Definitive Technology Mythos Series Thread - Page 21

I'm looking to purchase the Mythos STS and Nine for my front L/R and Center. I would prefer black, but the only discounts I was able to find is for the silver ones. I haven't been able to find any silver ones to look at in person. Can someone tell me if the silver is a matte or reflective finish?

If someone has a pointer to any good deals on these speakers please let me know.

I see a couple of difficulties with your dealer's suggestion: The Nines have passive radiators which are not active in the STS if the subwoofer section is turned OFF. So the Nines would play a bit lower which might contribute to the "chestiness" Chet mentioned. Another is that the STS cannot be placed flush against the wall, so you cannot duplicate that environment in your listening test.

However, MCACC in the SD-07 can do wonders in cleaning up environmentally induced sound irregularities. In fact, it can do a surprisingly good job of blending non-matching speakers. My guess is that the Nines+SCII would sound very much like the STS's when driven by the SC-07. You'd probably have to do a careful side-by-side comparison in the same room to hear a difference.

Of course, listening in a showroom only gives an approximation of what a speaker will sound like in your room. The best solution would be to try the Nines at home, if that can be arranged. Most DefTech dealers will allow returns, but it is at their individual discretion.

A Best Buy/Magnolia manager was willing to match silver pricing on a black Mythos for me. No guarantee it will work, because individual mangers have a great deal of latitude in these matters, but it doesn't hurt to try.

Thanks Macfan424!

Unfortunately, the dealer here don't even have the Nines and would only order them in if I decided to buy them. But you are absolutely correct about auditioning at home being the best solution. I've heard the Tannoy Arena Highline 500 in two settings (one in a listening room and the other in the open area of the showroom) and the results was so different that I began to wonder whether demos at the dealer are useful at all. But that was probably an extreme case.

I've spoken to Chet and his suggestion is that hearing the STS w/ sub off is the closes I could come to get an idea of what the Nines would sound like. Chet only warned about the 'wall effect' where the Nines (or any other on-walls for that matter) will have a bit more fullness or 'chestiness' to their sound when they are wall mounted. I've heard some on-walls (like the Mythos Two/Three) that sound a bit recessed or 'shut in' so I am worried that will be the case with the Nines as well. It's good to know Room EQ like the MCACC in the SC-07 can help out with problems like that. Do you reckon MCACC is better than Audyssey for this?

I've actually heard the STS w/ Three as center and GEM and this system sounds great with music and amazing with movies. I don't have the space for floorstanders, though, so I was just hoping to get an on-wall system that would sound similar to that. I am pretty certain on buying the Nines, just wanted to get someone with real experience with them to chime in.

Cheers!

At best, dealer demos are overrated IMO. They serve a purpose, but are nowhere near as definitive as many make them out to be. Even more dubious are conclusions drawn from demos at two different dealers.

That's a raging debate in some quarters. I don't think there is an answer. Each has strengths and weaknesses. I happen to like MCACC a lot, though.

I have the STS/Three combination (but different surrounds) and love it. I think the Nines will come close though. I can't imagine where you'd find wall mounted speakers that are a better match.

It's unfortunate that your dealer won't allow returns. Probably the best you can do under the circumstances is listen to the STS's and concentrate on the mids and highs. At least their MTM section is identical to the Nines.

Hopefully some Nine owners will chime in.

Good luck.

I'm still kicking myself for missing the last Amazon one day sale since I was just starting my research at the time and wasn't ready to buy. I'm hoping for it to either come around again or wait for the 6ave Name Your Price sale.

If someone went with the 6ave Name Your Price, would you mind sending me a PM with the price that was accepted for the STS, nine, and/or Gems?

Mix and match Definitive Technology speakers?
Need help!! on deciding what would work best. Having problems building a new set up but don't know if this mix can actually work and get a decent sound. I will start with the back speakers and work my way forward.

1. Back surround speakers have to be in the ceiling, room is to long 24 feet.Thinking of going with UIW RCS II $625.00 each


2. Center surround speakers: I think I will go with the ceiling to match the back ones, I was thinking of the of UIW 94/A or What do guys think? $225.00
[color="black"][color="Black"] [b]

3. The Subwoofer: Is between the SuperCube I or the SVS PB12-Plus $885 for the cube

or



4. Center Channel, Left and Right: Thinking of Mythos Ten? $625 each


5. Getting the Denon 4310 as well I think....$1,562
The total price with discount is $6,125 with receiver
What you guys think?

Supercube I for $885? where? I just did something similar (but not as extravagant) to what you are proposing. ProCenter 2000, Mythos 8's up front, UIW RSS III for the rear. It sounds really good! Want to upgrade the Sub next, I'd jump on a SC1 for $885 if I could find one for that price.

probably a repeat question on getting ST or STS speakers when you already have a decent sub.
If I have a ten for a center and gems for the rears. Beyond the theory of matching drivers, would I be better off gettig the one's instead of the ST or STS's?
Obviously a decent price difference but will I have a any real sound defiencies?

