[bhchan]

So, it turns out it's been 16 years since I bought the AS-F2's for front L/R and 15 since I paired them with the Athena Point 5 MkII 5.0 package and an SVS sub for a full 7.1 setup. Been working great, but those Point 5's were always supposed to be stop-gap while I earn some scratch to get them upgraded to proper speakers (Athena B2's and a C1), but I guess I'm slow on the uptake and Athenas are no more.
I'm hoping someone else is/was in a similar predicament and could point me towards bookshelf surround speakers that would be timbre-matched or just go well with the AS-F2's
Thanks in advance!
(I would've resurrected my old thread from 2004, but that's probably been locked for a decade )
(edit: I just realized when I searched "Athena" and only got back 2004-2005 results and thought there weren't any live threads on Athenas, I failed... I forgot to sort by "most recent"... apologies if this was already beaten to death in the last 15 years)

 

[eljaycanuck]

Athenas were nice-sounding speakers. I'd look at something like the AscendAcoustics CMT-340 SE Center for your center and CBM-170 SE for surrounds.

 

[bhchan]

A few hours later and it turns out I had a lot of updating to do... looks like the timbre-matching stuff I learned [here?] back circa 2004 aren't as big of a deal these days, and that I might be able to keep the point5 surrounds for now and just focus on getting a better center. Time to search 'center' and see what pops out.

 

[bhchan]

Athenas were nice-sounding speakers. I'd look at something like the AscendAcoustics CMT-340 SE Center for your center and CBM-170 SE for surrounds.

Thanks! I'll look into these as well.

Edit: Meh, looks like my main limiting factor is going to be the physical location I have the center... it can only accommodate 5.5" x 17" (depth is probably 24" or more, as it can stick out the back.

 

[afrogt]

I would keep the point 5 as surrounds and get a better center. The Athena C1 was never considered a great center so another brand would be best.

Perhaps the Ascend and these Emotiva centers are recommended often.

Airmotiv C1+ Center Channel Loudspeaker

The Airmotiv C1+ is a three-way center channel loudspeaker that delivers a superb listening experience with surround sound music and movies. The Airmotiv C1+ combines exceptional accuracy, amazing precision and detail retrieval, and unsurpassed smoothness - all in one truly great sounding...

emotiva.com

Airmotiv C2+ Center Channel Loudspeaker

The Airmotiv C2+ is a three-way center channel loudspeaker that delivers a superb listening experience with surround sound music and movies. The Airmotiv C2+ combines exceptional accuracy, amazing precision and detail retrieval, and unsurpassed smoothness - all in one truly great sounding...

emotiva.com

make sure you have space, especially for the C2

 

[Zorba922]

my main limiting factor is going to be the physical location I have the center... it can only accommodate 5.5" x 17" (depth is probably 24" or more, as it can stick out the back.

Consider getting a center speaker stand, raising your TV on a wall mount or tabletop mount, or buying a new cabinet. 5.5" height means you're not likely to get much improvement over what you already have, no matter how much you pay for it...physics is physics.

 

[bhchan]

that C2 looks lovely, but 4ohm... my 'new' receiver only does 6 and 8 (doh! stupid yammy RXV581, I should've paid more attention when I got it) So maybe it'll end up sitting on a new amp (I think the yammy can pre-amp out to a separate, will need to look into it more...) (nope, that was my even older yammy... this one only has preouts for the sub... doh!) I laugh though, because I found a yt video "HT on a budget"... and I guess 'budget' means totally different things... I think my current 7.0 speakers cost $500 total... but a budget center is now $400 on its own... yikes.

unfortunately, my TV setup is very suboptimal... it actually 'floats' 2 feet away from it's wall because that's a giant window. the 'left' wall is taken up by the fireplace, and the 'right' opens to the kitchen. 'back' wall is a built-in wall-to-wall cabinet from the late 90's that had a giant cutout for a huge 40' CRT.

