Athena owners thread. - Page 5

Per pair. An absolute steal at that price!

I just received my two B1's for the front left and right, and my C1 for the center. I am running .5's for the rear surround and I have a Dayton 10" sub. I have the panny xr55.

I have been listening to some music with all the speakers set to large and the sub turned off. It sounds awesome!! I thought I would just listen to it like this for about 50 hours or so so they will all break in.

My question to everyone is below...

1. Why shouldn't I just leave my front left and right B1's and my C1 set to large BUT turn the sub on. I have the crossover set to 100 on the receiver and the subs crossover is turned all the way up (disabling it).

I originally had the .5's as my front left and right and the C.5 as my center. I had these set to small and the sub set up as above. It sounded good, but I just wanted to be able to turn it up more and listen to it more loudly, so I got the B1's and the C1.

I guess I just think the B1's and the C1 sound so great even without the sub, then why would I want to eliminate the B1's and the C1's ability to put out some bass and set them to small??

I guess after the rambling above, my question is WHY do you all set your B1's to small when you have a subwoofer? Have you tried setting them to large along with your sub?? Did it sound worse??

Thanks!

Because they are incapable of producing sounds below 60hz. See here: http://www.athenaspeakers.com/modelASB1specs.htm

As wonderful as they are, they are not full-range speakers. Any information below that you are simply not hearing and losing.

Set all speakers to small and set the xover on the receiver to 60 or 80. Let the subwoofer handle the bass, that's what it's for! Your mains should be set to large only if you don't have a sub.

FYI, I have F-1's which are rated down to 40hz and still have them set to small and x'd at 60hz.

I agree with you. I use the "small" setting as I found that it sounded just a little bit cleaner when I was listening to a soundtrack that had huge demands. My receiver is a Denon 1705 and perhaps it isn't strong enough. Even with my present setup I have forgotten to turn on the sub at times ( a wall switch) and my B1s still put out a good amount of low bass. They don't have boomy bass at all.

Setting the fronts to "small" allows all bass signals to go to the sub. When set to "large" only the .1 channel goes to the sub. (Your receiver may be different)

The panny you have probably has plenty of power in reserve for the B1s. If I were you I would find the most demanding music/movie passage you can and do some A/B testing. You might want another pair of ears there to confirm your findings.

BTW: I still go back and forth with this. I do run my B1s and C1 in "large" sometimes.

Also, I did find that the B1s, C1 did sound better after "breaking-in". Many call this a "placebo-type effect, and it may be, but it is free for the trying.

Enjoy those speakers. I'm going down now to watch a film (and listen to our excellent Athenas )

BTW: It may also be that it is better to let the sub handle low frequencies alone and remove all chances of there being any phase interaction problems.

My AS-P400 sub has the ideal crossover settings for each AS series speaker marked on it. For the B1s this is 65hz and for the F1s it is 48hz. Most HT recievers have neither of these settings available, thoug some have 60hz which is pretty close. (In my case, I am using my F1s in a stereo-only setup and do not need LFE input, so I use speaker level connections and the sub's own crossover. This gives utterly seamless integration between the speakers and sub.)

Hey guys,

I don't think I've seen anyone here with the SCT series speakers.... in particular the S3. Does any of you have these and if so, are they wicked awesome???

What do you think of three of these as fronts?.... pretty seemless and dynamic?

I just got my point 5 system yesterday and I think they sound great. I also have an Onkyo 602 receiver and I just use my Samsung DVD player to play CDs right now (I'm still in the process of building).

Compared to the speakers I had before, these are incredible. Frankly compared to alot of my friends speakers these are incredible. But they definitely need a sub. I figured I would be happy with them without a sub for a while but I don't think that's going to happen.

I feel like such a dumb-a$$... anyway, i figured out the "problem." it had nothing to do with my settings nor the equipment. i simply did NOT use a digital connection from DVD player to receiver. once i made the digi connection (coax) the speakers magically sounded REALLY GOOD!!! now, i'm real happy with the set-up! great price and great sound!

now, i'm wondering if i should get 2 extra speakers so that i can have a 7.1 instead of 5.1 setup.

thanks for trying to help me out guys.

Well I bought a pair of AS-B1s and a AS-C1, and while I haven't had a chance to try them out yet, I'm thinking I might have to return the C1. I somewhat stupidly assumed it would be about the same size as the B1's, so I hadn't even looked at the dimensions till after I bought it. It's just too big, I have no place to put it. A flat screen TV prevents the most obvious placement on top of the TV, putting it on the stand blocks a few inches of the TV, and the shelves underneath aren't quite tall enough to hold it.

While I know the center is the most important speaker for movies, yada yada, I'm probably going to have to go smaller, I don't have much choice. I was planning on using some of the Micra speakers for sattelites (again, for space) anyway, would the Micra's center speaker work decently with the B1's? Do they sell that seperately? Any other suggestions, either from Athena or other manufacturers?

