Definitive BP-8080ST Speaker System

The New Black

A lot has changed about the new BP-8080ST towers, but one thing is still the same. You can still have your Definitive bipolar towers in any color you’d like as long as that color is black. They’re still wrapped in unassuming black socks, with a glossy top cap. Each 48-inch-tall tower is a slim seven inches wide and sixteen inches deep and performs an optical illusion in tapering slightly, even gracefully, at the front. Small isn’t the right word for these speakers, but I was constantly thinking to myself that the sonics they delivered (big in every sense of the word) were disproportionate to the in-room footprint. These aren’t small speakers by any stretch, but they somehow don’t occupy as much mental real estate in your room (which as we all know is the hardest real estate to come by, especially for our spouses). And of course some function follows form (or vice versa); the smooth, tapered edges of the narrow baffles combat diffraction, which can improve performance.

Out of the box, the BP-8080ST is easy for two people, as each tower only weighs 66 pounds. The BP-8080ST ships with stabilizer feet and spikes for carpeted floors, as well as rounded floor guides for hard wood, both of which are best installed by two people—one to tilt and one to do the mounting.

Focusing Forward: Business in the Front, Party in the Back

While virtually all of the components in this design are new, the biggest departure in the new bipolar ST series is perhaps philosophical. The Definitive bipolars of yore had two midrange drivers and a tweeter in a D’Appolito array on both the front and back of each speaker, with full output from both arrays. While this configuration results in a more spacious soundstage with all that reflected energy coming off the wall behind the speaker, detractors would say that this approach sacrifices image focus and some detail for all that grandeur. The new bipolar ST series employs what Definitive calls its Forward Focused Bipolar Array. Each speaker has a full dual midrange/single tweeter D’Appolito array on the front baffle, plus a single midrange and tweeter on the back of each speaker. The rear drivers’ output is 6 decibels lower than the front. So in a sense, these new bipolars aren’t quite as bipolar as your daddy’s bipolars. But Definitive contends that this new Forward Focused design is the best of both worlds—the spaciousness of bipolars with the imaging and resolution of a front-firing design. My take? Read on. I’m not making it that easy for you.

The patented 5.25-inch BDSS (Balanced Double Surround System) midrange drivers (two in the front, one in the back) are brand-new designs made with mineral-injected polymer cones, cast-aluminum baskets, and a new, dimpled “linear response waveguide” that’s patent pending and aims for smoother dispersion and off-axis frequency response. The tweeters on the front and back are identical 1-inch pure aluminum jobs that are new to the bipolar line. Then there’s the powered woofers and the heavy lifting. Each BP-8080ST features a 12-inch active woofer (mineral-filled polypropylene cone) and two 12.5-inch passive radiators, effectively making this a bassreflex design. Each active woofer is powered by a 455-watt Class D switching amplifier with a digital front end (signals crossed over to the subwoofers are converted to digital) and integrated Digital Signal Processing for EQ and distortion and damage protection. You’re likely to cry for mercy at high volumes long before these woofers do, but it’s still not a bad idea.