Listened to these last night at Best Buy for about 30 minutes and formed a basic but informative opinion of them.
They were part of a demo system consisting of a Yamaha receiver (about $600--can't remember model #) and a new Toshiba dvd player connected via digital input. 10" subwoofer was an Athena also. System was set up in an open & carpeted space so fortunately this avoided the problems you get when they are stuck in those semi-enclosed metal shelf display areas.
I only listened to the front two in straight stereo, along with the sub (rears were identical but unfortunately they were connected to the receiver's "B" output, so couldn't listen to my Dark Side Of The Moon DTS-CD* :frowning: ). Bass/treble were bypassed. Crossover was set at 80Hz. Listening material was Stereolab's Dots and Loops which I think is a very good recording and features lots of special imaging effects.
I thought they sounded very good. Imaging was very precise. Voices sounded full and smooth. High frequencies, as usual for the other Athenas I've heard, were a little bright but nothing irritating. Despite their slim profile they never sounded thin or lacked anything obvious. From what I can tell they aren't designed for full-range use, despite the use of eight 3"(?) midbass drivers because even though the volume wasn't that high (usually around -12dB on the Yamaha's volume display) they were all pulsing in & out pretty fiercely (the grilles are removable).
EDIT: BB's WS100 page says this about the driver complement: "Three 3-1/2" injection-molded polypropylene woofers and 5 passive radiators.....". So ignore what I said above.
Techie note: only the two midbass drivers on top of/directly below the tweeter seem to handle the midrange frequencies; all the others handled the lower bass notes. This makes sure imaging ability isn't compromised. To discover this required some ear-to-speaker action combined with being down on all fours for a few seconds--I'm sure I looked like an escaped mental patient doing this! Oh well, whatever it takes in the pursuit of Audio Truth.
Aesthetics note: when I saw all four of these slim, brushed aluminum/black columns arranged in their surround configuration, along with the matching (smaller) center channel, I immediately thought of how slick and cool this looked--very clean and functional. You almost don't notice them until you look right at them. IMO these would be excellent speakers for a couple with opposing viewpoints on HT speakers because they look good & nearly disappear into a room's decor AND they sound good too.
Another nice product from our northern neighbors.
* just for kicks I did listen to "Time", the track with all the clocks (real ones that were recorded across the street from Pink Floyd's studio). While half were missing, despite that when they were ticking and when their chimes finally went off, the Athenas reproduced them very realistically and cleanly, even at high levels (the young guy helping me who had turned up the volume had never heard this album & didn't know what was coming!).
They were part of a demo system consisting of a Yamaha receiver (about $600--can't remember model #) and a new Toshiba dvd player connected via digital input. 10" subwoofer was an Athena also. System was set up in an open & carpeted space so fortunately this avoided the problems you get when they are stuck in those semi-enclosed metal shelf display areas.
I only listened to the front two in straight stereo, along with the sub (rears were identical but unfortunately they were connected to the receiver's "B" output, so couldn't listen to my Dark Side Of The Moon DTS-CD* :frowning: ). Bass/treble were bypassed. Crossover was set at 80Hz. Listening material was Stereolab's Dots and Loops which I think is a very good recording and features lots of special imaging effects.
I thought they sounded very good. Imaging was very precise. Voices sounded full and smooth. High frequencies, as usual for the other Athenas I've heard, were a little bright but nothing irritating. Despite their slim profile they never sounded thin or lacked anything obvious. From what I can tell they aren't designed for full-range use, despite the use of eight 3"(?) midbass drivers because even though the volume wasn't that high (usually around -12dB on the Yamaha's volume display) they were all pulsing in & out pretty fiercely (the grilles are removable).
EDIT: BB's WS100 page says this about the driver complement: "Three 3-1/2" injection-molded polypropylene woofers and 5 passive radiators.....". So ignore what I said above.
Techie note: only the two midbass drivers on top of/directly below the tweeter seem to handle the midrange frequencies; all the others handled the lower bass notes. This makes sure imaging ability isn't compromised. To discover this required some ear-to-speaker action combined with being down on all fours for a few seconds--I'm sure I looked like an escaped mental patient doing this! Oh well, whatever it takes in the pursuit of Audio Truth.
Aesthetics note: when I saw all four of these slim, brushed aluminum/black columns arranged in their surround configuration, along with the matching (smaller) center channel, I immediately thought of how slick and cool this looked--very clean and functional. You almost don't notice them until you look right at them. IMO these would be excellent speakers for a couple with opposing viewpoints on HT speakers because they look good & nearly disappear into a room's decor AND they sound good too.
Another nice product from our northern neighbors.
* just for kicks I did listen to "Time", the track with all the clocks (real ones that were recorded across the street from Pink Floyd's studio). While half were missing, despite that when they were ticking and when their chimes finally went off, the Athenas reproduced them very realistically and cleanly, even at high levels (the young guy helping me who had turned up the volume had never heard this album & didn't know what was coming!).
