Def tech mythos st, too boomy?

EDUBAG
EDUBAG Posts: 403
edited November 2011 in Speakers
Well guys, i was in miami this week and got to audition some speakers for my nextbpurchase. First listened to thenkef q700 and liked them very much but they were lacking the bottom end, however very nice mids and highs. Heard thebdef tech bp 4020? The smaller of the new line, they sounded nice but not as nice as the kefs.

I went to a secon place that offered bowers and wilkins and def tech, played the diamond 805 bookshelf with a rotel integrated and they were very nice. Then they played the top of the line diamonds 802 in ht mode with center and subs and the whole nine yards, according to thenguy the wholestup ran about 260 grand. Honestly, nice but surprisingly enough not myncup ofntea, for some reason i found them very bright and my ears started hurting after 15 mins, maybe it was the setup or the volume but for ansystem costing so much money i liked the small bookshelf better.

Then they played the mythos st and for sure they had them setup really heavy on the bass y mean what i heard sounded really really boomy and the mids and high kind of muffled in comparison. The guy at the store, who was the owner, told me he prefered the bp8080 because they were less boomy. To be honest the nicest def tech setup they had was the xtr50 with the supercube sub. Now i know that a lot of guysnhere have the st setup and wasnwondering if they could please debunk this boomyness i heard and tell me that they are musical enough for me to consider them.

Regards,

Eduardo
HT:
POLK AUDIO RTI4 FRONTS
CSI3 CENTER
DEF TECH PROMONITOR800 SURROUNDS
PSW 125 SUB
PIONEER ELITE AVR23TXH AVR
APPLE TV 160GB
PANASONIC BLURAY PLAYER
50" PANASONIC PLASMA TCP50C2

2 CHANNEL:
KEF R300 THREE WAY BOOKSHELF GLOSS PIANO BLACK
ROTEL RC 990BX PRE
ROTEL RB 990BX AMP
OPPO DV980 (AS CD PLAYER)
PIONEER PL100 TURNTABLE WITH SHURE MX97E CART
MIT EXP2 SPEAKER CABLES
Post edited by EDUBAG on
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Comments

  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 33,014
    edited November 2011
    Everything in dependant on setup. Most stores, the big box ones anyway, are terrible at it. The best review is in home, in your room, with your gear, and you at the helm of the setup.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
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  • 98Badger
    98Badger Posts: 317
    edited November 2011
    I've heard the Def Tech ST's in a couple different stores and my opinion parallels your Eduardo. I just was not impressed with them. I know the first place that I heard them did not have them set up well. They were just in the middle of a large room. The second place had a better listening environment, but still the same bass bloat. I guess they just don't fit my personal preference for sound.
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  • cnh
    cnh Posts: 13,284
    edited November 2011
    BB set ups, suck! I remember hearing the TOTL Mythos towers on a TOTL Pioneer ICE AVR and thinking--what's the big deal. Of course they had everything set up by, well let's not call anyone names here! Needless to say such a system sounds nothing like it did at BB.

    However, I fully 'identify' with your take on the B&Ws, too much high end for me. Don't like that!!

    Would be nice if you could find a store that actually knew how to set these up and used some nice ICs and speaker wire?

    KEFs though, are pretty good regardless. They don't seem to be as easy to foul up when setting them up! And the bigger towers do put out some nice bass...but it's a very 'tight' kind of bass. People often expect a Cerwin Vega kind of bass when most recordings do not have that and it's exaggerated and boomy!

    cnh
    Currently orbiting Bowie's Blackstar.!

    Polk Lsi-7s, Def Tech 8" sub, HK 3490, HK HD 990 (CDP/DAC), AKG Q701s
    [sig. changed on a monthly basis as I rotate in and out of my stash]
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  • leroyjr1
    leroyjr1 Posts: 8,785
    edited November 2011
    Check out the CM9's also. IMO its not as bright as the diamond series tweeters. Also the ST's need to be setup properly to get
    everything sounding great. They can be very difficult to setup properly. I liked mine setup using the LFE connect, it gave me more flexibility and had more control. Every store I've ever heard them setup in didnt have them setup properly and not taking advantage of the LFE input.


    After seeing 5 or so threads from you asking what speakers sound best I'd recommend jumping in head first and atleast give something a try. You'll never know unless you try it for yourself.
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  • EDUBAG
    EDUBAG Posts: 403
    edited November 2011
    Allrite leroy, you got me hahaha i cannot make my mind. I wanted to like the deftech sts i really do, but when i heard them they did not impressed me at all, hence this thread. Out of the ones i heard i like the kef q700 and the diamond bookshelf.

    Since i live in the dominican republic i cannot just jump into it, if i lived in the states i would have tried all of them in home by now. I lean towards def tech and kef because i have a good discount on either via a family that is a dealer of both brands.

    The only thing is when i heard the kef q700 i found them lacking bass, and was wondering if the q900 provided more bass so it would offer a more balanced sound.

