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Definitive Technology Mythos Series Thread - Page 19

post #541 of 5241
5/2/09 at 6:44am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Murray1 View Post

Does anyone know if side mount speakers that are designed to bounce off rear wall work when the rear wall is 20 feet behind listening area?

Murray:
I've been thinking about this. My in-wall/in-ceiling UIW RSSII's have a very similar configuration to the Gems. They are designed to either mount in-wall on the side or in-ceiling.

When I emailed Def Tech, Re: optimal ceiling placement, they suggested orienting the speakers to fire forward and backwards, as opposed to bouncing off the side walls. This seemed counter-intuitive to me, but has worked out fine in practice.

My point is: I think the bipole speaker configuration produces sound diffuse enough that I can't localize surround material (unless it is deliberately directional) in my system, even when my surrounds are not directly bouncing sound off a wall.

I have noticed, however, that the localizability of my surrounds varies somewhat with the seating position--I avoided aiming the speakers right at the head of the listener.

Bottom line: I suspect the more diffuse bipole nature of the Gems will work in your system as a side surrounds, even though your back wall is relatively far away.

I hope this helps--you might contact Def Tech support if you haven't yet, as they may be able to shed further light on this subject.
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post #542 of 5241
5/3/09 at 5:28am
As I understand it...in an ideal set up side speakers are supposed to fired from the sides at each other not the backs. That would contradict what Def Tech suggested. But I also think bipoles aren't ideal for side surrounds....so that may have an effect as well.

Yeh contatct Def Tech support...those guys are great and fast at giving advice.
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post #543 of 5241
5/3/09 at 6:24am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by scp2 View Post

As I understand it...in an ideal set up side speakers are supposed to fired from the sides at each other not the backs. That would contradict what Def Tech suggested. But I also think bipoles aren't ideal for side surrounds....so that may have an effect as well.

Yeh contatct Def Tech support...those guys are great and fast at giving advice.

Your point is well-taken. However, these particular surrounds have angled drivers so when you mount them facing each other, they point forward and back. On the ceiling, you can mount them so they fire either way--front of theater to back or side to side.

I was skeptical as well in terms of bipole surrounds--having been raised on the notion of dipoles all around. However, after doing some research and for practical reasons: I am using bipoles on the sides and directs in the rears, and it's turned out surprisingly well. YMMV.

Agree with you 100% about Def Tech Support--they are very helpful!
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post #544 of 5241
5/6/09 at 7:22pm
We are looking to get Mythos Fours or Fives for Left/Right and are trying to figure out which speaker to get for a center. Is is better to go with the Mythos Seven as deftech puts on its site, or to get something better, like the Eight or Nine?
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post #545 of 5241
5/6/09 at 7:35pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by benshapiro View Post

We are looking to get Mythos Fours or Fives for Left/Right and are trying to figure out which speaker to get for a center. Is is better to go with the Mythos Seven as deftech puts on its site, or to get something better, like the Eight or Nine?

Hey, Ben--welcome to the thread!

Since the Mythos line is all voiced the same, any of your listed choices would probably fit in well.

I think you couldn't go wrong with either the 7 or 8. The 7 will probably match the 4's and 5's better, but the 8 will give you a bit more bass extension in the center--which is nice. (I have the 8 as my center, and I really like it).

IMHO, for your particular set up, I think the 9 wouldn't represent the best value, nor match as well. It's a great speaker though, and if you have the cash, you might consider getting it, with the notion of upgrading your fronts in the future to match the 9.

As I said--pros/cons to whichever way you go. If it were me (and it's just a personal preference), I'd go with the 8, which would match pretty well now, yet leave an upgrade path in the future--plus it's a better value than the 9 IMHO.
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post #546 of 5241
5/6/09 at 7:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mvp2005fan View Post

Hey, Ben--welcome to the thread!

Since the Mythos line is all voiced the same, any of your listed choices would probably fit in well.

I think you couldn't go wrong with either the 7 or 8. The 7 will probably match the 4's and 5's better, but the 8 will give you a bit more bass extension in the center--which is nice. (I have the 8 as my center, and I really like it).

IMHO, for your particular set up, I think the 9 wouldn't represent the best value, nor match as well. It's a great speaker though, and if you have the cash, you might consider getting it, with the notion of upgrading your fronts in the future to match the 9.

As I said--pros/cons to whichever way you go. If it were me (and it's just a personal preference), I'd go with the 8, which would match pretty well now, yet leave an upgrade path in the future--plus it's a better value than the 9 IMHO.