Do you already own the Micras? If not, try the Point 5 instead. They're slightly bigger than the Micras and come with mounting brackets. They use the same tweeter as the B1's so timbre matching would better than the Micras. The Point 5 C.5 center is quite a bit smaller than the C1.

Plus if you already have the sub, the Point 5 system is about $100 less. Then you could have B1's as mains, C.5 as center and the Point 5 satellites as your surround and surround back speakers.

You could try using a WS-60 (I think that is the one for center use.) It has the same tweeter as the AS series, so it should be fairly well timbre-matched. Just be sure to set it to "small".

My question is about the Athena WS speakers, I see a lot of info about the B1, C1 etc., but not much about the WS-60, -100, and -15, just some references to them not being that good. I listened to them at the store with the p4000 sub and thought it sounded good. I'm leaning towards buying them and a Yamaha 5850 rec. Any thoughts, good or bad? I think the WS-60, 2 WS-100, 2WS-15, AS-P4000 and the receiver will run about $1300. Is there a better setup for similar cash? I have a 65 in Mitsubishi HD and will use this mostly for HD TV, some DVDs, some music.

load_warrior - The WS series is geared towards people with Plasma displays and flat screens with space issues. The cabinets are very thin so I don't expect them to get as full of a sound as the other lines but I could be wrong.

I finally got all my stuff hooked up after I got my VSX-815 for Christmas. B1's front, C1's center and .5's rear. They sound really good for the price. Bass is tight but their isn't a whole lot of it. You will need a sub for sure with these speakers for HT. I'm use to lots of bass with 2 12's in my car so I guess I'm a little bias.

Anyway well worth the money for people who don't want to spend all their money on HT but want it to sound like it. I hope the Dayton 12" can give me what I want on the bass end.

Oh and by the way the VSX-815 is a great receiver. I have never heard the Panasonic everyone recommends but this thing seems to clearly have WAY more features than that one for the same price. Plenty of power and great setup features like being able to set equalizer settings for every speaker independently if you like. It even comes with a mic that you place where you would sit during a move and runs test tones to set distance and EQ for they setup. It was spot on with the distances but I didn't care for the EQ settings it made so I adjusted them. All in all great bang for your buck.

So, I've done a lot of research to start a HT from scratch. I don't necessarily have a budget, but would like to do it for as little as possible to get a decent sounding system.

I currently own an older HK a/v receiver and an older pair of beautiful sounding Canton speakers.... but I doubt the Timbre would match with the Athenas so I will probably just try to sell them on ebay or put them into another room.

So my question is, can someone summarize the different line of speakers that are sold by Athena? I want to have them mounted against the wall so I am thinking the B1 or B2s won't work very well as they're ported in the rear.

Which is better, the micras or the .5's ? I will probably be buying the Panny xr55 or xr70 receiver

Movies 50% music 50%, the room is 15x10, with 10 foot ceilings, and open on one side leading to a 15x15 dining room. I will also buy a high quality (PSB or Mirage) subwoofer to pair with whatever speakers we get. I want smaller speakers, if possible but I don't want to sacrifice the midrange. Also, can someone suggest a good center channel - or maybe I should just get 3 of the same for the center L and R?

I really like my Athena's; in fact I have a pair of every single speaker in the original Audition Series - got them for a steal when they were discontinuing them.

The F-2's were too big for my 19 X 19 living room but the F-1 fit right in; I expermited with using the B1's & B2's for surrounds and ended up going with 3 AS-R1's. I was running them with a Yamaha 1500 and was using their PS-400 subwoofer.

In the past I have had blose, Yamaha and JBLs. I just upgraded my living room setup to Energy Connoiser's, 5 of their C-C3 3-way 5 driver LCR speakers and also upgraded my power to Outlaw 970 / 7125 separates and a Hsu VTF-3 MKII. I love the API sound and this setup surpasses my wildest dreams; I am in the process of locating a Denon SACD / DVD-A player and then will see how that sounds on 5 identical speakers.

I tried using the AS-C1 for this as it is also a "LCR" type of speaker that was designed to be placed on it's side or upright but this speaker just did not have the power to fill the room like I needed. My Athena's are now in my bedroom setup and also in a spare room 2-channel setup and I could not be happier.

Just got my 5 points put in yesterday. Have them hooked up to a panny xr55 and a Sony SA-WM250 sub. Being my first setup i don't have much to base it on but i love it.

Would it be terrible to place the AS-B1 directly against a wall, or on a speaker mount that places it very near the wall? I understand they are ported in the back and am curious to know if anyone has had experience with this, or knows how much distance there needs to be between the wall and the back of the speaker?

As for subwoofers, can anyone reccomend a sub? I understand a lot of people aren't matching the AS-P300/400 subs with their speakers. I really appreciate good bass response and tight bass - will the P300/400 give me that, or should I buy a more expensive active sub from PSB or Mirage or equivilent?

