Definitive Technology Mythos STS floorstanders

Well, first of all, what Robbob posted makes sense. It explains why Def Tech speakers get great pro reviews and mediocre user reviews - they are very sensitive to associated gear. That's not knocking them, btw, some of the best speakers made are sensitive to the electronics they are connected to.

I don't think you can compare the Studio 20s to the STS towers - apples and oranges. Instead, I would want to compare the STS towers with a similarly priced Paradigm tower. Of course, the Paradigm would not have powered subs built in, but it would be a better comparison.

The STS tries to do it all - music, movies, full range, big dynamic capabilities, etc. I don't doubt you get a lot for your $3K. But, a monitor like the Studio 20 has a completely different design goal. The focus on these speakers is usually moderate output capability, excellent imaging and sound stage, clarity and definition in all but the lowest octave or octave and a half. If you want a fair comparison, get ahold of Def Tech's best monitor and compare that to the Studio 20s.

More of my $0.02.

I have run the ST's on ML433 amp and the STS's on a Marantz SR6004 and they both sounded very good, yes they sounded better on my Mark Levinson amp, but they were still very enjoyable on the Marantz receiver.

I'm running the STS's thru the gear mentioned above but with the Bryston integrated instead of the Arcam integrated. The Arcam is out for repair but will be returning soon. When the Paradigm's were hooked up the Arcam produced smoother highs & warmer mids than the Bryston. While I think the STS's mids & highs are tipped to the bright side the return of the Arcam may smooth them out a little. This could be the turning point on whether or not I keep the STS's.

I purchased the STS's primarily due to Roger Kanno's Soundstage review of Arcam's CD37 & A38, both in my system. He thought the pairing of the CD37 & A38 sounded "Intoxicating" when matched with the STS's. He also mentioned this pairing in a review of the STS's. Of, course "Intoxicating" is not the word I would use to describe what I've heard so far but perhaps the A38 will provide more magic than the Bryston. We'll see.

As Bondmanp stated, the associated gear can make a difference when comparing professional vs. user results.

Thank you Kennyt & bondmanp for your continued interest in this thread.

I suspect you will find what you expect when replacing the Bryston amp, they can be a little hot in the upper end, while Arcam is more relaxed and musical.

Good Luck!

I also own STS's and purchased them primarily for home theatre purposes but have found them to be really good for music as well. Even though these are considered "lifestyle" speakers the same care is required in set up as any multi kilobuck "audiophile" system. I have had these speakers in two different rooms in my house (the living room at 15' x 20' and a basement room at 15' x 23') but the big difference between the two was I had to place the STS's on the long wall in the living room and the short wall in the basement room. By far the STS's prefer the short wall in the basement which allows for more space behind the speakers. The greater space was allowing for a more spacious sound stage as well as allowing me to "bump up" the bass dial a tad more than in the living room. Doing this gave the speaker more fullness which was one of my criticisms with them being in the living room.

So, to get back to your question, based on my experience only, if the room is too small I don't think you are going to get out of this speaker what it has to offer. While I don't think my living is too small for the STS's being on the long wall they were too close to the back wall (18" or so) to really let the bass response breath. It is correct that you can dial down the bass response on the back of the speakers but I think the fullness suffers in so doing, thereby accentuating the high end frequency response. In my basement music only system they are a much better speaker for music on the short wall with roughly 3'-6" to the back wall. This is all based on my relatively limited experience with this speaker in my systems.

One thing I can say for sure is one should not dismiss this speaker as just a "lifestyle" speaker meant to look good in a room versus sounding good in a room. Properly set up in a good system and friendly space this is every bit a high end speaker as anything in it's price range. Now that doesn't mean YOU will like the sound of this speaker better than any other (definitely on the detailed side of things and bass integration can be tricky) but personally I don't think it makes any compromises for the sake of good looks.