The Day The AV Dream Died, Cont.

Another Oppo deficiency was the quality and number of its Net apps. The GT30 offerings were way better. And even though the Oppo could play all my networked A/V files, it didn't support creating playlists. However, the Oppo plays all the key uncompressed multichannel formats and supports up to 192kHz, 24-bit music.

The Oppo's like owning a brilliant and adorable puppy that still poops on the rug. Maybe when the Oppo firmware grows up it will learn to roll over and fetch iTunes and SlimServer slippers.

I also needed a center channel speaker that would play nice with my awesome Analysis Omega full range ribbon speakers anchoring the left and right front channels.

After much trial and error at the center of things, Paul DiComo at Definitive Technology steered me to the company's Mythos Ten. It’s a larger speaker than their new bulimia-slim designs, but it rang all the right bells.

The Mythos Ten is no center channel wimp. It’s rated at 31 Hz – 30 kHz, with a suggested crossover setting of 60 Hz. You want some heavy dialog furniture moved, with maybe a right between-the-eyes explosion or two thrown in? The Mythos Ten is the one to call.

When the center must hold...

The Mythos Ten has two 5-1/4 inch drivers pressure-coupled to two 5 x 8 inch racetrack-shaped planar low-bass radiators for a total bass radiating surface greater than that of a 12 inch woofer. Its tweeter is a 1-inch ceramic–coated pure aluminum dome job with an acoustically contoured faceplate.

The Mythos Ten comes in a good-looking, solid aircraft-grade extruded aluminum enclosure that can probably help support the wing of a 747. The enclosure also uses the company’s proprietary damping technologies to ensure Viagra-level rigidity.

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