I assume when folks get these towers they use the sub in conjunction with their separate sub?

http://www.surroundcity.com
888-836-9403

The One's would be very good, but the ST/STS's would be better. I'm not as concerned about driver sizes, per se, as many here are, but the Ten, Nine, ST and STS's have newer, improved versions of both the tweeter and midrange compared to the One's. It's not night and day, but it is an upgrade. Whether it is enough of one to warrant the extra cost is a matter of personal opinion.

Because I didn't have room for the Ten and the Nine hadn't been announced yet, I got a Three to go with my STS's. It has the older drivers. I noticed some difference at first, but after the Three broke in, the difference seemed to be reduced (or maybe it was my ears that were "broken in" ). Still, if there is to be a difference, I'd prefer the R/L to be my "best" speakers, because they still have the greatest demands placed on them.

I have two SVS subs that I use in conjunction with my STS's. I run the latter full bandwidth (aka "Large"), which is ideal for music and good for most movies as well. The subs still handle the LFE as well as lows from my center, surround and rear channels.

So you are running '3' subs then in essence. I am just thinking that my system will always have a solo sub and I would only upgrade my Dahlquist at some point anyway, that I would save the money with the One's.
I guess I just don't know enough of the sound dynamics for my primarily watching TV/Movies and having L/R needing that bass, but I understand your point.
It would be silly of me to get the ST/STS and then not use the built-in subs for what they are worth and suppose to do. Again, newbie and just have not heard a system that has that sort of setup and decern the sound improvements with them.
Ever so confusing for me

I suppose you could call it four, two SVS's and two in the STS's (or five in a stretch, counting the Buttkicker ).

If music isn't of major import, you might not notice much of a difference between the ST/STS and One. My primary reason for upgrading my speakers was for music. Even though it accounts for only about 20% of my usage, I tend to listen to music critically, so the relatively subtle upgrade with the STS was worth it to me.

Some movies have a fair amount of low frequency information in the R/L channels, and the ST/STS will reproduce about 99% of it. However, the "normal" setup is to let the subwoofer handle it all (the R/L lows below the crossover point are redirected to the sub and mixed with the LFE if the main speakers are set to Small). Most people are very happy with this arrangement, and it is the one most commonly recommended by experts. This is the way the One's were designed to be used.

The principal advantage to you with the ST/STS over the One is the improved tweeter and midrange, plus, arguably, a very slightly better upper bass. Your ears have to judge if the improvement is worth the cost.

MacFan424 ... as always thanks for the words of wisdom.

The STS with more time is probably within my range, but the ST's would require lots more time to get to. Although when 6th Ave did their pick your price a couple of weeks ago, then came down a decent amount on the ST's. So who knows I suppose.

The next problem I would run into with the ST/STS is power. I don't have outlets close by to plug them into, so running the speaker wires under the baseboards is one thing, but power may be too much bulk under there.

If it is not one thing it is another

Yeah, the wires are a pain. I have so many wires to so many things running all over the place that I gave up worrying about it. Of course, I live alone. "Normal" situations require more decorating finesse.

FWIW, I couldn't hear any difference between the ST and the STS in a medium sized room, even at high volumes (as I said, I live alone ). Probably a difference would become more evident in a larger room, though. Some people have reported hearing differences, but they must have better ears than I.

Hey all -

Just jumped on the Mythos band-wagon!
I think they are just what I need!. However, I am having to piece together a "can do now, more later" system. Here is what I just bought:

Mythos 2 for L/R (replacing Boston Micro 110's)
Mythos 3 for Center (replacing Boston VR-910)
Supercube I (replacing Boston PV-800)

Presently using Boston VRX for SR/SL, and Boston Micro-90s for SBR/SBL.

Ok ... these are in the family/living room, and early next year we'll move everything down to a new "media room". I want get a full STS system, and use the My2's as SR/SL. Also to use the Gems that come with the STS as SBR/SBL. I'll use the Supercube I as a second sub for the STS towers.

How do you think the My2/My3 setup will work with the Boston rear surrounds? Any tips for getting them co-pacetic? Thoughts on my upgrade in general (Boston to DefTech)?

I'm stoked ... please let me know if I shouldn't be ...

Maxxer

Congratulations! You should be stoked!

I went from a Boston to an STS system, and remain in awe. And I liked the Boston's a lot (still using them in my bedroom).

While it's certainly preferable to have the same type of speakers in the rear as in the rest of the system, you actually have some latitude there. This is especially true if you have a receiver with auto EQ (Audyssey, MCACC, etc.).

