Definitive Technology Mythos Five Brochure

A U D I O R E V I E W
Definitive Technology Mythos Five
Loudspeaker System
Think you have to sacrifice sound quality for speakers to match your flat-panel display?
Definitive Technology doesn't, and proves it with its new Mythos series.
s there any home-theater component
I
sexier than a big flat-panel HD monitor?
According to industry analysts and my
own unofficial polling (friends,
family, and other lovable
eccentrics) the answer is a flat
N-O! And this in spite of the
unanimity among TPV's crack video
writers that the boxless panels
remain a few pixels short of imag-
ing perfection. No matter, the mar-
ket has spoken — and thin is most
definitely in. In response, loud-
speaker companies, feeling the
pressure to nip and tuck,have been
thinking inside the box. For
industry veterans like Definitive
Technology,the challenge is design-
ing a speaker consistent with the
svelte packaging of plasma and
LCD flat panels, while maintaining
a broad envelope of performance.
Sound reproduction involves pow-
erful physical and acoustic forces,
all of which are influenced by
transducer size and enclosure con-
struction and volume. Definitive
Technology is answering the
challenge with its Mythos lineup.
As rail-thin as a Parisian super-
model, Mythos is not just a
hollow-cheek poseur. There's
genuine substance beneath its
aircraft-aluminum good looks.
"exceptional dimensionality
... plays big yet disappears"
The gleaming aluminum fuselage of the
Mythos Five Tower slides out of its packaging
with the heft and feel of a part fabricated for
a classified project at Lockheed's Skunk
Works.The curvilinear sides and back of the
40" front left/right floorstander are a single
|
N e i l G a d e r
continuous section, mated to matching
aluminum top and bottom caps. The
PolyStone front baffle is remarkably narrow.
A thick plate-glass base secures to the bot-
tom, and spikes are included to
ensure stability. The Five is a
three-way configuration with
dual midrange drivers brack-
eting the aluminum dome
tweeter, D'Appolito-style, at
the top.
Directly below are dual
woofers and passive radia-
tors, which are fully isolated
in a separate
internal compartment.
The Mythos Seven center channel employs
an identical array of drivers and radiators,
with the exception of the two bass units —
once again in D'Appolito arrangement. For
surround-sound duties the Mythos Gem
employs a unique twin-angle baffle design
for its dual 3.5" mid/bass drivers, to achieve
the dispersion of a bipolar while retaining
the Mythos' columnar style. The Gems offer
mounting alternatives that include wall-
mounting with the included steel plate, a
pivoting wall-mount option, and finally the
graceful aluminum-and-glass GemStand
for floor mounting — a real beauty that
integrates seamlessly with the speakers
and includes channels to neatly dress the
speaker cables.
"it's a micro-marvel"
The SuperCube III subwoofer is the
fourth iteration of Definitive Tech's premier
subwoofer, reduced to near-miniature
dimensions. No larger than a squared-off
medicine ball, it's a micro-marvel that uses
650 watts to drive its single 7.5" woofer and
two passive radiators to impressive depths
and output in smaller rooms. Connectivity
is good with speaker-level inputs/outputs,
line-level inputs, a high-pass filter, and an
unfiltered LFE input, as well as variable level,
phase, and low-pass controls.
The complete system as reviewed sells
for $2504.
Definitive, Redefined
The character of the Mythos Five Tower con-
veyed a tangible sense of midrange purpose
with good balance and a lighter overall tonal-
ity. Vocalists,from baritones to mezzos,sound-
ed lively and upfront.In the lower mids,some
resonant heft was subtracted from the vocal
character of a bass baritone like Nick Cave
or Tom Waits, but not distractingly so. Less
appealing was a slight upward tilt in the
lower treble that added a trace of extra
sibilance, revealing the tweeter's generally
brighter personality. At the frequency
extremes,a female vocalist or solo violin could
both sound a little dry and clinical at times.