Thanks for the advice...

I would not put it so close to the wall that it prevents air from flowing out. A few inches should be good enough.
As for the sub, Athena subs are every bit as good a value as their speakers. I have the P-400 in my stereo and the P-4000 in my HT and they are both great.

Hey all,
I received my b1/c1 combo today. Even though i have not got to hear them yet they look to be very well built and have an excellent look to them. I cant wait to get my panny xr55 and get everything setup...

Well, like my signature states:

HK 335 7.1

2 F2.2's for the front
1 C1.2 for the front center
2 Pointe 5 satellites for the side surrounds
2 B2.2's for the rear surrounds
1 MKIII Titanic 12" sub

ROOM: 35x18, 9-foot ceilings and 2 hallway openings into room.

The sub was pulled for lack of performance. I will be upgrading the 15" MKIII and then maybe one more later on in 2006 to supplement.

The Athenas are truly amazing. I have only had these for a short time but have definitely pushed these to the boundaries. I have played movies up to +5db volume and they were clear and POWERFUL all the way up. They play music the way it was meant to be played...and aren't even broken in yet. The main reason I am sending the 12" back to PE is that it fails when compared to the performance of the Athenas. I have friends with BOSE systems that are truly envious of my powerful sound. I looked for quite a while on this site reading reviews and am truly happy I decided on the Athenas. I bought them all from audioadvisor.com and so far would never go back...

I am a newbie to the audio world and am trying to build a 6.1 system <$1000 to pair with my 72" InFocus front projection home theater. My room dementions are ~ 15x15. I have some basic questions about setup.

1) I am considering the F2 series speakers but wonder if it will overwhelm my room and should I go with the F1 that is reccommended by Athena's Website.

2) For surround speakers how do the point 5's, ws-15, r-1's compare. Can I put r-1's on all 3 back channels or would you suggest something else. I would like them to be wall mountable.

3) I am considering panasonic xr-55 vs pioneer VSX-1015TX. Which pairs better with the speakers for home theater sound.

4) I hear alot of people pair the dayton subs with their system. Will a 12" overpower my room with F2's? Should I go for a 10" instead?

Thanks.

If you are using this mostly for movies, I would just go with AS-B1s or B2s up front, R1s for all surrounds and put the money you saved on the fronts towards the best subwoofer you can fit into your budget.

i've recently upgraded from an onkyo HTIB to:

H/K AVR 235
AS B1 x 2
AS C1 x 1

and i love the improvement...these speakers are truly amazing, considering what they are being sold for.

what you guys recommend for the surrounds? i don't have the space for another pair of B1's, so i'm trying to decide on a pair of point 5's or R1's. seeing the onkyo surrounds there now is making me angry

thanks for any input

I have a question for you Athena speaker owners. I am very new to this whole HT thing but recently spent some time researching this and other sites and I went out and bought a little system. I purchased an Hitachi 51" F510, a Pioneer VSX-815, Denon 2910 and the Athena Micra 6 speakers. Now I dont actually get to hook this up until the wife and I move into our new home in February but was already thinking I may need some towers to go with it judging from the posts here. My room is 12X18.

I was considering the F2's(Ebay $270), F2.2's(audio advisor $399) or some Polk M20's(circuit city $180). I was wondering about the polks because I was worried about drowning out my center channel with the bigger Athena's. Should I even consider adding to the Micra's or are they to small to add towers?

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

If your receiver has the ability to switch between an A and B set of speakers I would use the Micras for movies and then switch over to the towers for 2-channel music listening. If you try to blend the F2s with the Micras for movies you will probably want to upgrade the center channel as well.

I would go for the pair of R1s for surround duty. I have the Point 5s and they sound good for small speakers but they will stick out further from the wall than the R1 will. Note that you won't get quite as good of bass response with the R1s as the B1s, but that's because the cabinet size is a lot smaller.

Thanks. I may get the towers for 2-channel as you suggested and perhaps next year for Christmas we will upgrade our center channel. Just curious, would something like the AS-C1 center work well? Would my Micras be sufficient as surrounds for the 7.1 with this se-up? Also, when listening in 5.1 and 6.1 would the rear speakers of a 7.1 system be mute or simply put out the same surround as other surrounds?

Probably silly questions for all of you but not for me. Really appreciate the input !!

Question for my fellow Athena owners, what would be the optimal crossover setting on my Onkyo receiver (not in my sig but I have a Dayton 10" sub and I already have the crossover on the sub turned all the way up...).

I have the Onkyo 602 and the point 5 system and a Dayton sub. for my speakers, the freq range for the surround speakers drops down to 80 and the center drops down to 60 (I didn't check to see what the range was for your set)...a couple people on here suggested that I set it to 100 on my receiver. Enough so that the sub kicks in before the speakers drop off

I have the same surround speakers so I'll try 100. Thanks