Athena Speakers

SyntheticDream · « **on:** 4 Feb 2005, 10:10 pm »

Well im excited and am looking for some input on Athena AS-F2 speakers. I went to best buy today mostly to check out the new iriver h10 mp3 player and decided to wander over to the speaker section... lo and behold there are some open item Athena AS-F2's.. they look in good condition, one has a small dent but what can be expected. so i ask a sales guy the price for them and the AS-F1's since they dont have a price tag to be found either. he comes back and tells me the as-f1's are $180 and that on those open box speakers i can take 20% off of that price. so i guess he didnt realize that they are really as-f2's.... but that seems like a killer deal for my first pair of speakers if i can pull it off... 288 bucks for a pair of decent floorstanders

heheheh now the only question is what budget receiver/integrated amp would be good for these speakers? 2 channel is all im really interested in, maybe a 2ch with a sub out like the harman kardon that i was looking at... but any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

gary · « **Reply #1 on:** 4 Feb 2005, 11:36 pm »

Quote from: SyntheticDream

Well im excited and am looking for some input on Athena AS-F2 speakers. I went to best buy today mostly to check out the new iriver h10 mp3 player and decided to wander over to the speaker section... lo and behold there are some open item Athena AS-F2's.. they look in good condition, one has a small dent but what can be expected. so i ask a sales guy the price for them and the AS-F1's since they dont have a price tag to be found either. he comes back and tells me the as-f1's are $180 and that on those open ...

Those speakers were a great deal at the original price, $400 or whatever it was (maybe more?). For what you're paying they're a steal, and I really don't think you could do better. Of course, I happen to really like those speakers - some others might not care for them.

I think any of the digital receivers discussed here would be a nice match for the Athenas, just check out the threads on the JVC's & Panasonics here in the Digital Domain. There's also a Kenwood that gets pretty good reviews. And since the Athenas are relatively efficient, you could even drive them with the Sonic Impact amp... it'll set you back a whopping $20 and might well out-perform any of the above.

Gary

mcgsxr · « **Reply #2 on:** 4 Feb 2005, 11:39 pm »

Out of interest, what is the intended source for this system? That might assist with amp selection, or at least give us an idea of where you are headed.

Nice call on those fine Canadian speakers though!

SyntheticDream · « **Reply #3 on:** 5 Feb 2005, 06:25 pm »

well i think im gonna have to do get those speakers, they sounded good even in the store. i dont have a source yet, im just starting to assemble my first system and on a budget

i need a nice and cheap source cd player, i was looking at one of those budget toshiba dvd players for a source and the stereo receiver i was looking at was an 80wpc harman kardon 2.1 but really any suggestions are open on say a budget of 150 or so for the source and 300 or so for the receiver. thanks for any advice sorry for my ignorance

gary · « **Reply #4 on:** 5 Feb 2005, 09:39 pm »

Quote from: SyntheticDream

well i think im gonna have to do get those speakers, they sounded good even in the store. i dont have a source yet, im just starting to assemble my first system and on a budget i need a nice and cheap source cd player, i was looking at one of those budget toshiba dvd players for a source and the stereo receiver i was looking at was an 80wpc harman kardon 2.1 but really any suggestions are open on say a budget of 150 or so for the source and 300 or so for the receiver. thanks for any advice sorry for my ignorance

Well, here's my suggestion for what it's worth. I'd get something like the Toshiba 3960, which gets really decent reviews for a sub-$100 player, and a JVC RX-F10S or the older model if you can find one - E1SL or something. That'd give you a system with tremendous bang for the buck, and give you a nice upgrade path - mods on the Toshiba, or an external DAC for example.

Gary

SyntheticDream · « **Reply #5 on:** 5 Feb 2005, 10:34 pm »

alright, that sounds pretty good, now how would i want to hook it all up? i know with those jvc/panny receivers that one is better for digital and one for analog, so how which applies to me?

gary · « **Reply #6 on:** 5 Feb 2005, 11:04 pm »

Quote from: SyntheticDream

alright, that sounds pretty good, now how would i want to hook it all up? i know with those jvc/panny receivers that one is better for digital and one for analog, so how which applies to me?

