Athena speakers any good?

D

ds-

Gawd
Joined
Sep 25, 2003
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535
Is the brand Athena any good?

I found a 5 speaker set for a good price. It is $729.99 CND regular and right now it's $400 CNDoff for only $329.99 CND at Futureshop

2 AS-B1
2 AS-R1
1 AS-C1

I live in canada as you can tell.
They also have a matching Athena Subwoofer for $199 CND but it's not on sale.

$400 off is tempting, but should I go with a 2.1/0 setup instead for my music and movies?

Also I have the HDA X Mystique 7.1 on the way if that makes a difference, maybe take advantage of the DDL.
 
Athena is actually a very good brand. They also have fantastic prices for what they offer
 
i use the B1's for rears and I have the center channel as well. I think they are fine speakers.
 
OK, I bought it.

I hear it doesn't come with speaker wires though, so gotta look for some.

Any difference between cheap and good wires? Any specs I should look for in speaker wires?
 
No difference, just depending on the length of the runs you might need higher gauge.
 
Stinn said:
No difference, just depending on the length of the runs you might need higher gauge.
Click to expand...

So longer the wire will run, the higher the gauge I should get, my room is pretty small and the longest wire will probably be 7-10 meters if I go above and around my door to make it look nice and neat. Is 16g good enough for that?
 
How hard is it to cut these speaker wires and prep them if need be.

Do I need any special tools?
 
A simple wire stripper/cutter is all you need but I would suggest that you also tin the ends of the wires with solder
 
After a bit of looking around the web for speaker wires, I see some that use banana plugs.

Are these thing suppose to help with the quality or stress of the wires?
Also do these banana plugs, plug into any kind of speaker wire input on recievers?
Or are there certain types of these speaker wire inputs that only work with banana plugs?

Thanks again.
 
Nope, all banana plugs do is make hooking up the wires easier.
What kind of connectors does the receiver have on it?
 
Thanks for the replies Mister X.

I haven't bought a reciever yet. That's the next thing I'm looking for. Waiting for some special or sale.

I just ordered these 5 Athena speakers and a HDA X Mystique 7.1 soundcard.
Gotta find a reciever that will work well with this combination.

In the manual it says that these speakers work best with reciever that supports 8 ohm (don't know what that means and only see them list 6 ohm on the futureshop site).

So I guess I'm looking for a Dolby Digital reciever, have optical and digital coaxial inputs, and have component inputs.

I don't know a lot about recivers and their specs. What are some specs I should pay attention to for recievers? Should I invest in a more expensive reciever, or do recievers upgrade happen very often like computer upgrades do?

Thanks
 
8 Ohm is the impedance of the speakers. In other words are gonna have a very hard time fonding a receiver that doesn't work with them. :)

If you buy a good receiver the first TIME there is no need to upgrade it later. Right?
How much of your money do we get to spend on this receiver? :D

EDIT.... does it make sense now? :(
 
Mister X said:
How much of your money do we get to spend on this receiver? :D
Click to expand...
hahahah
I've seen some pretty decent deals on HKs at futureshop. I'll take a peak around there and see if anything jumps out at me.
EDIT: no good deals at futureshop.
 
ccotenj said:
there's ALWAYS a need to upgrade later... :D
Click to expand...

Lets start with a audio processor.
http://www.thetadigital.com/product/casanova/prod-info.htm
$4000
Now throw in an amp:
http://www.thetadigital.com/product/dreadnaught2/prod-info.htm
$6500 for the base unit
Need a transport?
http://www.thetadigital.com/product/compli/prod-info.htm
$4850
want to add a redundant DAC/preamp while we are at it?
http://www.thetadigital.com/product/gen8/prod-info.htm
$10000

You're right......... those speakers ain't gonna cut it with this system time to upgrade them. :)
 
Athena is actually Mirage's "value" line of speakers. Not bad for the price, but don't expect miracles.
 
I have a set of athenas and they are great speakers for the price. I listened to many different sets before I bought them and I thought they beat many other higher priced speakers. I bought a Yamaha RX-V 1400 to power mine. Great reciever. I put on 12 gauge speaker wire just because I got a deal on it. Anyway I think you will really like these speakers.
 
StorageJoe said:
Athena is actually Mirage's "value" line of speakers. Not bad for the price, but don't expect miracles.
Click to expand...

Actually, Audio Products International (API) is the parent company of Athena, Energy, and Mirage. The Athena Audition series is widely known as an excellent sounding, high-efficiency speaker with one of the best price:performance ratios around - especially in the last month or two because the Audition series is being cleared out to make room for the new Audition Series 2 speakers.

I'd stay away from the AS-P300 Subwoofer though, as the Series 1 subs aren't nearly as good as the new Series 2 subs. For $200 its hard to beat, however.

ds-,
What is your budget for a receiver? Maybe I can recommend something. I've tested quite a few with my setup (center: AS-C1. mains: AS-B2. surround: S.5. surround-back: S.5. sub: AS-P300).
 
StorageJoe said:
Athena is actually Mirage's "value" line of speakers. Not bad for the price, but don't expect miracles.
Click to expand...

actually, for 330 loonies, it's pretty miraculous how good they sound... :)

of course, if he buys an aftermarket power cord for whatever receiver he gets, who knows what the possibilities are, right? :p
 
ds- said:
How hard is it to cut these speaker wires and prep them if need be.

Do I need any special tools?
Click to expand...