I've tried a lot of combinations over the years, and my experience is that non-matching rears blend well enough most of the time if they are not brighter than the fronts. That should be the case with your Boston's vs your Mythos. While they definitely add depth to the sound field, there seldom are discrete sounds encoded in the rear channels, and they generally play at a much lower volume than the mains, so lack of ideal timbre matching is usually not too conspicuous. Your Boston's should serve in the rear until you finally get to taking the next step.

Thanks for the reply. I think I'll be ok ... if not ... just more motivation to finish the media room.

All speakers are being driven by an SC-07. The MCACC did a pretty good job in setting up my Boston's, I'm interested in running it again afetr the DefTech's arrive (Thursday).

By the way ... I got a Pro-151fd as well recently. All the hype in that thread is, as Lili Von Shtupp (Madeline Kahn) would say, "It's Twoo ... It's Twoo"!

Simply stunning display.

Your Mythos should compliment the rest of that great system brilliantly, vmaxxer. Enjoy!

I am thinking of getting a Mythos system with the Mythos Nine as the center channel. The center channel speaker would go on a shelf that is directly above my TV in a built-in wall cabinet. The speaker would need to point straight out of the cabinet.

I am concerned because the opening that I have for the center channel speaker in the cabinet is only 6" high, and the specs for the Mythos Nine say that it is 5 7/16" high when placed on its side. Will extending the leveling foot on the speaker make it any taller than 5 7/16", so that it won't fit through my six-inch opening?

I would greatly appreciate advice from anyone who has this speaker. I have not been able to find it in my local area to see it for myself. Thanks.

That's an excellent sub and you should be able to integrate it seamlessly with the One's. Mythos One's are designed to be used with subwoofers. They don't have the lower mid/upper bass boost that many speakers have, so they blend nicely with subs.

Since I have two freestanding subs working with my STS's, I'm obviously not an unbiased source on the question of whether that kind of combo entails overkill.

My primary reason for buying the STS's was for music, even though 80% of my usage it HT. I was ready to buy Ones, but fell in love with the STS on first hearing. The gains in the midrange and tweeter combined with the flawless integration of full range R/L's tipped the balance for me.

On the other hand, I know I would have been pleased with the Ones as well. Many people are likely to find the STS advantages quite subtle compared to Ones and couldn't justify the extra expense. But I was viewing these as a very long term investment so I rationalized the arguably disproportionate cost/benefit ratio, took the STS plunge, and never looked back. I couldn't be happier with them.

I don't have a Nine as it wasn't announced until about a month after I bought mine, so I have a Three, which is quite similar in enclosure design. The leveling foot makes very little, if any, difference in overall height. Certainly nowhere near 9/16", so this should be a non-issue for you.

If you look at all Mythos speakers, they are a rounded, triangular shape from front to back. DefTech's line is composed of primarily the same speakers, with the orientation making them L/R or Center. For example, the Mythos 2 (vertical L/R speaker) is merely a Mythos 3 Center (the Mythos 3 is the same speaker with a horizontal orientation). But I digress a bit.

The width of Mythos speakers are given at the widest point (across the front) and the width is less at the back (due to the triangulated design), so rotating the speaker "up" using the rear foot will not exceed the 5 7/16" width of the front.

Hope this helps,
Maxxer

I've been reading this forum for quite sometime now. Great repository of information!

I am planning on getting new speakers in the near future and have my eyes set on Mythos Two L/R and Three center combo. I currently have Boston Micro 90x's and I plan to use them as surrounds for the time being.

Anyway, I can't figure out why the silver Mythos Two and Three are much cheaper than their black counter parts. From what I can tell, there are no technical differences.

So, if a coat of black paint can make a $150+ difference, what if one simply buys the silver Mythos and spray paint them black? It would probably void the warranty. But does it affect the sound quality?

Chia

The color has no effect on the sound, so spray if you will (all bets off if you accidentally spray the drivers! ). However, besides the fact that a can of spray paint will not duplicate DefTech's beautiful lacquer, the grills are different. The silver uses a charcoal grey, which handsomely complements the polished aluminum finish.

Although I went with black to match my Kuro, I agree with mvp2005fan, the silver is beautiful in its own right. My guess is that DefTech made too many of them and cut their price temporarily to balance their inventory.

My local DD/Magnolia manager was willing to match the silver price on my black Three. No guarantee that yours would, chia_mon, but worth a try if black matters that much to you.

Macfan424 and mvp2005fan,

Thank you both for the input. I do personally prefer black home audio/video equipment in general. I guess I will save up for the black Mythos.

Thanks.

That's funny. I too was thinking about buying the silver and painting it. I know a professional painter that would probably do it for dirt cheap. I was maybe going to try it out on the silver gem stands first and see how it turns out. But about the grey grills, can you purchase the black ones separate if you really wanted them?

By the way, does anyone know where I can find the best price on the "eights" (looking for a great deal, like anyone else)? Silver or Black. If talking price on here isn't allowed, you can PM me.

Thanks