when it suddenly
hit me: The slender, silvery beauty
of Definitive T echnology’s Mythos
speakers might
actually be a drawback. I was so
disturbed by this
realization that,
using ancient Latin
with such eloquence it would
have brought tears
to Cicero’s eyes, I
cancelled our date
to go shopping for
the latest opera
releases on SACD,
returned the new
issue of Foreign
Affairs that I’d
borrowed from
her, and headed
home to drink a seaweed-and-algae
smoothie while meditating on
the problem.
There’s simply no doubt about it.
The Mythos speakers that Def T ech
sent me for review–floorstanding
Mythos Fours for the mains, a
Mythos Three for the center, and
a pair of never-before-seen-by
normal-humans Mythos Gems for
the surrounds, plus a SuperCube
II subwoofer–were drop-dead
gorgeous. I’m talking stunning,
can’t get-them-out-of-your-mind,
wouldn’t-kick-them-out-of-bed-foreating-Limburger-cheese-and W assacrispbread gorgeous.
The Mythos Four exudes class
and style as it presses upward from
its elegant glass base. It soars
toward the ceiling like a refined
cathedral spire built to appease
the gods of great sound and
stylish décor. The sylphlike
horizontal Mythos Three rested
lightly atop my TV, looking for
all of the world as if it were
only temporarily reclining and
might, at any moment, choose
to soar upward, as well. The
Mythos Gems, about as perfectly
So I was chatting with Paris
Hilton the other day about some
arcane aspect of cosmic string
theory (OK , all aspects of cosmic
string theory are arcane to me)
The totally bearable lightness of being a Mythos
“perfectly proportioned ... built to
appease the gods
of great sound and
stylish décor”
BY DARRYL WILKINSON
from the
test bench
Definitive Technology Mythos Four
Speaker System
“They will eat for lunch just about any other system in the price range”
proportioned as tiny speakers can
be, beckoned from their perches in
the back of the room.
There’s no law of physics nor
any pending Constitutional amendment that I’m aware of declaring
that speakers must look average
at best and toad’s-butt ugly if at
all possible. But our collective
puritanical background subconsciously forces most red-blooded
Americans to be highly suspicious
of any component that even has
a whiff of style about it (Apple’s
iPod being a giant–or, more accurately, a tiny–exception to the rule).
Our feelings run much the same
with people. Geeky nerds aren’t
expected to be the best dressed
guys at the lunch buffet; and, well,
I don’t really think Paris Hilton
reads Foreign Affairs, either.
Some misguided people are
going to dismiss these Mythos
beauties as just another collection
of pretty faces with no substance to
them–and they’d be wrong. Stultifyingly wrong. If Def T ech had just
jumped on the rapidly moving
lifestyle bandwagon and simply
crammed a few basic drivers inside
a cabinet cosmetically tailored to
appeal to the flat-panel TV-buying
crowd, then none of this would
matter. The fact is that, while
Def T ech most admittedly designed
these speakers around a contemporary cosmetic concept, they also
used their engineering prowess
to breathe silky sonic life into
their creation.
No Peaking
Here’s an example of what I’m
talking about. Def T ech engineered
the Mythos Fours, Threes, and
“pinpoint accuracy,
incredibly intimate
detail ... in a word:
three-dimensional
and thrilling”
“The system’s
blending of bass
and beauty is
quite astounding”
AT A GLANCE
DEFINITIVE TECHNOLOGY MYTHOS FOUR SPEAKER SYSTEM
HT Labs Measures: Definitive Technology
Mythos Four Speaker System
These listings are based on the manufacturer’s stated specs;
the HT Labs box below indicates the gear’s performance on
our test bench.