Thank you for the quick reply! Truth be told, we would love to go with the STS, or even the Mythos Ones for left/right, but hard to keep any semblance of budget with those. Was thinking that since they will be used 99.9% for HDTV and Blu-Ray, it would be better to invest more in the center than in the left/right. Appreciate the advice!
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post #547 of 5241
5/7/09 at 2:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by benshapiro View Post

Thank you for the quick reply! Truth be told, we would love to go with the STS, or even the Mythos Ones for left/right, but hard to keep any semblance of budget with those. Was thinking that since they will be used 99.9% for HDTV and Blu-Ray, it would be better to invest more in the center than in the left/right. Appreciate the advice!

Hi Ben -

If you look around you may be able to find some very good deals on the Mythos One's - especially in the aluminum finish. I ended up getting a closeout from a local dealer for less than a pair of Five's new. If you have a little time it may be worth it to look around. Been very pleased with them so far! Good Luck!
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post #548 of 5241
5/7/09 at 4:21am
Amazon has silver ones for $699
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post #549 of 5241
5/7/09 at 7:13am
Thank you all for the quick replies and advice! I'm working with a $3000 budget for left + right + center + subwoofer (surrounds will come later). I hadn't been considering the aluminum ones because I thought they wouldn't look as good under the Panny 58PZ800U, which has a glossy black frame. I wish I could see them in person, but the Santa Monica Magnolia store only has a few Mythos speakers on display and none were aluminum that I saw. My current plan was Mythos Four for left/right, Mythos Eight for center, and and eD sub to stick in the corner. Maybe I'll call around to check out the aluminum speakers and see how they look.
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post #550 of 5241
5/12/09 at 5:30pm
Hey guys I wanted to see if you could help me out. I am suppose to meet someone tomorrow to pick up a pair of def tech gems for 250 NIB. My current setup is paradigm millenias 200's for L/R and paradigm millenia 20 for cc. I wanted to know your opinions on the gems as rear surrounds. I need surrounds since i sold my old ones but i also dont want to jump into anything that ill want to upgrade in a couple months. Thanks for your help i also posted this in the regular def tech section.
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post #551 of 5241
5/13/09 at 4:44pm
Hello,

Am building my first dedicated home theater in the basement. Am deciding between in-wall TRIADS and a Definitive ST/10 5 channel setup - maybe 7 channel.

Anyway, was wondering what you all have found to be optimal distances from side and rear walls for the ST and/or STS?

Thanks!
Mike
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post #552 of 5241
5/13/09 at 5:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeWojcik View Post

Hello,

Am building my first dedicated home theater in the basement. Am deciding between in-wall TRIADS and a Definitive ST/10 5 channel setup - maybe 7 channel.

Anyway, was wondering what you all have found to be optimal distances from side and rear walls for the ST and/or STS?

Thanks!
Mike

They seem to be pretty adaptable. The adjustable bass level probably helps in that regard.

I had no choice, my STS's went the only place I had space for them. I had no opportunity to try for "optimal." They are in an asymmetrical arrangement. One is as close as the stand allows from the rear wall, the other ~ a foot-and-a-half. The first is ~ 4' from a side wall, the second ~ 7'.

Some reviewers report they sound better out in the room, but reviewers seem to say that about almost every speaker. All I can say is that mine sound great, even in my far from ideal room, with pinpoint imaging, great clarity, and smooth, balanced frequency response. Six months of ownership and they still make me smile every time I listen.
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post #553 of 5241
5/13/09 at 6:01pm
Hey guys,

I am building an on-wall 5.1 surround system and I am looking at the Mythos On-walls. The Nine x 3 as L/C/R and Gem x 2 as surrounds plus a Subwoofer.

I need to get an idea of what the Nine sounds like since where I'm from (Asia), I was only able to demo the Mythos Two/Three on-walls, the Four and the STS speakers. The Two/Three sounded okay to me, the sound seems a bit recessed, while the Four sounded good, and the STS sounded great!

I even emailed DT regarding this and this is what they told me:

The Mythos Four sounds similar to the Mythos Two/Three speakers. (The tonal balance of the Mythos Nine is not very similar to the Mythos Four.) Except for the powered subwoofer built-into the Mythos STS tower, the Mythos Nine is really the top half of a Mythos STS tower.

The level of performance produced by a set of Mythos Nines and a SuperCube I/II would be in the same league as a set of Mythos STS towers.

Now this sounds very promising for the Nine but is this a good assessment of the performance of the Nine? Can anyone give me some input on this, someone with actual experience with the Mythos Nine on-walls?

I'd really appreciate it if any of you could help me out as I really need reassurance to its sound quality before shelling out.

Cheers
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post #554 of 5241
5/16/09 at 4:28pm
I have my Denon 3808ci coming along with my first (center) mythos ten and I now have my gems in hand.

