separated were the three intertwining horns on Little Rootie Tootie from the 2012 Monk tribute… how full-sized and spacious the sax solo at the close of Lou Reed’s Walk On The Wild Side, how well-shaped the Yamaha piano on the 1993 Nonesuch recording of Gershwin’s ghost playing his double-tracked piano-roll recording of Rhapsody in Blue.
The question over a passive radiator is often that it may well add substance to the sound, but does it do so with precision? Here the passive drivers’ contribution included some nice power and resonance to the bottom notes of the bass guitar, and real impact when led by the motion of the front driver. Classics were full and real, while brighter bigger mixes of the modern world showed the D9s’ skills with detail and timing.
We kept coming back to the pricing here — $1295 is a sock-blowingly good price for the performance level and the fit and finish quality of the Demand D9. There are dedicated stands available, but even sensibly benched they render sensational sounds for the size and price. More info: www.advanceaudio.com.au
JUDGES’ COMMENT “Beautiful finish, clever driver technology and simply sensational sound for the size and price.”