Are Athena speakers selling@Bestbuy really that good?

[Smokey]

I have never seen so much positive "consumer" reviews about Athena considering their price range ($200-400) and selling at local BB. In some of reviews, they seem to outperform some of higher brand speakers that buyer had in their systems. Most seem to agree that Athena have a tight and slightly bright sound, and not certainly muddy.

I am tempted to try one myself since Bestbuy put them on sale once in a while at deep discount (ie..$60 off of AS-B1 for $129).

<img src="http://images.bestbuy.com/BestBuy_US/images/products/5335/5335693_sa.jpg">

[RGA]

No! Save your money - be patient and get something that isn't slightly bright - if that's slight then I dunno. Probably the best thing at FutureShop but then Bose makes anything look good pretty much.

Just my opinion do go and listen and decide for yourself.

[N. Abstentia]

Athena speakers are outstanding..for Best Buy. They are by far the best speakers sold at Best Buy but you can get a better speaker for the same money at a real speaker shop in most cases (barring a BB blowout sale or something).

For that $400 you've got some amazing speakers by Paradigm, B&W, PSB, and Energy to listen to before buying.

[tullymars]

I agree,and dont forget Boston's,they make some great speakers and right now Hi Fi Buys have a big clearence on a lot of them

[AZHT]

I've read on other posts here that the same company that makes Mirage speakers makes the Athenas. Don't know if the quality is there though.

[RGA]

That may be so but that doesn't mean you'll like Mirage. Personally don't like Mirage either.

Try and listen to a wide variety of stuff - just cause it's expensive doesn't make it good. Reviews? Depending which ones can be reasonably useful - but even the best publications I would not trust to buy me speakers - or any other componant.Reviews at this site could be useful - depends on the experience of the reviewer - what else have they heard etc.

Some brands have already been mentioned in this price range - as well as B&W, Mission, Wharfedale, Totem, Mordaunt Short, Klipsch, Jamo, Tannoy, Kef etc. Not even all of these I personally like - but what I like matters little - you need to listen to a lot of stuff do your homework - and if possible buy used.

Speakers typically lose close to 50% of their value in just a couple of years. Your budget could get some pretty nice speakers - if you're prepared to buy even older your money can WAY further. But some spekaers have fully transferable warranties so a two year old model would still be warrantied - but may have retailed for over $1k and now had for $400-$600.00..

[psonic]

just see if you can go out and find some audio shops, they have inexpensive speakers, closeouts and display model deals...don't limit yourself to BB...for $200-$500 new, try to listen to kef, energy, b&w, boston, monitor audio, totem...I auditioned a lot of speaks recently and these were some of the best "budget buys" new...I ended up buying dynaudio audience 60's used for a song on audiogon.com, you can get a lot of speaker for the money used...they are 4ohm and should be mated with an amp capable of this, though I have seen receivers running them

[Boy Lover]

I can say the highs on the Athena's are very clear but just dont have the db power as my Alesis Point Seven meaning my Point 7's has stronger highs but sometimes it could be harsh but its good for recording. The Alesis Point 7's I have has a Teteron tweeter. I think mine is a bit bigger tweeter than the Athenas. But I can say I perfer titanium since its more spatialy clear and more realistis like life sounds.

[N. Abstentia]

I can say the highs on the Athena's are very clear but just dont have the db power as my Alesis Point Seven meaning my Point 7's has stronger highs but sometimes it could be harsh but its good for recording. The Alesis Point 7's I have has a Teteron tweeter. I think mine is a bit bigger tweeter than the Athenas. But I can say I perfer titanium since its more spatialy clear and more realistis like life sounds.


Uhhhh......yeah.

[markw]

I have never seen so much positive "consumer" reviews about Athena considering their price range ($200-400) and selling at local BB. In some of reviews, they seem to outperform some of higher brand speakers that buyer had in their systems. Most seem to agree that Athena have a tight and slightly bright sound, and not certainly muddy.

I am tempted to try one myself since Bestbuy put them on sale once in a while at deep discount (ie..$60 off of AS-B1 for $129).

<img src="http://images.bestbuy.com/BestBuy_US/images/products/5335/5335693_sa.jpg">


Simply put, yes they are, particularly in light of their price. I've ownes several of these models for over two years now and am still quite impressed with what they can do.

Now, if Audio Note had something in their price range I'd consider themt but at this time, I have to say that, as usual, RGA is suffering from verbal diahhrea again.

[RGA]

Actually Audio Note does in fact have speakers in this geenral price range in the AX and AZ series ranging from $549 and up. No doubt you can talk em down a bit. But this requires people actually go out and look for them rather than convenience of BB and Circuit City outlets.

Complete price list http://www.jjaudio.com/AUDIO_NOTE/audionote_pricelist.htm

[markw]

Actually Audio Note does in fact have speakers in this geenral price range in the AX and AZ series ranging from $549 and up. No doubt you can talk em down a bit. But this requires people actually go out and look for them rather than convenience of BB and Circuit City outlets.

Complete price list http://www.jjaudio.com/AUDIO_NOTE/audionote_pricelist.htm

I'd like you to talk them down from 549 to 129. Until you can, you're still farting verbally.

[RGA]

Well yes $129.00 is considerably less. There is not much available in the price range - could try Acoustech Labs which are even cheaper usually - I had a pair a decade ago and I still see the company around.

Wharfedale's Diamons series is also quite reasonably priced. A used set of B&W Dm 302's around $150.00US would also be an excellent option. A speaker I regret trading away - as in fact I like the 302 more than the 303 which is around the $300+US price range.

