Fluance & Athena Audition Series & Dahlquists Q (1 Viewer)

[BrianL]

I'm looking at picking up a new set of speakers to compliment my newly purchased HK 225. I've been reading great things about the Fluance home theater package but I was wondering how comparable the Fluance package was to the Athena Audition Series and the Dahlquist Q series speakers. The Athena and Dahlquist are certainly more expensive but are the differences in performance significant enough to warrant the extra cost. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[RolandM]

Well I've never heard Fluance speakers myself but from the research I've done (see my other recent thread about Gold Sky, etc.) they may be using some China made "mass-produced" parts in there or having their whole speakers made by GoldSky. Note I say "MAY" because I cannot be certain...

Still I haven't heard Fluance speakers myself and they do indeed get good reviews as you've seen. They are good for the low price you are paying, that is for sure. Furthermore even if they are made by or are using GoldSky parts that doesn't mean they aren't good speakers.

But having a super low price isn't important to everyone or at least not as important to some. What I mean is, sure the Fluance are cheap but IMO I doubt they are going to compare very well to the likes of Athena or Dahlquist. In other words if your budget is limited then Fluance may be for you, but if you can afford to spend more on speakers like Athena, then personally I would and get better speakers from Athena or Dahlquist.

Again so as to avoid getting flamed or anything I did say I haven't heard the Fluance so I can't be 100% sure, but I'm willing to bet they are NOT in the same league as Athena Audition and other speakers in that range.

Just my $0.02...

 

[Alan M]

Brian,fluance speakers are great bang for your buck speaker,no question there.Friends who have listened to my fluance sx system,have been very impressed. 1 person is a boston owner,the other is a deftech owner.
Fluance speakers are an excellent choice for those on a budget.Where they are made or by whom,doesnt really matter,its the sound thats important.
Unfortunelty,I cant compare them to the athena or dahlquist.I've listened to the athena's at b&b only,far from the best place to listen to speakers.
My only advice regarding these 3 speaker lines,is let your ears be the judge.Htforum is a great place to get suggestions to start your search,but ,only you know what qualities of sound you like.
Happy speaker shopping.

 

[Anthony*B]

yep, fluances are great bang for the buck, but if you can afford Athenas or any sort of speaker like that, it's almost a no-brainer to go ahead & get those...Fluances are great for guys like me whose budget is TRULY low , but I would of course get something higher end if i could (personally they would be Deftech or B&W from the ones I've listened to, but both are far, FAR out of my "ghetto" budget range...at least I didnt have to go w/ a HTIB (tho some of those sound pretty good too)

 

[Ian-Fl]

Subs are everything towards an excellent HT system. The sx-htb set have a really good sound with a H/K. If you haven't got a sub I'd waist the money you'll save on the sx-htb set and buy a really great sub. I bought the Dayton sub and although I enjoy it I wish I had spent more money on an excellent sub.

 

[DaveGTP]

I'm another Fluance owner, and while I can't call myself really an audiophile, I will say that I am one of those people that can tell the difference between 128kbps mp3s and CDs (a lot of Joe6packs around here can't). They defintely sound flatter somehow. I can't really tell at higher qualities (>160kbps vs CD, for ex). At least not on my my suck-ass "premium" Bose speakers in my Grand Prix GTP (were I listen to most of my CDs).

So perhaps this establishes that I have SOME ear for quality (I did play Trombone for 8 years of Elementary/Junior/High School, so I have some ear for music as well)


Anyway,
I had my setup (Onkyo TX-SR601 & the cheaper Fluance AV-HTB)for about 6-7 months or so.

I judge the Fluance front towers as excellent quality for the price. I think that they at least sound better than any of the JBL bookshelf speakers at BB and I think any of the other towers I demo'ed (except for the Klipsch and JBL towers) - better than the Athena towers I demo'ed there. But I don't make any such claims for the Center or surrounds.


The towers are EXCELLENT, the center channel is good but could use a liiiiiitle improvement, and the surrounds are OK. But for the price (about $260 shipped if I recall), the setup is very good value for the money. As with anything, you get better if you spend more $$.


I think what you are asking is, how are these speakers on the value/performance curve? (Kind of how I buy computer CPUs). Personally, I think that the top of the value curve for most of us non-affluent folks is about $1000-$1200 for a 5-speaker setup. But I don't have that kind of money to spend (I was lucky to scrape together the $250 or so for the Fluance setup).

And I'm happy with it - I have been thinking about a quality subwoofer though, since my Sony WM20 sub bottoms out sometimes (Matrix Reloaded, LOTR, etc). I wish I had the cash for an SVS sub.

 

[BrianL]

Well, I just recently bought a sub that I'm quite happy with. Now that I have my new receiver, I now want to replace the cruddy Technic main, center, and surrounds that we used when we still had our dolby pro logic receiver. I can certainly audition the Athenas and maybe even the Dahlquists but I can't audition the Fluances here in Vancouver, and hence can't compare. Budget is certainly a concern but so is performance to me. I would be willing to wait and pay more if the Athenas or the Dahlquists yielded much better bang for the buck but I don't know if they do.

 

[Mitch_J]

Brian,
Have you thought about a set of speakers from Aperion? They fall into that $1000 - $1500 price point and that includes free shipping. Both ways if you are not happy with them. I was waiting to see what showed up for christmas but I'm about to pull the trigger on a sub from them. Just thought I'd throw more fuel on your speaker buying fire.