SUBWOOFER: SUPERCUBE II
Connections: Speaker- and line-level
ins and outs, LFE in
Enclosure type: Passive radiator
(two, 8 inches)
Woofer (size in inches, type): 8, long-throw polymer
Power Rating (watts): 1,250
Crossover Bypass: Yes
Available Finishes: Piano Black Gloss
Dimensions (H x W x D, inches): 12.5 by 12 by 12
Weight (pounds): 38
Price: $899
SPEAKER:
Type:
Tweeter (size in inches, type):
Woofer (size in inches, type):
Radiator (size in inches, type):
Nominal Impedance (ohms):
Recommended Amp Power (watts):
Available Finishes:
Dimensions (H x W x D, inches):
Weight (pounds):
Price:
Mythos Four
2.5 way, tower
1, aluminum dome
4.5, cast basket (4)
4.5, planar bass (2)
4–8
20–225
Silver or Black
44 by 5.19 by 5.13
24
$699
Mythos Three
Two-way, center
1, aluminum dome
4.5, cast basket (2)
4.5, planar bass (2)
4–8
10–200
Silver or Black
5.4 by 25.1 by 4.2
15
$499
Mythos Gem
Two-way, monitor
1, aluminum dome
3.5, wide dispersion (2)
N/A
4–8
10–200
Silver or Black
10.25 by 4.25 by 4.125
5
$249
Mythos Four L/R Sensitivity:
87.5 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz
Mythos Three Center Sensitivity:
89 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz
Mythos Gem Surround Sensitivity:
87 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz
This graph shows the quasi-anechoic (employing
close-miking of all woofers) frequency response of
the Mythos Four L/R (purple trace), SuperCube II
sub (blue trace), Mythos Three center (green
trace), and Mythos Gem surround (red trace).All
passive loudspeakers were measured at a distance
of 1 meter with a 2.83-volt input and scaled for display purposes.
The Mythos Four’s listening-window response
(a five-point average of axial and +/–15-degree
horizontal and vertical responses) measures
+2.77/–1.26 dB from 200 Hz to 10 kHz.The -3dB
point is at 104 Hz, and the -6dB point is at 90 Hz.
Impedance reaches a minimum of 4.82 ohms at 267
Hz and a phase angle of -30.34 degrees at 162 Hz.
The Mythos Three’s listening-window response
measures +0.95/–2.91 dB from 200 Hz to 10 kHz.
An average of axial and +/–15-degree horizontal
responses measures +0.97/-2.98 dB from 200 Hz
to 10 kHz.The –3dB point is at 122 Hz, and the
–6dB point is at 106 Hz. Impedance reaches a minimum of 3.96 ohms at 251 Hz and a phase angle of
–46.45 degrees at 158 Hz.
The Mythos Gem’s listening-window response
measures +1.52/–2.17 dB from 200 Hz to 10 kHz.
The –3dB point is at 162 Hz, and the –6dB is at
134 Hz. Impedance reaches a minimum of 4.68
ohms at 343 Hz and a phase angle of –51.06
degrees at 183 Hz.
The SuperCube II’s close-miked response, normalized to the level at 80 Hz, indicates that the
lower –3dB point is at 27 Hz and the –6dB point is
at 25 Hz. the upper –3dB point is at 110 Hz when
using the LEF input. — MJP
9
6
ferent sonic character than you
might be used to, largely because
the Mythos speakers feature a
forward-radiating design, not a
bipolar one. As a result, the soundstage isn’t as big as that of the
larger bipolar towers. There’s
something here that’s equally as
Gems (plus the Mythos Twos,
which the company sent me before
they had a pair of Gems ready for
me to listen to) with the intention
that there would be a subwoofer in
the system, so there’s no midbass
peak designed into the speakers.
Some manufacturers use this trick
to fool the listener into thinking
there’s bass where there is none.
In addition to detrimentally altering
the sonic balance, such a peak
makes it more difficult to
smoothly integrate the speakers
with a subwoofer.
That’s a rather bold step because,
if you put these speakers on a demo
wall in a store and compare them
with another speaker that’s been
voiced with a peak in the midbass,
your first reaction is likely to be that
the Mythos are a little thin and
weak, rather than highly accurate
and neutral. But, here again, your
thinking would be going in the
wrong direction. Add a subwoofer,
such as the SuperCube II, and–
like a rich socialite with a dark
past–these mild-mannered, highly
refined beauties turn into adrenaline-pumping, take-no-prisoners
competitors that will eat for lunch
(belch included) just about any
other system in the price range.
The system’s blending of bass
and beauty is quite astounding. I’ve
rarely run into a combination where
it was so easy to match the subwoofer to the speakers–or a combination that sounded so natural
together. It’s as if they were made
for each other (which, now that I
mention it, they were).
