Athena b1.2's or Onix Xls's

I haven't heard the Athena's but I just received a pair of B stock X-ls yesterday. They are not packed the way that you expect a $200 speaker to be. Double boxed, and each speaker is in a cotton sleeve. The speakers are very solid!

Mine are the black finish(vinyl?) and look sharp. I would have preferred the white maple veneer - but all a stock is sold out; and I came across the link to the b stock sale($25 off). After seeing the black finish I'm extremely happy with it.

My other speakers are a pair of Cambridge Soundworks Ensembles( 15 yrs old). I've been happy with them over the years. I haven't compared them side by side - I've upgraded some of the electronics and moved the old setup into another room.

So far I'm pleased with them. I build a diy sub over the winter so I notice not having a sub to fill in things. I'm not sure how much difference in bass there is from the 6.5" drivers compared to the 15 yr old 8" in the Ensemble woofers.

You probably would be happy with either choice; but I'm impressed with the X-ls so far and will check out the center channel & towers when they are released.

I know that this didn't answer your questions but hopefully this gives you some worthwhile info.

also depends on your receiver/amp, as well as room characteristics and, of course, personal prefs. Whatcha got?

For example, an entry level Yammie with Athenas in a highly reflective room with hardwood or ceramic floors would probably not be a pleasant experience.

Pioneer and Athena work well together, plus your carpeted floor will help too.

If this is primarily an HT setup, I'd get the Athenas and put the savings into the sub, that's where you'll get the most immediate gratification (assuming you watch lots of action/thriller flicks).

Well, that pretty much seals the deal: Athena/SVS is your ticket!

In fact, you probably would be ok even with the $50 Insignia speakers from Best Buy (3 pairs for $150 and easily returned if you don't like them) that lots of people are raving about.

Have to interject with my 2 pennies being how I've experience with both speakers mentioned.

While the athenas are a very good speaker they don't quite keep up with the x-ls in many areas.

1. The soundstage & imaging of the X is quite a bit bigger/better than the B1.

2. The X is neutral, B1 has a much brighter presentation.

3. Mids were more pronounced & smoother with X and bass was tighter.

X were run w/ onkyo 602 in a 2000 cu ft hardwood flr w/ area rug
X also run in carpeted 15x14 bedroom with onkyo 500.
B1 teamed with pio stereo receiver in about a 12x12 carpeted room.

These are my observations of the speakers in different listening environments with dif equipment running them so take with a pinch of salt. Personally I would spend the xtra $ for the Onix, that's just me. Good luck with you discission, either product will rock with the svs. Also keep in mind that svs has a bookshelf as well for around the same $.


JR

Hello koasa...

Just a quick note to say that the Satin Black is a "painted finish" only... no vinyl here...

Thanks for your nice comments...

All the best...

mls

While I do not have mine yet, and thus cannot provide performance feedback, I too was looking at Athena vs. Onix.

In my case I made the decision to go with the soon to be released X-SLS. Everything I read/hear continues to make me feel that I made the right choice.

just curious... have you considered the Ascend Acoustics brand? They will cost you a little more but I hear they sound fantastic.

I'm still considering Ascend, Athena, and the X-ls.

IMO if you are not listening to multi channel audio then your surrounds do not need to match.


JR

Wormraper, you can do that if you cannot afford the entire package, but can you purchase 3 x-ls speaker (don't they come in pairs)? However, it would be better to use the same speakers all the way around if you want a proper timber match (it will sound better too).

Just in case you were curious, here's one person's comments who upgraded from Athenas to Ascends:

http://swbg1.tripod.com/ascend_speakers.htm

Wormraper - If you are short on cash, then definitely don't worry about running a different pair of speakers as surrounds. I do the same thing now, and it works fine. Hell, later on you could buy a pair of the towers for $299 and then move the X-LS' to the rear.

Wellllllllll, if you are basing your purchase so much on reviews, I'd advise you to do a quick Google search for Ascend reviews...especially the audioreview.com site. When I was speaker shopping about 2 years ago, I could not find a SINGLE truly negative review of them, and I can't say that about any other Internet-direct speakers out there...which speaks volumes. Think about it, any company can grease up enough people to post a bunch of flattering reviews about their product, but what they can't do is PREVENT anyone from posting negative reviews.

Then I recommend you peruse that audioreview.com site very closely, if you want to compare Onix, Axiom, and Ascend.

I am really considering the 5.1 X-ls set. Or buying them peices at a time as I get money to help ease the wife. Anyway The only thing holding me back is I am finishing my basement and I really want to mount these speakers on the walls. And they are 13 pounds apaprently. Is there a good mounting bracket out there that is adjustable that will work with these?

--Deadsoulz

Actually they are 17 lbs a peice.

Some of these mounts may work 4 U.
http://www.standsandmounts.com/index...S&Category=206



JR

Thanks, I guess something like this would work pretty well, as it looks like it uses a calmping feature.

http://www.standsandmounts.com/index...OD&ProdID=2879

On AV123s website they actually recommend a product for wall mounting, using their mounting plate. It is pretty nifty.

This
+ these.

Then they are perfectly attached to the wall.

Bumping this thread because I am in a similar situation...

I am thinking about getting some speakers for my home theater, and the Athena B1.2s are a click away. I'm just posting in case anyone wants to call me crazy or has any advice.

I have an Onkyo TX-SR605 receiver on the way and I don't have a lot of money to blow, so I was thinking about just doing 2.1 for now and gradually upgrading to 5.1. But, from my research here, these are the speakers I am considering: B1.2s $120, av123 xl-s for $220, or Velodyne front row 5 piece for $200 or 2 piece for 70. There is a huge price difference between the first 2 and the velodynes; I'm not sure if there is a sound quality difference to go along with that, alot of people seem to like the velodynes. Unfortunately, I have no clue as to where I could listen to any of these brands, so I am probably going to be buying blind.

My concerns are:
-no clue what to expect as far as sound quality. I don't have critical ears, but I also don't want to buy junk
-velodynes are only available in white. I think that is gonna be ugly
-xl-s will probably require me to buy stands as the speakers are too wide to fit in my current setup. If they were less wide, I would probably buy them in a heartbeat. I am concerned about how they would look/fit on stands in my condo. It's also possible that their floorstanding ones might be good for me.
-if I go with the B1.2s, will a subwoofer or center channel be necessary right away?

I plan on using this for 40% video gaming, 50% tv/dvd/blu-ray, 10% music.

I'm a noob, feel free to yell at me!

Just my 2 cents, but I've auditioned the Athena's twice because I couldn't believe how bad they were. I would give one of the online brands a try like X-LS or Ascend.

Jon