With the speaker configuration offset or whatever you call it, should I have the gems facing directly to the front wall where the plasma is? Or should I have them angled to point to the center speaker? I know I can mess with the directions, but would like to have the 'prefered' direction ahead of time before I start the Audyessy setup. They are placed behind the couch off to the sides ~110 degrees from the main listening position.
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post #555 of 5241
5/16/09 at 7:49pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by cdnbum88 View Post

I have my Denon 3808ci coming along with my first (center) mythos ten and I now have my gems in hand.

With the speaker configuration offset or whatever you call it, should I have the gems facing directly to the front wall where the plasma is? Or should I have them angled to point to the center speaker? I know I can mess with the directions, but would like to have the 'prefered' direction ahead of time before I start the Audyessy setup. They are placed behind the couch off to the sides ~110 degrees from the main listening position.

If I am reading your message correctly, you are asking about side surround placement with the Gems in a 5.1 configuration.

If so, I would suggest this placement for those speakers: http://www.thx.com/home/setup/speakers/51.html

The tweeters would be pointing straight accross your theater at each other, while the drivers would be angled out per the vertical Gem configuration.

I hope that helps...
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post #556 of 5241
5/17/09 at 6:35am
Thanks MVP2005fan that was what I was looking for. It was for 5.1, but saw the link on the website for that.
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post #557 of 5241
5/18/09 at 4:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by benshapiro View Post

We are looking to get Mythos Fours or Fives for Left/Right and are trying to figure out which speaker to get for a center. Is is better to go with the Mythos Seven as deftech puts on its site, or to get something better, like the Eight or Nine?

There's also the Three which is sized in between the seven and the eight. The drivers on the Three match the Four. The Seven's drivers match the Five, and the Eight matches the One. Matching the size should give you more consistent base extension across the front. Personally, I would go as big as your space/aesthetics and budget will afford. I have the Three and love it.
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post #558 of 5241
5/24/09 at 9:13pm
Just got my new center Mythos ten and paired them with my recent purchase of the gems that I had not hooked, along with my new used Denon 3808ci.

Bought Transformers Bluray when out of town and that was my first play with the new toys.

Loving it

Now to save up and get another couple of ten's for L/R fronts, but wife is not too keen on wall mounts. Sooooo, may need to go the route of STS for fronts, but I have time before that subject will come up again
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post #559 of 5241
5/25/09 at 12:41pm
Thread Starter 
Congrats, cdnbum88! Glad it worked out for you!
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post #560 of 5241
5/26/09 at 10:57pm
First time poster around here, but I was hoping that I might be able to get some quick insight. I'm looking to replace my front 3 in my setup which is used roughly 60% movies 30 % tv 10% games, and have been impressed with the def speakers that I've heard. I recently stumbled across a used set of mythos ones for $750 that are in presumably good condition, and am planning to go listen to them within the next few days. Is this a reasonably decent deal? I was originally looking at something along the lines of the 7006 or 7004 which I liked the sound of, but am also relatively worried about the bass in an apartment setting. Would these be a good fit? I apologize for how new I sound, but my speaker knowledge is still in its infancy.
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post #561 of 5241
5/28/09 at 6:58am
Hello All!

I just bought the Mythos STS, Mythos 3, and about to get the Gems. I am trying to figure out all the receiver things I need to do. I have set my Onkyo SR875 to 6 Ohm Normal. Also, I have the two STS front speakers set to "FULL" as well as the Center set to Full. I have no clue what to set the surrounds to. Plus I am not even sure I should have the front and center set at "full". Since I have the subs connected, I am not sure I want sub frequencies even going to the STS other than via sub connection. And if not, what frequencies should I set each speaker at??? I do have the LFE sub connections connected with a splitter off the receiver.

Anyway help for a relative novice, okay a major novice would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thank you
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post #562 of 5241
5/28/09 at 8:19am
About to pull the trigger on one of these two systems to go with my Pioneer 151HD and Denon 3808CI. Comments welcome based on your experience, auditions, etc.

PARADIGM:
------------------------
(2) Millenia 20's for L/R
(1) Millenia 30 for C
(2) Millenia ADP for surrounds
(1) Seismic 12 sub

Definitive Technology
------------------------
(3) Mythos 10s [1 as the center]
(2) Gem XLs [surrounds]
(1) SuperCube II (or maybe the SuperCube 1)

The Paradigm set is around $4 grand. The Def Tech set is around $3800ish.
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post #563 of 5241
5/28/09 at 8:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by vteng98 View Post

About to pull the trigger on one of these two systems to go with my Pioneer 151HD and Denon 3808CI. Comments welcome based on your experience, auditions, etc.