A utility knife, a pair of wire cutters, and for finsihing (if desired)

to tin:
soldering iron and rosin core solder

to put banana plugs on:
just buy some screw on bananas and just do it.....tip: only use banana plugs if your receiver and speakers can support it, otherwise just buy some flex-pins.....other downside corrosion can still happen....you may want to tin your wire beforehand (I don't, just because I'm a lazy bitch)
 
I too was looking into some Athena AS-B1's. a pair for 100$US. Not bad, although sadly, I have not heard them yet... none of my best buys carry them.

If your looking for a receiver in the lower midrange price, I recommend Denon. I have worked with their products, and I'm very impressed with the build quality for the price.
My dad has a Denon AVR-1801 (older model) with a pair of Cerwin Vega SE250 speakers.
Everytime I hear them, I am amazed at how close they come to my sennheiser HD 590 headphones.

When you get the speakers, I'de love to hear what you think about them. I'm really considering them. (especially considering they would be replacing some cheap 30$ sony speakers.)
 
SilverMK3 said:
ds-,
What is your budget for a receiver? Maybe I can recommend something. I've tested quite a few with my setup (center: AS-C1. mains: AS-B2. surround: S.5. surround-back: S.5. sub: AS-P300).
Click to expand...


I want to spend about $300-$400 CND.... but if I finda really good deal or soemthing I won't mind spending a bit more.

Those HK and Denon are nice, but I don't know if I can spend that much. If I can find a good deal and some how get convinced, I will shell out some more.

Better not get fired from IBM now.... :p
 
I guess if the reciever will last a long time, I guess buying a good expsensive one isn't a bad idea. Maybe get a HK or something...
 
peltman78 said:
I bought a Yamaha RX-V 1400 to power mine. Great reciever.
Click to expand...

Great receiver indeed! Mine's driving a fleet of Energy's, Mirages, and Polks.
 
Do NOT buy a Yamaha for Athena - Yamaha has a reputation for being bright, and Athena is bright. You want to go on the opposite end of the spectrum, like HK.
 
dandragonrage said:
Do NOT buy a Yamaha for Athena - Yamaha has a reputation for being bright, and Athena is bright. You want to go on the opposite end of the spectrum, like HK.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but what is bright? Like the sound sounds high pitched or something? And what is opposite of bright... dark?
 
i would say that the HK 635 is one of the best sub 1000 receivers i have heard. i just bought one and i auditioned 15 before i picked one out. now in your price range i would have to say look at the pioneer 1015. its got great PQ. the only reason i didnt get it was my tax refund was larger then i expected.

im driving JBL S312II and the S-Center, my other speakers are at school. the HK gives my speakers everything they need and a little more. some people dont like the way HK and JBL sound together but they are made by the same company. anyways good luck and i hope your speakers and receiver make you happy for a long time. and for whoever said it was a disease, its worse then that, its an epidemic. you get a nice system together and then its like well i kinda skimpped on item A and then your like well ill just upgrade that. pretty soon you have upgraded everything five times.

Cheers
 
bright speakers means they they aren't flat in the upper-midrange to treble area. They often have peaks there. An extreme of bright is harsh. I find Klipsch to be very harsh, for example. But I am VERY sensitive to bright speakers.

I suppose the opposite to bright is HK. warm, that is. But really, there's not a single word that can give you the opposite for a speaker, because the opposite would be something that has a dip wherever the speaker has a peak and the other way around.
 
Futureshop has 6 Harmon Kardon receivers listed. The cheapest one is the HK AVR 135 for $649 CND.
The rest are pretty much $900 or more....

They do have some other ones here listed like:
JVC RX-6042S Dolby Digital Receiver
Pioneer VSX-D515-S Receiver
Pioneer VSX-D815-S Dolby Digital Receiver
Sony STRDE598S Dolby Digital Receiver
Sony STRDE898 Dolby Digital Receiver
Yamaha HTR5740S Dolby Digital Receiver
Yamaha HTR5750S Dolby Digital Receiver
Yamaha HTR5830S Dolby Digital Receiver
Yamaha HTR5840B 6.1 Channel Dolby Digital Receiver
Yamaha HTR5840S Dolby Digital Receiver
Yamaha HTR5850B 6.1 Channel Dolby Digital Receiver
Yamaha HTR5850S Dolby Digital Receiver
Yamaha HTR5860B 7.1 Channel Dolby Digital Receiver
Yamaha HTR5860S Dolby Digital Receiver

Bestbuy seems to have quite a few of Yamaha ones too, including some sony and pioneer.

A&B Sound currently has 3 in their flyer:
Yamaha RVX357S
Denon AVR1905
Yamaha RVX1500

I think I might browse around A&B sound and some local stores. But just need to know what to look for and what to stay away from.
 
So is the HK AVR 135 any good? It's their lowest model it seems, but still pretty pricey.
 
Another thing you have to keep in mind is this:

As long as you have original receipt, even if you are the second or third owner, you still get the remaining warranty.

This may not mean much to you, but to me... when my HK330 blew up a few months ago, I was thrilled to know that I didnt have to pay a dime to get it fixed.

I bought it from ebay last year for 350$ shipped.
 
I have Athenas being run by a Yamaha HTR-5790 receiver and it is great sounding. Yamahas and athenas are both bright but I think it is a great combination and I researched a ton when I bought them (used to sell home theater stuff). I have the AS-F2s for my fronts but the same everything else and I know you will like them a lot once you figure out which receiver you like. Definitely get a receiver with more input and outputs than you need now cause in the future you will probably use them all up. Also make sure it has all of the latest decoding modes and features so you are not missing anything later and looking to upgrade soon down the line. I did that before and it was a pain.
 
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