anyway, my whole HT setup sits on top of modular cubes (ok, truth is, they're repurposed Ikea nightstands - my 'on a budget' definitely is a lot budgettier) that I'm planning on changing around to accommodate a 85" tv once the nice ones drop below 2k. Probably at that point, a huge C2 sitting underneath won't look so ginormous... though I was hoping to stop-gap my HT changes with a better center first, rather than a better tv first (it's a 65" LGLM6200 from 2012-or-so, so I was hoping to get 10 years of life from it before upgrading)

Anyway... enough with my HT sobstory... time to figure out the C2/preamp/etc. situation since that's probably still a better overall path than prematurely upgrading the AVR (which I just got back in 2019 (maybe 2018) looks like I'll need to look at 8ohm centers first... sorry C2.

 

[Zorba922]

The 4 ohm impedance spec is mainly Emotiva's way of nudging you to buy one of their (reputedly excellent) external amps. I used the "4 ohm" C1 with a 15 year old $230 Panasonic receiver rated only down to 6 ohms and had zero problems, didn't even get warm.

Here are two other members' experience powering their T1+ with a basic AVR:

Emotiva Airmotiv T1 3-Way Tower Speakers Hands-On

Tower speakers are a mainstay of both 2-channel and multichannel audio systems. Emotiva's Airmotiv T1 tower ($699/pair) is a notable entry in the genre thanks to the price and performance it offers. With its 3-way design, dual 6.5" woofer, and AMT (air motion transformer) tweeter, this is a...

www.avsforum.com

Help replacing Front and Centers on a budget

Upgrading help - good Towers and maybe Center under $1000 Good afternoon/evening/morning all! I currently have a 5.1.2ish setup, and am looking to upgrade at least my LR speakers, and maybe my center. I'm trying to stay under $1,000, but have some wiggle room. I'm looking to keep these...

www.avsforum.com

T1+ and C2+ powered by Denon S710 to 92db levels:

Guidance upgrading my Polk CS10 Center Chanel Speaker

Hey all, Hoping to get a little advice on the best options for an upgrade I'm in the middle of. My old LCR Setup: Polk Monitor 50 II - Towers Polk CS10 - Center Just upgraded the towers yesterday to Klipsch R-820F. Went against my (slow, steady, researching) nature and jumped on them as...

www.avsforum.com

that C2 looks lovely, but 4ohm... my 'new' receiver only does 6 and 8 (doh! stupid yammy RXV581, I should've paid more attention when I got it) So maybe it'll end up sitting on a new amp (I think the yammy can pre-amp out to a separate, will need to look into it more...) (nope, that was my even older yammy... this one only has preouts for the sub... doh!) I laugh though, because I found a yt video "HT on a budget"... and I guess 'budget' means totally different things... I think my current 7.0 speakers cost $500 total... but a budget center is now $400 on its own... yikes.

unfortunately, my TV setup is very suboptimal... it actually 'floats' 2 feet away from it's wall because that's a giant window. the 'left' wall is taken up by the fireplace, and the 'right' opens to the kitchen. 'back' wall is a built-in wall-to-wall cabinet from the late 90's that had a giant cutout for a huge 40' CRT.

anyway, my whole HT setup sits on top of modular cubes (ok, truth is, they're repurposed Ikea nightstands - my 'on a budget' definitely is a lot budgettier) that I'm planning on changing around to accommodate a 85" tv once the nice ones drop below 2k. Probably at that point, a huge C2 sitting underneath won't look so ginormous... though I was hoping to stop-gap my HT changes with a better center first, rather than a better tv first (it's a 65" LGLM6200 from 2012-or-so, so I was hoping to get 10 years of life from it before upgrading)

Anyway... enough with my HT sobstory... time to figure out the C2/preamp/etc. situation since that's probably still a better overall path than prematurely upgrading the AVR (which I just got back in 2019 (maybe 2018) looks like I'll need to look at 8ohm centers first... sorry C2.