PARADIGM:
------------------------
(2) Millenia 20's for L/R
(1) Millenia 30 for C
(2) Millenia ADP for surrounds
(1) Seismic 12 sub

Definitive Technology
------------------------
(3) Mythos 10s [1 as the center]
(2) Gem XLs [surrounds]
(1) SuperCube II (or maybe the SuperCube 1)

The Paradigm set is around $4 grand. The Def Tech set is around $3800ish.

Those are both great companies that have spent a lot of money on R&D. I'm partial to the tweeter in the Def Tech's. Plus, the enclosures are aircraft grade extruded aluminum with a polystone non-resonant baffle versus MDF on the paradigms. If you listen to a lot of music, the Def Tech can be a bit more accurate.
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post #564 of 5241
5/28/09 at 9:04am
I just bought Ones, 10 and GEM xl for the 5 and for the .1 I picked up a Epik Dragon (18in driver in a 20in cube sealed) and it really is a step up over the SC and Velodyne subs I heard at the local gramaphone.
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post #565 of 5241
5/28/09 at 9:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by wegafan View Post

Hello All!

I just bought the Mythos STS, Mythos 3, and about to get the Gems. I am trying to figure out all the receiver things I need to do. I have set my Onkyo SR875 to 6 Ohm Normal. Also, I have the two STS front speakers set to "FULL" as well as the Center set to Full. I have no clue what to set the surrounds to. Plus I am not even sure I should have the front and center set at "full". Since I have the subs connected, I am not sure I want sub frequencies even going to the STS other than via sub connection. And if not, what frequencies should I set each speaker at??? I do have the LFE sub connections connected with a splitter off the receiver.

Anyway help for a relative novice, okay a major novice would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thank you

Congratulations! I'm sure you'll be pleased with your new speakers.

I have a similar setup: STS w/Three (although I did choose something else for my rears, but that had to do with my unique issues).

I set my STS's to Large/Full and both the center and the surrounds set to Small/whatever-Onkyo-calls-it. I use a conventional 80Hz crossover, but would recommend 100Hz for you.

The STS's are designed to use Full bandwidth signals, so I recommend following DefTech's advice and using them in the Large/Full setting. Since you are using the LFE inputs, set the sub output to Yes/On.

Alternatively, you could set the sub output to No/Off and just use speaker wire connections to the STS's. The net effect would be pretty much the same, but you couldn't independently control the LFE output from the receiver. Many DefTech owner's prefer this setup. I prefer the first, but either will work.

The STS is designed to be mix LFE coming through the sub input with R/L bass coming through the speaker wire. There is no advantage to limiting the bass sent by the speaker wire, diverting some of it to the sub/LFE channel, then mixing it back together in the speaker (which is what would happen if you didn't set them to receive a full range signal).

Setting the center and/or Gems to Full results in them trying to reproduce bass that they cannot. They should be set to Small, so the bass encoded in those channels will be diverted to the subwoofer. (This would happen with either of the two options mentioned above).

I haven't had an Onkyo for awhile, but I believe they still have an 8 ohm setting as well as the 6 ohm setting you mentioned. If so, choose it. All the lower setting does is limit the amp's current. It's useful if you have difficult to drive speakers that keep shutting the amp down, but that shouldn't be an issue with your Mythos.
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post #566 of 5241
5/28/09 at 9:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mvp2005fan View Post

Hi, John:

Thanks for your kind offer--one thing that comes up frequently are comparisons between the various Mythos Center channels and whether the more expensive ones are worth it. I'd be interested in a comparison between the Mythos 3, 8, 9, 10. (espcially between the 8 & 9 for selfish reasons).

I think in order to compared them fairly, you'd have to include a testing arm with sub in there somewhere with a standard THX 80MHz crossover.

Are you sorry you made the offer now?! (Just teasing--I really appreciate this!)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Axxis Audio John View Post

Hey MVP,

I am going to try and do a demo between the 4 speakers this weekend and with get back with a report shortly!

What was the outcome of this demo?
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post #567 of 5241
5/28/09 at 11:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Macfan424 View Post

Congratulations! I'm sure you'll be pleased with your new speakers.

I have a similar setup: STS w/Three (although I did choose something else for my rears, but that had to do with my unique issues).

I set my STS's to Large/Full and both the center and the surrounds set to Small/whatever-Onkyo-calls-it. I use a conventional 80Hz crossover, but would recommend 100Hz for you.

The STS's are designed to use Full bandwidth signals, so I recommend following DefTech's advice and using them in the Large/Full setting. Since you are using the LFE inputs, set the sub output to Yes/On.

