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Definitive Technology Mythos STS crapped out... worth repairing?

Greetings... I dipped my toes into the world of higher end (?) audio eight years ago through a pair of Definitive Technology Mythos STS speakers. These speakers have integrated subwoofers and I loved the bass output and overall sound. But after dropping around $3000 CAD on them (at a time the CAD was at par with USD) the amp boards on both speakers failed after around eight years of relatively light use. Not that I'm bitter or anything...

Def Tech confirmed that replacement amp boards are unavailable. Their local authorized repair centre advised that a component level repair couldn't be carried out. Def Tech customer service has suggested that I send the amp boards to them for diagnosis and potential component level repair for a cool US$600 plus shipping (or a US$80 sucker charge in the event they cannot be repaired).

I am not impressed.

Are these speakers worth repairing under the circumstances? Has speaker technology has improved and/or gone down in price since I bought them (as have televisions, for instance)?

I liked the integrated subwoofers because I have no space for a surround sound system, although listening to music was my primary focus. But I am disappointed that they failed so quickly and equally disappointed with Definitive Technology's laissez faire attitude about the problem.

Any advice (including recommendations for potential replacements if not repair) would be greatly appreciated. I am not sure it's worth investing a further US$600+ to repair the speakers. But I'm also unsure what I might replace them with, budget permitting.

Thanks,

CRex

chuckasaurusrex

Showing 1 response by toog

toog
1 posts
 

This might be a bit late but I also had a pair of Definitive Mythos STS speakers in Toronto and the amps died. Apparently fairly common. I took them to Frank at Speaker Shop in Scarborough. He said he wouldn’t even try fixing the amps given Definitive’s lack of support for them and the poor documentation (he said the guy who designed them used to be pretty responsive but he died and there are no good schematics). However, he rigged them up passively with crossovers for me so the woofers are just driven by my main amp. Don’t remember exactly what I paid but it was around C$400.

They sound great — as good as before IMO. I know people sneer at those speakers because of the design but I have always thought they sounded excellent, even compared to other speakers I’ve had that would get more respect. Of course they are not hooked up to the line level RCA jacks anymore; they are just full range speakers. I have a separate sub with them right now, but they’d probably be fine if I just told the amp I had no sub and had it send all the bass and LFE to the L and R speakers.

Just an option for you to consider. Worked great for me when I had the same problem you seem to have.

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