[46minaudio]

No! Save your money - be patient and get something that isn't slightly bright - if that's slight then I dunno. Probably the best thing at FutureShop but then Bose makes anything look good pretty much.
129$ RGA please.You seem to want to shove your opinions up everyones ass..The fact is this is about preference..Smokey I may not be the audiofile golden ear Rga thinks he is..I bought my son a pair of the ASB1s.I paid 175$ from Audio Adviser IMO they are a great little speaker for that price.Ive also got a pair of AEs that RGA will sometimes reccomend.Side by side the Athenas sound better to me..Unless cranked up The AEs sound as if they have a wet blanket thrown over them..All this means is let your ears decide,not a superaudiophile wannabe like RGA..Take the the Athenas home and listen as the BB show room has way to much noise going on..

[NickWH]

RGA, nobody really cares what you think.

The simple fact is that the Athena's represent a good speaker FOR THE MONEY! The large number of postive consumer reviews confirm this.

[Smokey]

Thanks everybody for advice, and pleased don't gang up on RGA :D

The main reason I am attracted to these speaker are because I like bright speakers. I have a Polk R7 as of now and sometimes I feel like Polk have too much laid back sound for my taste. I have put them on sale in the local newspaper couple of times, and so far no buyers yet.

Also polk have 7-1/2 woofer, so it is a large bookshelf speaker. I was thinking of getting a smaller bookshelf speakers with 5-1/2 woofer as that give me more placement options (already have a Sub). And price of $129 really get me thinking.

There is only one other audio store (beside BB and CC) in my local area (about 25 miles away) and they only carry Paradigm speakers. One time I called them to ask about their prices, and they kept telling me that they are not allowed to give out prices over the phone. So I hanged up on them :D

[RGA]

Smokey you say you want a bright sound can you be more specific - what exactly are you trying to achieve? Are you a club goer? Are you looking for that kind of sound? If so forget standmounts - most simply do not have bass or any sort of realistic impact or dymnamics.

Contrary to what others are saying the FACT is you will get a far better speaker buying used. There are certain speaker makers like Cerwin Vega that while not the best music makers in the whole world are a ton of fun and produce treble and bass to room shaing levels and will certainly fill a room for cheap. UHF magazine reviewed a Klipsch floorstander a few years back that retialed for $999 Cdn and was a huge rocker and a big a$$ horn tweeter that they enjoyed a lot - such speakers you could now buy used for $300.00Cdn - $200.00 US and don't need no stinkin stand with narrow shut in vocal bands and anaemic bass.

Hell my Wharfedales which retailed for $1900US can now easily be had for $300.00 and they would stomp Studio 100V2 in volume level and bass impact - though for depth the whatfedale port would have to be closed. Point is these kinds of speakers would mop the floor with anything FutureShi! carries in every possible regard. Put $100.00 aside to have them re-foamed or re-rubbered at a shop and get another 20 years out of them. The old Cerwin Vega D9 - the ultimate party speaker under 1kCdn when i was shopping had a 112db sensitivity and could produce absolutely ridiculous loudness levels woith prtection circuitry so they could not be blown. You could feel the bass in your chest and they would easily rattle the room and you along with it. Accurate? Of course not some vocals tended to sound an octave off of normal - but fun damn straight.

All of these kinds of speakers can be found for next to nothing.

[uncooked]

The athena's sound great to me. great bang for the buck in speaker standards.

my P.5 package sounds good, and these are higher up. the only complaint i have with mine is that they get muddy when you turn it way up. but then mine are small "4 inch woofers" these take what 125 watts? so a bit more so i would think they handle that better.

[kexodusc]

Whenever I'm at Best Buy I always try to check the Athenas out. The Athenas are decent. I think at $129 they'd be a steal...I prefer them to the JBL and Polk they're usually beside.
I know they're made by the company that owns Mirage and Energy, but there appears to be no similarities other than that, so I don't know why that's always mentioned.
A local retailer here caries them beside Mission, B&W, Polk, Energy, PSB and Klipsch among others, and in that price range they're certainly on par with these other offerings.
But they have their own unique sound, and aren't for everybody. There's a lot of alternatives out there.
IMO, that Micra 6 HTIB system they sell is right up there with the Energy Take 5.2's as far as HTIB's go.
Not sure why anybody would go out of their way to make a post slamming Athena or any of the other speakers in this price range, ya gets what ya pays for.

[JDiddy]

I was at Best Buy yesterday and tested all their speakers. Since I have all JBL speakers, I tend to favor those more. I liked the Athenas but they were to expensive I lacked bass. The Klipsch were the same, great sound, not so good bass. Plus they were way to expensive! I really liked the JBL's. They are so crisp and clear with much better bass than Athena and Klipsch at half the price. I'm sure there are much better speakers out there but like we all already know, it's what sounds good to us. Sometimes I think people on here just want the bragging rights of owning the higher dollar speakers that really don't sound much better than my JBL's. I even liked the Bose set up they had, it did sound pretty good but I would never pay that kind of money. I have the JBL S Center II, N38's for fronts, 3 E10's for rears and 2 RCA 12" 150 watt, downfiring powered subwoofers, powered by a Yamaha RXV-1400 and a Toshiba 55" cinema series tv. Together it sounds awesome!

[Smokey]

Thanks for advice guys. I will consider all options :)


Smokey you say you want a bright sound can you be more specific - what exactly are you trying to achieve? Are you a club goer?

No I am the opposite. Since I live in an apartment, I have to listen in low levels most of the times. So a smaller speakers might work out better for my situation as larger bookshelf such as Polk got to be turned up to open up. Smaller speakers might sound better at lower volumes :)