If you’ve long been a fan of
Def Tech’s bipolar speakers, this
Mythos system has a slightly dif-
HIGHLIGHTS
Mythos beauty is more than
skin deep
Gems utilize wide-dispersion
bipolar array
Music and movies are equally
stunning
DEFINITIVE TECHNOLOGY MYTHOS FOUR SPEAKER SYSTEM
OVERALL RATING
Value
In this price
range, you normally get either style
or substance;
the Mythos
gives you both
The SuperCube
II trounces most
under-$1,000
subwoofers
Features
Wall-mount
brackets are
included with
the Mythos Three
and Mythos Gem
The Mythos Gem
has a prethreaded
insert for the
option pivoting
wall mount
Performance
Pinpoint accuracy, incredibly
intimate detail
Bass is extremely
convincing
The subwoofer
blends phenomenally with the
other speakers
Ergonomics
Slender silos
and wall-mounting
options make
these some of the
easiest speakers
to integrate into
a real living room
It’s easy to reach
the SuperCube II’s
controls
The Mythos system
is not only one of the
best sub-$3,500 systems on the market,
it’s one of the most
stylish and attractive
systems, too.
General information
Mythos Four Tower Speaker, $699 Mythos Three Center-Channel Speaker, $499
Mythos Gem Surround Speaker, $249 SuperCube II Subwoofer, $899
Definitive Technology, (410) 363-7148, www.definitivetech.com Dealer Locator Code DEF
96 94
93 97 98
9
6
“worthy of hanging
in the Louvre ...
some of the
easiest speakers
to integrate in a
real living room”
“The SuperCube II
trounces most
under-$1,000
subwoofers”
Build Quality
Polystone,
non-resonant
front baffles
Aircraft-grade
aluminum cabinets with interal
ribbing and
camping pads
sumers think about how products
should perform and fit into our
lives. I, for one, am certainly ready
for this shift. Even if other manufacturers don’t follow Def Tech’s
lead, this system is still a mighty
fine-sounding and damn goodlooking group of speakers.
appealing, though. The Mythos are
so intimate in their imaging and
precise in their reproduction that
they create a sonic portrait with
such subtlety and sincerity that, if
you could somehow freeze forever
such an audible moment, it would
be worthy of hanging in the Louvre.
The cabinets’ narrowness, the
lack of parallel sides, the excellent
internal damping, the PolyStone
mineral-filled polymer front baffles,
the specially annealed aluminum
dome tweeters with silk surrounds,
and the Medite planar bass radiators that refuse to let midrange
frequencies bleed into the room
combine to provide the unfettered,
thoroughly unencumbered lightness
of being a Mythos speaker. But
what it really boils down to is this:
How do these slender silos sound
when you plunk them on the floor
or pop them on the wall next
to your plasma? In a word: threedimensional and thrilling. W ell, that
was three words, but you get what
I mean.
Strong yet Subtle
The underlying nature of the
Mythos Fours, Threes, and Gems
(which, by the way, also fared quite
well as main speakers when I
paired them with the SuperCube II
sub-woofer) is a subtle sweetness
and unerring accuracy. The sonic
blend of the bass with the midrange
vocals, guitars, and harmonica on
Blues Traveler’s Truth Be Told
DVD-Audio disc is a great example of this; at the same time, the
ensemble flawlessly reproduced the
maniacally defined antics found on
Chesky’s Musical 5.1 Surround
Show SACD. In fact, if you don’t
think these speakers have what it
takes to run with the ugliest but best
sounding speakers in the price
range, listen to “Music for Cello,
Helicopter and Cars” on the Chesky
disc. If the system is dialed-in
properly, it’ll change your opinion
of how good a lifestyle product
should be.
All of the aspects that make
music sound so good achieve similar results with movies. Master &
Commander was much more than
I bargained for with this system —
especially early in the movie, when
you’re lulled into calm by the
creaking of the ship and the breaking of the waves just before a hell
storm of cannon shots is released.
These Mythos are no passive wallflowers, let me tell you. Seabiscuit,
a much less rambunctious movie
that relies on subtlety of sound and
narration as a large part of its story ,
was just as engagingly portrayed
and just as enjoyable.
Hopefully, the Mythos are an
early indication of a paradigm shift
in the way manufacturers and con-
11433 Cronridge Dr. • Owings Mills, MD 21117 • (410)363-7148
Reprinted from the October 2004 issue of HOME THEATER.
For information and dealers
www.definitivetech.com
from the
test bench
DEFINITIVE TECHNOLOGY MYTHOS FOUR SPEAKER SYSTEM
“drop-dead
gorgeous. I’m
talking stunning,
can’t get-themout-of-your-mind”
“Music and movies
are equally stunning”
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