    Now i know that my choice will be between the q900 and the r300 bookshelf.
    HT:
    POLK AUDIO RTI4 FRONTS
    CSI3 CENTER
    DEF TECH PROMONITOR800 SURROUNDS
    PSW 125 SUB
    PIONEER ELITE AVR23TXH AVR
    APPLE TV 160GB
    PANASONIC BLURAY PLAYER
    50" PANASONIC PLASMA TCP50C2

    2 CHANNEL:
    KEF R300 THREE WAY BOOKSHELF GLOSS PIANO BLACK
    ROTEL RC 990BX PRE
    ROTEL RB 990BX AMP
    OPPO DV980 (AS CD PLAYER)
    PIONEER PL100 TURNTABLE WITH SHURE MX97E CART
    MIT EXP2 SPEAKER CABLES
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  • pearsall001
    pearsall001 Posts: 5,093
    edited November 2011
    Get the KEF Q900's & be done with it... end of story!!! My wife would've had 5 pairs of shoes picked out by the time you make up your mind. And that's saying something. Pull the trigger & enjoy!
    "2 Channel & 11.2 HT "Two Channel:Magnepan LRSSchiit Audio Freya S - SS preConsonance Ref 50 - Tube preParasound HALO A21+ 2 channel ampBluesound NODE 2i streameriFi NEO iDSD DAC Oppo BDP-93KEF KC62 sub Home Theater:Full blown 11.2 set up.
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited November 2011
    When set up properly, the Mythos ST can sound incredible, to my ears.
    polkaudio RT35 Bookshelves
    polkaudio 255c-RT Inwalls
    polkaudio DSWPro550WI
    polkaudio XRT12 XM Tuner
    polkaudio RM6750 5.1

    Front projection, 2 channel, car audio... life is good!
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  • mantis
    mantis Posts: 17,201
    edited November 2011
    The Mythos ST is one of the very best sounding speakers at the 4k price and below. They are extremely musical with excellent top end clarity. The subs are not boomy at all. I have set them up in countless rooms and never had a boomy problem ever. If anything I will go on record to say they are the cleanest powered towers made. I also own them myself.
    Looking over your system , you don't have the means to power the ST's correctly. Yes the vsx23 is a very nice budget receiver and one of my favorites at it's price point, ok my favorite at it's price point to be straight. You will be required to upgrade to a SC model if you love Pioneer Elite like most do in order to even hear what they ST's can do along with the right of a Mythos system. Your Polk rtia7's as nice as they are will simply be blown away by the ST's in every single area. They simply can't compete at all. I like the Rtia7's don't get me wrong, they are a fantastic speaker and I enjoy listening to them but they are not in the same league as the Mythos series.

    You can not judge any speaker in a store that is not properly calibrated or powered right. The room and calibration will make or break any speaker.
    Now B&W makes killer speakers at all levels and are some of the very best speakers in the world bar none. They simply play what they are given. Some don't like this as it's very uncolored. They show off flaws in your gear and your recordings. The CM7 and CM9 are 2 of my all time favorite speakers in their price points.
    With the Mythos ST as a main speaker , you can go into Rotel , NAD , B&K , Cambridge audio level gear and hear even more detail if music is very important to you. I see you are using Rotel amps for music with a selector from Niles in the DSP1. You can stop using all that stuff and buy a NAD T785HD receiver or a Rotel RSX or RSP separate system and achieve the same level actually much better then what you are trying to do now.

    I will offer you this , if you live close to me , you are welcome to come to my house and hear them for yourself on a properly calibrated system. I have ICE power and good quality cables. I also have a Rotel Intergraded that is super musical and the ST's sing on them sweetly , yes I said sweetly. Amazing how good the ST's can be. I always shop and keep my eyes open for new speakers as I just demo'd the LSIM703's and I'll be honest with you, as good as they are and as much as I liked them , I don't miss them and I fully enjoy my ST's as I just listened to them last night and smiled the entire time.

    Are the Mythos ST a double duty speaker? Yes fully a theater speaker with sheer impact and dynamic's. I consider them to be one of the very best under 10k system depending on room size and amount of speakers. Nothing has impressed me more then them. Klipsch theater system at this level are also extremely impressive and can be down right scary. Another company that should be considered for a theater system.

    Good luck speaker shopping , I know it's difficult but keep your chin up .
    Dan
    My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited November 2011
    mantis wrote: »
    You can not judge any speaker in a store that is not properly calibrated or powered right. The room and calibration will make or break any speaker.

    This is why proper setup is critical with a speaker like this. DefTechs are very sensitive to placement.

    I would guess they were not set up properly.
    polkaudio RT35 Bookshelves
    polkaudio 255c-RT Inwalls
    polkaudio DSWPro550WI
    polkaudio XRT12 XM Tuner
    polkaudio RM6750 5.1

    Front projection, 2 channel, car audio... life is good!
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  • mantis
    mantis Posts: 17,201
    edited November 2011
    Serendipity wrote: »
    This is why proper setup is critical with a speaker like this. DefTechs are very sensitive to placement.

    I would guess they were not set up properly.
    Most speakers are. Coming from RTia they are a huge set up.
    Dan
    My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited November 2011
    mantis wrote: »
    Most speakers are. Coming from RTia they are a huge set up.
    I believe high dispersion speakers, especially those that have an extended bottom end are the most difficult to place. Controlled directivity speakers(horns, waveguides) are generally easier to place as they don't interact with the room as much.
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited November 2011
    Face wrote: »
    I believe high dispersion speakers, especially those that have an extended bottom end are the most difficult to place. Controlled directivity speakers(horns, waveguides) are generally easier to place as they don't interact with the room as much.

    I agree.

    From my experience, high dispersion speakers are difficult to set up properly.

    Sometimes when a speaker does not sound good, placement can work wonders. Making sure your speakers are set up properly can make a huge difference.
    polkaudio RT35 Bookshelves
    polkaudio 255c-RT Inwalls
    polkaudio DSWPro550WI
    polkaudio XRT12 XM Tuner
    polkaudio RM6750 5.1

    Front projection, 2 channel, car audio... life is good!
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  • slush
    slush Posts: 124
    edited November 2011
    Face wrote: »
    I believe high dispersion speakers, especially those that have an extended bottom end are the most difficult to place. Controlled directivity speakers(horns, waveguides) are generally easier to place as they don't interact with the room as much.

    I agree as well. I've been considering the HSU HB-1's since my room doesn't afford me the ability to tweak placement as much.
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