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The Short Form
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| $4,616 (as tested, with Gem stands) / DEFINITIVETECH.COM / 410-363-7148 |
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Snapshot
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| A dynamic-sounding music and movie system that delivers a satisfying dose of bass in a sleek, compact package |
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Plus
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| • Compact, attractive design • Built-in sub allows for full-range sound from STS tower • Excellent coverage from Gem surrounds |
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Minus
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| • Tower positioning can be tricky |
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Key Features
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• Mythos STS SuperTower ($1,500 each): 1-in aluminum-dome tweeter, two 4½-in midrange drivers, 5 x 10-in woofer, two 5 x 10-in passive radiators; 300-watt Class D amp; 47½ x 5½ x 8½ in, 54 lb •Mythos Nine ($799): 1-in aluminum-dome tweeter, two 4½-in midrange drivers, two 4½ x 8-in woofers; 28 x 5½ x 4 in, 13 lb • Mythos Gem ($279 each; stands: $259 a pair): 1-in aluminum-dome tweeter, two 3½-in midrange/woofers; 10¼ x 4¼ x 4 in, 4½ lb |
While it might not rank as high on the innovation scale as its predecessors, the Mythos STS follows a similar trajectory by providing a sensible next step for the line. Def Tech has shrunk the ST’s cabinet down to a 471⁄2-inch height, and is offering the new speaker at a more affordable $3,000-a-pair price. To round out my test system, the company bundled the STS L/R pair with its brand-new Mythos Nine for a center channel and a pair of Mythos Gems for surrounds. Total cost for this package comes to $4,357 ($4,616 with Gem speaker stands), a very fair price when you consider that you get a pair of powered subwoofers thrown in free when you buy STS SuperTowers.
The STS’s black aluminum cabinet has a svelte, stealthy look — with the lights dimmed, they really disappeared in our home theater/test facility. And I found its scale friendlier than the company’s more imposing ST model, which tops out at 511⁄2 inches. The base is particularly elegant. Its compact footprint and beveled edges make for a seamless visual blend with the speaker, while the dark granite material offers sturdy support.
Def Tech coaxes big bass out of its slim tower by using a narrow 5 x 10-inch “racetrack” subwoofer driver coupled to a set of same-size passive radiators. (The radiators act like ports to reinforce low-end output.) The STS’s top section, meanwhile, contains a pair of 41⁄2-inch midrange drivers flanking a 1-inch aluminum-dome tweeter coated with a ceramic material to inhibit treble edginess.
The Mythos Nine is a flexible on-wall speaker that can be positioned either vertically for front left/right and surround channels or horizontally for a center-channel configuration. The Nine’s angled end caps and black aluminum cabinet echo the STS’s design. Def Tech includes both a bracket for wall mounting and a leveling foot for on-shelf installations.
The compact Gem is another multipurpose Mythos designed to serve either as a front or surround speaker. It has the same cabinet design as the rest of the system, and can be either wall mounted or placed on top of Def Tech’s matching stand ($259 a pair). The Gem’s 31⁄2-inch bass/midrange drivers are angled in opposite directions to better disperse the sound and widen the sonic image.
Setting up the towers took longer than usual, mostly because the STS holds both the speaker and sub — so, unlike with a conventional sub/sat system, you can’t tweak the sub position for best bass without dragging the rest of the speaker along with it. When placed about 4 to 5 feet out into the room, the STS cast a surprisingly big soundstage. But its low end also sounded lumpy and a bit limited at that position. Nudging the speakers back another 2 feet toward the front wall helped a great deal to reinforce the bass and smooth out its response in our room.
You get two hookup options with the STS. The first is to run it full-range by way of a standard speaker connection from a receiver or amp. The second is to split your receiver’s LFE output with a Y adapter and run separate interconnects to each speaker’s RCA-jack LFE input. While the first method simplifies things, the second gives you bass-level control by way of a volume dial on the speaker’s back panel. Since I was using a separate LFE connection for the STS subs, I selected both Large for the front speakers and Yes for the subwoofer in my receiver’s speaker setup menu. (When a speaker-level connection is made to the STS without an LFE connection, those same options should be set to Large for the front speakers and No for subwoofer.)
Compared with positioning the STS towers, getting the Nine center and the Gem surrounds up and running was no problem. The Nine sat on a shelf directly below our plasma TV’s 50-inch screen and angled slightly toward the listening position. The Gems, meanwhile, sat on a pair of high speaker stands to the side of and slightly behind the couch.
Starting out with stereo, I listened to “Barfly” from neo-folkie Ray LaMontagne’s Till the Sun Turns Black. The singer’s hushed, plaintive vocals sounded richly textured, with the STS pair floating a full-bodied image between them. I was immediately struck by the crisp presentation. The speakers realistically fleshed out treble details like a lightly brushed snare drum and ride cymbal, conveying a satisfying sense of presence without sounding either too forward or too tizzy.
Switching from intimate to epic acoustic music, I next cued up Calexico’s new Carried to Dust and listened to “El Gatillo,” another of the band’s trademark spaghetti-Western instrumentals. This track’s dynamic percussion and brass sounded fantastic, with a kick drum coming across low and clean, and the mariachi horns sounding airy and unrestrained when the song swelled to a climax. The STS towers cast an image as expansive as a widescreen frame from a Sergio Leone film, but I was also impressed by their ability to convey subtle details in the song, such as a softly played accordion and a lonely, high-pitched whistling.
Calexico put me in the mood for movies, so I next watched a few choice scenes from the Spider-man 3 Blu-ray Disc. When Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church) unknowingly leaps into a particle accelerator while fleeing the cops, the impact of his body slamming against the chamber’s bottom had a deep, potent envelope — the system’s LFE performance proved to be every bit the match of the separate 12-inch subwoofer I usually use. Its handling of soundtrack ambience proved equally effective, with the Gem surrounds realistically conveying the resonance of the criminal’s breathing as he hid in the sprawling metal chamber. And when the accelerator started spinning — initiating the cellular fusion of flesh and sand that turns Marko into the Sandman — the machine’s 360° turns sounded solid and continuous as the effect panned from speaker to speaker.
The Nine turned out to be a fine center-speaker match for this system. Slightly larger than the company’s Mythos Three center model, it’s also designed to reach down a bit deeper. During a scene where Peter (Tobey Maguire) and his Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) discuss his getting married, dialogue sounded clean and extended. And the Nine also sounded natural over a 45° arc, which more than covers your average sofa-width listening window.
Def Tech’s $3,000-a-pair Mythos STS SuperTower is one of the best values going in high-end speakers. Its built-in powered subwoofer lets it deliver dynamic, full-range performance from a compact, strikingly good-looking package. And its clean, coherent, detailed sound will make easy friends of all who hear it. When combined with the company’s Mythos Nine and a pair of Gems, it all adds up to an elegant, space-saving, seriously kick-ass system. Which just goes to show that Def Tech is still one step ahead of the curve.