Definitive Technology Mythos SSA-50: Single speaker surround solution

When I moved, I left a beautiful KEF surround sound speaker system. New house had open plan family room so I could get surround sound 5.1 or 7.1 speaker system. Had to resort to a sound bar. I had my doubts.No longer. The Mythos SSA-50 is excellent for sound quality, and style.The Set Up: OK, this was a challenge because it is a large sound bar. But with 2 guys, installing was easy on the main family room wall. Plugs and ports were accessible.The Look: Very stylish. I like it a lot. Is sleek but at the same time looks nice.The Sound: I was very concerned initially but the sound is great. My room has it challenges but the bar is configured to send surround sound. Sound projects out very nicely well into the Kitchen area too.Would I buy again? I did for my home office set up.

You won't mistake this for speakers hanging behind you, so I wouldn't get this thinking that you're going to have the ultimate surround sound. However, if you're using a room that isn't optimized for theater anyway, it's a great compromise. Have it underneath a 50" Samsung Plasma, cosmetically looks great. Room is 3-sided (open to the kitchen) and you still get the full effect it's just that it's definitely in front of you. The speaker does a good job of letting the full layers come out. I would say that it's a little mid-heavy, but I didn't do much on setup other than the default delays suggested in the manual. On stereo sources, I use enhanced (includes the surround channels in the mix) to get a full sound. A little tinny w/ just L/R channels. Don't leave out the sub, I have a 10" Energy to get the full depth. Even though not very popular, I think the silver cabinet (solid alumnium) is very striking plus got it for 55% off.Great buy if you want an all in one solution.

Sounds good when tuned with Yamaha 781 series 7.1 channel receiver and a subwoofer. Believe it or not I used the Yamaha YPAO multi-position auto-tuning (which is not recommended by Definitive for these speakers), and it works nicely in a 7.1 setup (2 extra discrete speakers in rear). OK, it's not quite like having discrete surround speakers but this meets visual acceptance factor and when combined with rear speakers it does provide the impression of side surround. 5 stars for the sonic response.My main gripe -- dropping this to 3 stars -- is the wall mount.1) The wire connections to the speaker screw terminals are off-center from the mount, so the wires need to exit the wall off-center from the speaker bar. Not exactly clear from the template and caused me all kinds of grief to measure off-center the wire exit holes.2) The speaker wall-mount nibs are AMAZINGLY DIFFICULT to lock on to the wall bracket, since the wires are off-center they must bend behind the speaker bar and thus impede the speaker from getting close to the wall to hook into the plate. Really crappy design that required many many attempts and loosening of the mounting nibs. Absolutely horrible.By contrast the Polk SSA-42 speaker bar that Definitive replaced were a breeze to wall mount -- the wires connect in the exact center of the speaker bar and there is a huge wide space for the screw terminals.

In our house now I couldn't really do a real 5.1 set up so I researched this Single Speaker Array and was pleased enough with the reviews on home theater sites to let this be in my final choice category. Being a 50% off sale sealed the deal. It turned out to be an awesome choice! I bought this for TV and movie watching.First of all this speaker is well made. It is clean and solid. It is also really heavy, heavier than I expected. The casing is metal and has a soft brushed look. The speaker cover is tight and smooth the whole way through. The mounting system is simple but strong, and the additional parts for it to stand on it's own uses the wall mount and makes it so you can adjust it to point where you need it to, make it level without scratching up anything.As mentioned by someone before, if you can do a real surround sound setup then do it, but if you can't this would work great. It tricks your ear by using L/C/R+RL/RR channels. You will have to run all five channels to the speaker from an A/V receiver since it is not self powered.The instructions are clear and easy to read. It tells you exactly how to set up your A/V receiver. Basically you set all speakers to small and sub to sub only, turn off all delays and enjoy.This speaker is compatible with 6.1 and 7.1 by adding the remaining speakers to the room, but if you need something like this, then you probably can't do the 6th or 7th speakers.Not only will you need your own A/V receiver but you will also need to add a subwoofer to it since the small speakers can't generate the lows that are needed in that .1 area. I bought this with the Definitive Technology ProSub 800 Subwoofer and they complement each other perfectly. The little speakers in this bar can get loud when they are needed to be loud.I tried this out with the HD DVD version of Shaun of the Dead and a TiVo HBO HD recording of Dark Knight in Dolby Digital 5.1, but kept getting distracted by the movies to remember trying to listen to the surround sounds. From what I can remember the sound did feel like it was coming from different areas, but not like a normal stereo, 2 speaker, setup.I am using this with a Yamaha RX-V730 A/V Receiver and Definitive Technology ProSub 800. Dark Knight played from an HBO HD recording on a TiVo Series 3 HD in 5.1. Shaun of the Dead was from HD DVD on Xbox 360.With Amazon Prime's $3.99 next day shipping, this was a steal, especially since it is so freaking heavy.

Plugged in all 5 wires to my receiver, sat back, and watched the receiver shut off. Turned it on and it said Check SP wires. After fumbling with the wires for hours, I isolated the rt surround as the bad speaker. Opened up the Mythos, found all the wires were sort of smashed and squished at the back of the speaker cabinet. The rt surround wires were actually broken open and shorted. Cut out the bad parts and spliced them together. Now it works fine. This would not have been possible for the average home user, they would have been frustrated and stuck with a 40 pound worthless speaker.