I think if you don't plan on spending any money after this purchase, then the Panasonic might be a good bet as it'll sound good with the digital input from the player. If you might eventually buy an external DAC, then the JVC is probably a better bet. Either way, if you start out with this player and a receiver all you need is a toslink or digital coax cable to go between the two, and a pair of speaker cables. If you buy an external DAC, then you need to get a set of interconnects to go between it and the receiver.

Gary

mcgsxr · « **Reply #7 on:** 6 Feb 2005, 01:36 am »

I am with Gary on this one, if you are looking for a simple system that will punch above its' weight, go with the Panny, digital in, with those Athenas. You will be on the right track, and CAN expand out into HT if you so desire in the future.

A good start, in my books. Affordable meets pleasurable!

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #8 on:** 6 Feb 2005, 02:12 am »

Some stores are selling the Athena AS-F2's for around $300 per pair!

At that price they have no competition that I know of for a decent tower. Hell, there aren't a lot of contenders for under 2X the money. I really like the F2's compared to the other budget stuff, and if you feed it with a decent amp/receiver you'll get very good sound. You can get good bass, too, for such a small speaker.

Definately a screaming bargain- I almost with I needed a pair!

SyntheticDream · « **Reply #9 on:** 6 Feb 2005, 03:00 am »

thanks alot for the advice guys, i think that panny may be the right choice. now just to finish things off any advice on speaker wire and interconnects? should i just go with some monster cable stuff?

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #10 on:** 6 Feb 2005, 03:37 am »

Quote from: SyntheticDream

now just to finish things off any advice on speaker wire and interconnects? should i just go with some monster cable stuff?

ARRGGGGHHHHHH!

No, please don't do that!

If you must have something more exotic than AR, buy it from a company that isn't a soulness shell of evil!

BillyM · « **Reply #11 on:** 6 Feb 2005, 05:04 am »

You will NOT need a subwoofer with the Athenas. I picked up the SF2's for a bit under $400/pr and have enjoyed every moment since. I cant comment on the digital units as the others have, so I'll just lay out what I've done with my athenas. I nabbed a Parasound HCA-1000A on ebay for about $200 and an Adcom D/AC for $175. Got a 7ft digital coax cable and a pair of interconnects from SignalCable.com (highly reccomended). I use the rear-mount attenuators on the parasound to match bit-perfect output to my usual listening volume, then use the volume sliders on the computer to bring it down to sleep-levels when need be (dynamics arent very important at that point anyhow).

...kick back and load up your favorite female vocals or acoustic guitar tracks and sink into cost-effective audio heaven....

--BillyM

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #12 on:** 6 Feb 2005, 05:31 am »

Don't say he'll never need a sub.

Upgraditus can be a bitch!

My pair of subs can do >115 dB @ 20 hz, yet sounds as clean & tight as you could want; you're not gonna get that from any two-way tower!

Still, the Athena's should hold you over nicely.

SyntheticDream · « **Reply #13 on:** 6 Feb 2005, 07:51 am »

lol hopefully i wont need a sub for a while at least.... i mean ive got one in my car but im selling the car so maybe i should build a box for my room for the sub muahahaha... or not.. lol rob i dont need anything exotic so whats the AR you speak of?

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #14 on:** 6 Feb 2005, 09:31 am »

Well, I'm referring to the Acoustic Research line that BB sells- but not that I think of it, I heard they went out of business. Suffice it to say that there's a lot of brands at least as good as the Monster stuff you see at the store. Some people will tell you cables make a big diff, some will tell you they make no diff- take both views with a grain of salt & find out for yourself, if you like.

But I think most would agree that the AR and other cheaper brands are as good as the Monster stuff you pay $29-$49 for. One of the big national rag even claimed that a very humble AR cable selling for $20 or so a pair was very close to the really expensive brands (seems like it was Sam Tellig with Stereophile).

If you must have something snazzy looking, try River Cable or Blue Jeans Cable. Better Cables also is nicely made yet not really expensive. Even the guys that spend $1k on a pair of ICs probably wouldn't suggest you connect a $90 DVD player to a $130 receiver with $200 Monster Cables.

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #15 on:** 6 Feb 2005, 09:33 am »

I forgot one- Zu Cables are very nice and not a lot of money. You can get Zu Disco's direct from Zu via Ebay for very low prices. I've got some of them and some Zu Firemine Coax cables and have been happy with them.