Alternatively, you could set the sub output to No/Off and just use speaker wire connections to the STS's. The net effect would be pretty much the same, but you couldn't independently control the LFE output from the receiver. Many DefTech owner's prefer this setup. I prefer the first, but either will work.

The STS is designed to be mix LFE coming through the sub input with R/L bass coming through the speaker wire. There is no advantage to limiting the bass sent by the speaker wire, diverting some of it to the sub/LFE channel, then mixing it back together in the speaker (which is what would happen if you didn't set them to receive a full range signal).

Setting the center and/or Gems to Full results in them trying to reproduce bass that they cannot. They should be set to Small, so the bass encoded in those channels will be diverted to the subwoofer. (This would happen with either of the two options mentioned above).

I haven't had an Onkyo for awhile, but I believe they still have an 8 ohm setting as well as the 6 ohm setting you mentioned. If so, choose it. All the lower setting does is limit the amp's current. It's useful if you have difficult to drive speakers that keep shutting the amp down, but that shouldn't be an issue with your Mythos.

Thank you for the reply. I have not found the 8ohm option for 7.1. There is an 8 ohm option if you biamp them or something like that.

You mentioned conventional 80 crossover? Is that the same as changing the freq in receiver menu for each speaker? If so, I would have STS's at Full, and everything else at 100Hz?

Also, I don't see a (Large/Small) option. My options are from Full, to 50 all the way up to 150 if I am not mistaken. I assume changing this setting would be the same as selecting large=Full and Small=one of the frequencies from 50 to 150? I hope I am right on that.

And finally, totally changing the subject: How many times can you split a LFE signal? So, how many powered subs could I run off of my receiver's Subout? I was thinking about trying to split the split and having the two STS's and my stand alone sub used...just for experimental purposes of course

PS: Oh, and I am very happy with my new setup. Granted...the Gems won't be in till probably tomorrow...but I watched Underworld 3 last night and it was a rocking good time. There is something about a beautiful Vampire in 7.1 surround sound....that is better than the same Vampire in 6.1 "HTIB" surround sound Granted the movie was only 5.1 TrueHD...
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post #568 of 5241
5/28/09 at 12:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wegafan View Post

Thank you for the reply. I have not found the 8ohm option for 7.1. There is an 8 ohm option if you biamp them or something like that.

Okay. As I said, I haven't had an Onkyo for awhile. It's unusual not to have an 8 ohm setting, but if there isn't one, it is of no concern. Just use the default.
Quote:


You mentioned conventional 80 crossover? Is that the same as changing the freq in receiver menu for each speaker? If so, I would have STS's at Full, and everything else at 100Hz?

Yes. Some people choose different settings for each speaker (e.g. the center at 100Hz; the Gems at 120Hz), but I'm one of those who think that may do more harm than good. I won't get into that here except to say if you want to dig into the subject a little, this article is a place to start.
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Also, I don't see a (Large/Small) option. My options are from Full, to 50 all the way up to 150 if I am not mistaken. I assume changing this setting would be the same as selecting large=Full and Small=one of the frequencies from 50 to 150? I hope I am right on that.

Yes, you are. As I said, I'm not familiar with Onkyo's current terminology so I couldn't couch my reply in their terms.
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And finally, totally changing the subject: How many times can you split a LFE signal? So, how many powered subs could I run off of my receiver's Subout? I was thinking about trying to split the split and having the two STS's and my stand alone sub used...just for experimental purposes of course

Pretty often. Not sure what the limit might be. I split it three ways. I heard of some that have gone to four, possibly more. It shouldn't be a concern.
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PS: Oh, and I am very happy with my new setup. Granted...the Gems won't be in till probably tomorrow...but I watched Underworld 3 last night and it was a rocking good time. There is something about a beautiful Vampire in 7.1 surround sound....that is better than the same Vampire in 6.1 "HTIB" surround sound Granted the movie was only 5.1 TrueHD...

Glad you are enjoying it. It's certainly a long way from an HTIB. Of course, I'd enjoy that vampire with no sound at all!
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post #569 of 5241
5/28/09 at 1:45pm
Thank you again!!! Very much appreciate it!!!

Wait...that means I have 7.3 :| NICE!!!\\

SEVEN POINT THRIZZLE!
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post #570 of 5241
5/28/09 at 8:25pm
Hi all... Looking to upgrade my ProCinema 800 speakers to Muthos 8's or 9's in the front and UIW RSS IIIs for the rear. The center channel will go from a Procenter 1000 to a procenter 2000 (Thans the biggest speaker I can fit in my built in). Do you see any problems with this config? Is timbre matching shot?
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