Daedalus Pans and Athenas together for a brief shining moment

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Scottdazzle

DC area Daedalus fans,

I'm getting my Athenas back from Lou with the version 2 upgrades soon - probably next weekend.   :D  I still have the Pans from the Capital Audiofest in my listening room.  When the Athenas get back, I will have both pairs set up for a few days only.  Then the Pans have to go out for a review. 

Several guys at the CAF asked how the Pans and the Athenas compare .  If you read this, this is your chance to hear for yourself.  Let me know if you want to come over and we'll set something up.
 
Cheers!

Scott

nature boy

Scott,

Thanks for the offer.  You may lure me down DC way 8)

NB

Daedalus Audio

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Some things are a given, ie: the Athena has more detail and resolution, and the Pan is more coherent at close distance and in small rooms, still it will be interesting to get impressions of the differences with the Pan and Athena.
 There is a reason the Athena costs twice as much, even though they both use the same drivers  these are each unique speaker systems and were designed for different applications, the Pan is not just the little brother to the Athena.

thanks,
Lou



Jonathon Janusz

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these are each unique speaker systems and were designed for different applications, the Pan is not just the little brother to the Athena.

Lou, would you mind expanding on this?  From what I have read thus far, I believe I have a handle on the broad design goals of Pan - optimized as a near-field monitor.  How would you describe the application goals of the Athena in contrast, as I was under the impression that Athena was designed with the intent of bringing the bigger Daedalus speaker sound into a small room environment?

Thanks again for your time!

Scott, I will be keeping an eye on this thread, as I'm interested to read your impressions actually comparing the two side by side.  Thanks for bringing this opportunity together!

Scottdazzle

FedEx says the Athenas will be here Tuesday.  That means I will have the Athenas and Pans side by side the weekend of Sep. 6-8 for anyone who wants to schedule an audition. After that, the Pans leave the building. I can also do weekdays and evenings if the weekend doesn't work for you.  :thumb:

Scottdazzle

The Athenas and Pans are now up and running!  I will have the Pans for a very short time before I have to send them out for review.  Now may be the only chance for east coasters to hear them together.  Please pm for a session.  :thumb:




roadkingraw

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Scott,
Just curious if you are going to give us any insight at to your thoughts when comparing the two speakers?

Scottdazzle

Congrats to Marshall H who bought the Pans.  I'm going to miss them.  My impression after living with both pairs (Athenas and Pans) for awhile is that they share the Daedalus family sound.  However, the Athenas throw a wider, deeper, and higher soundstage with better imaging in all respects.  The Athena soundstage extends far beyond the cabinets (to the left of the left speaker, to the right of the right speaker), and with amazing depth.  The Athenas have extraordinary resolution, exquisite detail, and deeper bass than the Pans.  The Pans are superb monitors, but like Lou said, there's a reason why the Athenas cost twice as much.

lightrod23

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I have to give a shout out to Scott who allowed me to take a couple hours listening to the Pans and during a second visit doing a side by side comparison to Athenas. While everything Scott said was right about the Athenas (wider, deeper, and higher soundstage), the Pans are no slouch. I consider the imaging fantastic as you can readily tell where the instruments are located. And although not as wide, I still feel the Pans have plenty of depth with instruments well behind the speakers. I'm quite impressed with the Pans and I would not have any qualms about recommending them (although you should listen to them yourself). These were a huge step up over my Meadowlark Kestral 2s and ATC-11s prior to that. These are not near-field monitors. I have PBN Montana EPS-2s in my other room and these compare very well to them (although the Montana's have deeper base and softer top end). The Pans have a very full sound - the lower bass and mid-range is strong with a detailed high end (not rolled off like many) and not fatiguing in any way. I keep getting surprised by these every day and the sound fills my large room very well. This was my first experience with Daedalus and I'm pleased to be a customer for life. Lou was very forthcoming and was happy to discuss my set-up. I'm looking forward to getting the matching stands he is putting together for the Pans. Hopefully, these little marvels will get some professional reviews to get the word out.