Athena Speakers (1 Viewer)

[MarshallSlate]

Who's Got Them, what do you got, how do you like them




Audition Series

Reciever Yamaha HTR-5650
Center AS-C1
RearCenter AS-C1
Front AS-F2
Rear AS-F2
Sub AS-P400

 

[Dean-P]

JVC 6020 (H/K here I come!)
asc-1
asb-2
Energy xl:s-8 (soon to be a Shiva 54l sealed)
cheapie rears (x-mas to be asf-1)
I like them! Some people don't give the centre speaker a chance; it needs about 50 hrs break-in!
BTW: how do you like your Yammy with them?

 

[MarshallSlate]

love it, put it on 6ch stereo and put the volume to 30db and i got myself quite the party, thats why got AS-F2 for the rears

 

[MarshallSlate]

When i got mine, i compared them with Klipsch, JBL, Bose and Sony speakers with equal price and they sounded the best.

 

[DaveDickey]

I have the F2's in front along with the C-1 center, B-1 surrounds, and 400 sub. Sounds like a concert hall to me! I auditioned several brands - JBL, Sony, Klipsch - before I bought the Athenas.

I did have some problems getting the sub to tighten up...I'm still experimenting with it. I have had the crossover at 80 and all the speakers set to small for about a week now. This setting appears to be best for my large room. If you know of an idiot-proof formula for tight base I'd love to hear about it. Dave

 

[James02]

I have been using an asc1 for about a year a with a JVC 7030 and based on it's performance I recently purchased asf1s to match with it. I am finding things a little on the bright side which is irritating on music. This does not happen on dvd movies so it is confusing. I purchased a yamaha cd player which has helped the music playing and a set of monster speaker cables which had toned things down a little. I guess this message says that I like the Athenas a lot but really need a better receiver for them. I was looking at a Yamaha RXV-1300. Any opinions on this match? Incidentally, almost everyone who has listened to the centre has loved it but mine is well broken in.

James

 

[ChrisLazarko]

Athena is great speakers but of course you have to listen to everything for yourself. Personally I love Klipsch and I love the sound they make. Usually Klipsch bring out the higher frequencies a little more than most and that is what I personally love about them. They bring out strong vocals, while most other speakers to me don't.

Athena are also great speakers and don't get me wrong they aren't bad but I just prefer the Klipsch.

 

[BrianGR]

I'm running a 7.1 set up using the SCT SERIES

MAINS = TWO S3's
SUBS = TWO P3's
SURROUNDS = FOUR S2's
CENTER = C1
I sure do like that "big speaker" sound. WOW! NICE,VERY NICE! :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

 

[Drew_W]

I currently have the ASF1/ASB1/ASC1 setup with a Velodyne CHT10 sub...

The speakers are wonderful, however I'm having boomy bass problems with the sub. The fact it is plenty big enough even at the second notch on the dial will probably have me get the smaller CHT8 and $250CND back in cash

As for the Yamaha receiver (5650), it hasn't worked out so well with the setup...I'm hearing crackling in the speakers for some reason, and although I'm not sure if the receiver is causing it, I should have heeded to the advice I was given in previous posts...Bright receiver + bright speakers isn't wonderful...I'm looking at an H/K, Denon or Marantz receiver to tame them down a little.

The way it is now it's pretty good...but I think I can make it a little better...thank god for return/exchange policies

 

[MarshallSlate]

yea when i watch movies, if i turn the 5650 to 20 or lower i can hear.....i guess its a humming noise, there is crackling when i adjust the volume, but if i put my ear up to the speaker i can hear the cherrrrrrrrrr noise, like a faint speaker test or something i dont know what's doin that its kinda discouraging though, i dont get it with music, just movies, and games, like if something loud happens, like gunshots, high pitched gun shots not deep gun shots, there's a cherr noise or a sort of super quick distortion as each round goes off????

 

[MarshallSlate]

oh by the way, arent Athena Speakers sexy!

 

[ChrisLazarko]

I just looked at the Athena speakers again just to see why everyone raves over these ASF2's and I have to agree they are very nice. They can reach some of those low notes without a subwoofer.

I still like my Klipsch though.

 

[MarshallSlate]

i returned my AS-P400 for the P3, i love it

 

[Drew_W]

yea when i watch movies, if i turn the 5650 to 20 or lower i can hear.....i guess its a humming noise, there is crackling when i adjust the volume, but if i put my ear up to the speaker i can hear the cherrrrrrrrrr noise, like a faint speaker test or something i dont know what's doin that its kinda discouraging though, i dont get it with music, just movies, and games, like if something loud happens, like gunshots, high pitched gun shots not deep gun shots, there's a cherr noise or a sort of super quick distortion as each round goes off????

As to this, I thought I was going crazy because I was hearing this crackling popping noise (like Rice Krispies) coming out of my Athenas powered by the 5650 and noone else in my house could hear it...I'm glad someone else has this problem (as funny as that sounds)...now the question is what can we do to fix it? I have only a handful of days to decide, the 30-day refund on the Yammie is over soon...

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Lern me sometin' new...

I know that Athena is part of API, and I am a big fan of Energy and Mirage speakers. But I don't know much about Athena.

Did the Athena brand name come out of the "Athena" project between API and the NRC in the late 80's/early 90's?

 

[Drew_W]

The Athenas are rather bright sounding speakers when you compare them to the Energy line. I like the Conoisseurs better for music (more natural sound imho), but the Athenas do very well for HT use (which is about all I use them for anyways), and they're quite a bit less expensive, while still being a solidly built speaker.

 

[James02]

I have previously stated that my AS-F1s were quite bright and irritating with my JVC 7010. I pursisted with these speakers for five weeks playing them as much as possible each day (could not leave them running) and after about 100 hours they have dramatically changed. The highs have smoothed out and the bass extended and the change is highly noticeable. This is something I haven't experienced with other speakers. Anyone one else experience this with Athenas.

 

[James USAF]

I have the following Athena’s

F2 -> Fronts
C1 -> Center
B1 -> Surround Back
B2 -> Surround Left/Right

I have them hooked up to a Pioneer Elite 45tx. I am not a fan of bright speakers as I hate getting slapped in the face. IMO...the speakers along with this receiver sound just right. The F2 floor standers produce enough bass for me (actually very shocked by it) that I am going hold off on buying a sub for right now...though I will end up getting one on the future.

Only thing I sort of regret is buying the B2's for my surround. The B1 sounds just as good as a "surround back" speaker that I could have used them for the surround (left/right) also...and saved some money.

I would recommend them...but then again I never heard them with a Yamaha.


James02...I did experience the same thing to a degree (or maybe it was just an illusion). All I know now is that I don't want to lose these speakers.

 

[James02]

I am slowly switching over to Athena. I have used the c1 for about a year and everyone comments of how realistic the vocals are. I plan to add a p400 sub and b1s for the back yet. Next year I plan to change the receiver, probably to a Nad T762 or whatever is the current model at that time, for I believe that the speakers will show the improvement of the amp. I listen to a lot of music and the Athenas are now very enjoyable in 2 channel mode. The break-in on these speakers may just cause the initial listening experience to be rather negative as the high end smooths out later. I believed in them because I was already using the as-c1 and it was excellent.

 

[Sebastien David]

can't be beaten for price/performance, a little on the bright side, not as refined as their Connoisseur big brothers from the Energy lineup.
very competent speakers, lots of bang for the buck.
same engineers worked on Athena series as Connoisseur, and they tell me lots of R&D for the connoisseur went into the Athena lineup, which would explain the price/performance ratio...