'Powered Tower' Unveiled For Flat-Panel Displays

LAS VEGAS — Definitive Technology is adapting one of its signature designs, the tower speaker with built-in powered subwoofer, for the age of the flat-panel TV. The $1,799-each Mythos ST is likely to be the industry's first "powered tower" designed to complement flat-panel displays, and it will expand the Mythos series of flat-panel-friendly speakers.

"The consumer attracted to Mythos would like to get rid of the subwoofer box," said Definitive president Sandy Gross, calling the customer a "lifestyle-minded" person.

The new model, due in March, is only about 3 inches taller, 3 inches deeper, and a half-inch wider than the Mythos One unpowered tower, he said. "It's still svelte," but it adds the punch of one of the company's 300-watt SuperCube 1 subwoofers, he noted. To maintain a svelte appearance, Definitive used a vertical racetrack-shape active driver plus two passive racetrack drivers.

Definitive said its powered-tower design frees up power for the reproduction of upper midbass and higher frequencies, tightening midbass and delivering more linear response. Other companies who tried and dropped powered towers didn't properly integrate the subwoofer with the other drivers, he claimed.

Also new: a 5.1-channel speaker package, the ProCinema 600, which replaces the ProCinema 60 and brings the technology and styling of the ProCinema 800 and 1000 to a lower price point of $799.