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

C

chuckasaurus

New Member
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
 
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I also have the STS towers that had the same issue. I went ahead and got the sub amps repaired. It was a costly, but my justification was in the right environment, they are great speakers.

The flip side is, DT speakers with built in subs, among others, are flooding the used market here. It seems like failure may be a cause?!?!?
 
TBH, all the powered subwoofers that I have bought over the years suffered from amplifier failure after a few years... The worst was the Carver/Sunfire subwoofers, they lasted only a couple of years and even after repairing, they failed consistently. DefTech is my second worse sub... If you connect the subwoofer while the power is on, you are guaranteed to suffer a dead amplifier. And as you encountered, they cannot be fixed once the spare parts run out. Polk was almost as bad followed by Velodyne.
 
Thank you all for the input :-)

I'm definitely concerned about throwing good money after bad with the repair as I'm discovering this sort of problem is indeed not uncommon.

BOONAROO: did you go through Def Tech for the repair?

I don't have a dedicated listening room and as space is a bit of an issue I'd prefer to stick with a two channel system for both music and movies - hence the appeal of the integrated subwoofers in the DT versions.

I listen to a lot of 1970s and early 1980s funk and reggae, and the quality of the original recordings varies (especially with reggae albums). My wife listens to other kinds of music and we inherited a huge vinyl classical music collection which we might try out some day as well, so I do still care about other genres as well as movies. But huge bass would still be most important to me given my musical tastes...

I may see if there is some place reasonably local to me (ideally Greater Toronto Area) who could do the repair for significantly less money. I don't want to throw good money after bad. I might alternatively consider spending up to US$2000 for new speakers. Recommendations would be welcome in either scenario.

Thanks again.

Chuck
 
5.1 ohms actually isn't too unusual (since it's between 4 and 8 ohms), so if there's nothing special about the DT amps (such as built-in EQ or servo), I don't see any reason that you couldn't use a third party plate or standalone amp. One caveat to this is that I couldn't find the crossover frequency or slope published anywhere, so there would be a bit of experimentation to get it right, and you might not actually be able to duplicate the function of the built-in crossover (I assume there is at least an active low-pass filter for the sub) without a DSP.

However...since component-level servicing is apparently possible (per @Boonaroo), perhaps you can find a local tech that can do it for less, and would save you the inconvenience of having to ship them.

ETA: the amp board is pretty small and has some SMT components, but it does appear to use discrete output devices, which makes it more likely that an experienced electronics tech could deal with it.

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