This review page is supported in part by the sponsors whose ad banners are displayed below

So what's the Definion 5 good for? Plainly to go loud when necessary. And that's loud without drifting into bright shouting or shaking the room with uncontrolled bass boom. Here the sealed loading pays off which Pixies' "Vamos" from Come on Pilgrim demonstrated with an extended clockwise turn of the volume control. Impressive. The Teufel parlayed the song's rather dull power beats as an energetically vibrating wall which virtually massaged me in my seat. That was pure physical action, not the dry swimming most compact speakers default to at such levels. That was accuracy too without the blurred initial impulse which even full-size speakers can be guilty of at high volumes which might deliver the requisite broadside assaults but not the speed of the Teufel. We were off to a good start!


When the e-guitars began to whine I noticed that I've heard them whinier, ie. brighter and more drilling. With the Definion 5 there was a bit more lower-mid material. Which was far from objectionable as I routinely listen to this album at more subdued level. Even for Pixies standards it otherwise saws on my ears with nerve-rattling intensity. Despite full power now it was far more palatable. But lets start at the beginning before we loose the thread of this narrative.


The first inquiry got crossed off quickly. Yes, Teufel's Definion 5 is party approved. Tonal balance doesn't shift, nothing distorts, the bass doesn't come apart though your room might. My writing desk in a room corner began to occasionally groan and creak but it simply had to suffer through that. But it is a consideration. Because the Definion 5 isn't voiced slim, your room has to properly manage its bass. Which begs the second question. How about quietly? The diplomatic reply would be as good as most other speakers with middling efficiency. The honest version is that you'll want room volumes before these devils kick in fully. Committed whisper listeners will look elsewhere.


How about tonal balance? The Teufel Definion 5 plays it seamless and natural but an iron-clad protestant 100% neutral monitor it is not. Let's break this down now. For a box its size the lower reach is a bit stunted but here we remember the sealed loading. Since the box is quite big, one doesn't miss a lot. To compensate I discerned an extra finger's width or two of mid/upper bass emphasis to create a global impression of bass potency as measured by eye as it were. Unless memory fails, Naim's Ovator S-600 or KEF's Q900 did it with even more emphasis. More vital is that this bass is very quick, impulsive and urgent. One never senses any drag. For Rock, Pop and electronica this Teufel bass is nearly ideal for it price call and doubles as foundation for very good macrodynamic behavior.

How about a civilized double bass as part of a posh Jazz combo? I checked with "Tilldess" from the Ulf Sandberg Quartet's Totally Wired II. The plucked solo halfway through showed sudden attacks, good body and adequate weight contrary to my compact Thiel monitors which in my 30m² room handle this more theoretical. If you were after max tone-color differentiation full of nuance and texture, you'd realize more elsewhere. The bassment here is more dialled for pep, power and impulsiveness than it is the last word in timbre definition.


The mids segue as neatly into the bass as the highs meet the mids. But that's not the only secret to the Definion 5's of-a-piece presentation. It's first and foremost coherently timed to suffer no offsets between bass and the rest. Very pleasant. Designer Jörg Weber stresses this as a key concern and why his triple woofers run up to 350Hz. Where the midband goes I sensed a slight move into warmth. The lower midrange isn't slim and the presence region and above are just a bit restrained. Rim shots, hardly hammered piano strings, whining e-guitars (remember the Pixies) usually show more bite. The newest Teufel isn't soft per se but clearly not brutal. Mediocre thin recordings remain mediocre but not inedible.