Definitive Technology Mythos Gem Supplementary Manual page 2

hints that the original concept for the
Gem was for it to be a surround
speaker, it has matured into an Atom
Ant-like, do-it-all small wonder.
Essentially, the Gem is a mighty, mini
Mythos, all cute and cuddly — well,
with aluminum cabinets, thick inner
walls, and internal damping pads,
it's not really cuddly. In fact, it's
significantly heavier than it looks, and
it's built along the same lines as the
other Mythos speakers. The bigger
"Mythos speakers
are a marvelous
twofer: You get
great sound and
great looks"
floorstanding models, such as the
Mythos Four, have gracefully curved
cabinets with nary a parallel wall off
of which a naughty standing wave can
begin bouncing in its sonically mud-
dling way. The Gem's design, as well
as that of some other modest Mythos,
inverts the curve of the back of the
cabinet, turning it inward. This main-
tains the no-parallel-walls design yet
allows you to mount the speaker on a
wall (next to a plasma TV, maybe?).
The included keyhole-type mounting
brackets hold the Gems snugly against
the wall, and there's a threaded insert
on the back should you prefer to use
a pivoting wall mount.
"the Gem is a mighty,
mini Mythos ... an
Atom Ant-like, do-it-
all small wonder"
At this point, it's already easy to
conclude the Gem is a step above the
ordinary satellite speaker. But a couple
of additional aspects push it techno-
logically — and audibly — to the top
of its very affordable class. In addition
to an aluminum-dome, silk-surround
tweeter (one per Gem), each speaker
uses a pair of three-inch drivers (one
above and one below the tweeter)
specifically angled to the left and right,
creating what Definitive calls a wide-
dispersion array. As a result, unlike a
traditional bipole or dipole surround
AT A GLANCE
SUBWOOFER: SUPERCUBE III
Connections:
Enclosure type:
Woofer (size in inches, type):
Power Rating (watts):
Crossover Bypass:
Available Finishes:
Dimensions (H x W x D, inches): 10.25 x 10.25 x 10.25
Weight (pounds):
Price:
These listings are based on the manufacturer's stated specs; the HT Labs box below indicts the gear's performance
on our test bench.
SPEAKER:
Type:
Tweeter (size in inches, type):
Midrange (size in inches, type):
Woofer (size in inches, type):
Nominal Impedance (ohms):
Recommended Amp Power (watts):
Available Finishes:
Dimensions (H x W x D, inches):
Weight (pounds):
Price:
HT Labs Measures: Definitive Technology
Mythos Gem Speaker System
Satellite Sensitivity:
90 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz
Center Sensitivity:
88.5 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz
This graph shows the quasi-anechoic (employing
close-miking of all subwoofers) frequency response
of the Mythos Gem satellites (purple trace),
SuperCube III subwoofer (blue trace), and Mythos
Seven center channel (green trace). All passive
speaker, the Gem can do the job of
front, surround, or any other speaker
position you can think of. If you're
subwoofer averse, though, you'd
better search around for another small
speaker to listen to. While lots of small
speakers are designed with a midbass
DEFINITIVE TECHNOLOGY MYTHOS GEM SPEAKER SYSTEM
Speaker- and line-level inputs
Passive radiator
7.5 (1) active, 7.5 (2) pressure-driven infrasonic radiators
650 (digitally switching)
Yes
Piano-Gloss Black or Golden Cherry
28
$699
Mythos Gem
Two-way, monitor
1, aluminum dome
3.5 (2), polymer
N/A
4–8
10–200
Satin-Finished, Aircraft-Grade
Extruded Aluminum (Silver or
Black)
10.25 x 4.125 x 4.25
4
$249/each
loudspeakers were measured with grilles at a dis-
tance of 1 meter with a 2.85-volt input and scaled
for display purposes.
The Gem's listening-window response (a five-
point average of axial and +/–15-degree horizontal
and vertical responses) measures +2.06/–2.25 deci-
bels from 200 hertz to 10 kilohertz.The -3dB point
is at 183 Hz, and the –6-dB point is at 143 Hz.
Impedance reaches a minimum of 4.60 ohms at 360
Hz and a phase angle of –47.96 degrees at 188 Hz.
The Mythos Seven's listening-window response
measures +2.57/–2.81 dB from 200 Hz to 10 kHz.
An average of axial and +/–15-degree horizontal
responses measures +2.74/–2.47 dB from 200 Hz
to 10 kHz.The –3-dB point is at 136 Hz, and the
–6-dB point is at 111 Hz. Impedance reaches a min-
imum of 4.35 ohms at 288 Hz and a phase angle of
–50.35 degrees at 154 Hz.
The SuperCube III's close-miked response, nor-
malized to the level at 80 Hz, indicates that the
lower –3-dB point is at 46 Hz and the –6-dB point
is at 28 Hz.The upper –3-dB point is at 103 Hz
using the LFE input. — MJP
Mythos Seven
Two-way, center
1, aluminum dome
3.5 (2), polymer
3.5 (2), planar radiators
4–8
10–175
Satin-Finished, Aircraft-Grade
Extruded Aluminum (Silver or
Black)
4.125 x 19.625 x 4
7.5
$349