Athena AS F2.2 VS. Polk RTi8?

[Bluesmoke]

I have bought 3 pairs of RTi8s so far (and returned them), and none of the speakers match each other. It's not like the serial numbers are too far apart. One speaker would always sound "off" from the other. I've used several receivers to make sure it wasn't the amp. I think either Futureshop received a whole bunch of bad batches or I don't know.

Anyways, I'm now in the market for speakers with similar specs. I liked the price of the RTi8s and they didn't sound bad despite the mismatch.

I was thinking of Athena AS F2.2 (since I get employee discount). How does this speaker matchup to the RTi8?

 

[markw]

hard to say.

The Athena's have two 8" woofers where the Polk's have a pair of 6 1/2" woofs. Dunno about now, but when Iwas comparing speakers in 2002 i compared the smaller Athena's (AS-B1's from AudioAdvisor) with comprably priced and sized units from the local B&M stores and wound up preferring the Athenas. They tended to be, IMNSHO, "smoother" than the comprable Polks. BA,a nand Infinity's. I wound up buying a pair of AS-F1's and an AS-C1 to fill out my HT.

Since you work for a chain that sells 'em, why not try a pair yourself? That's the only real ay to find out.

Oh, and there's not a problem matching the critical midranges among the three models, placement depending of course.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Go with the Athenas. Great speakers for a great price. I'm still scratching my head as to how the Polks could all sound different. Did you play each of them on the same speaker wire by themselves? Maybe your outputs in your amp are bad.

 

[markw]

The only thing I could think of...

Go with the Athenas. Great speakers for a great price. I'm still scratching my head as to how the Polks could all sound different. Did you play each of them on the same speaker wire by themselves? Maybe your outputs in your amp are bad.

...was room placement. This can have a tremendous affect on the timbre of two identical speakers.

About the only way to verify this is to physically switch speakers and see if the "mismatch" follows the speaker or remains in the same location in the room.

I had a pair of speakers once whre I swore that tweeter was bad in one of them. I even brought them back to the store and when the new pair exhibitedthe exact same symptom, I tried switching them. Guess what? The one speaker was in such a position that all the highs were "sucked out" of it.

 

[billy p]

Hey Blue? Did that guy follow you up on your offer about the Athenas.Also you should do the same!!

 

[Bluesmoke]

Hey Blue? Did that guy follow you up on your offer about the Athenas.Also you should do the same!!

That was a while ago. Unfortunately, my store doesn't have any stock at the moment. Also, they disconnected the switching system which allows you to compare speakers. Pretty stupid thing to do but then again pretty much all Future Shops are run by morons.

 

[Bluesmoke]

...was room placement. This can have a tremendous affect on the timbre of two identical speakers.

About the only way to verify this is to physically switch speakers and see if the "mismatch" follows the speaker or remains in the same location in the room.

I had a pair of speakers once whre I swore that tweeter was bad in one of them. I even brought them back to the store and when the new pair exhibitedthe exact same symptom, I tried switching them. Guess what? The one speaker was in such a position that all the highs were "sucked out" of it.

Nope, not room placement. The right speaker sounded dull, switched it around, that same speaker sounded like crap. Did the same for 2 more sets of RTi8s and the same deal with one speaker sounding like a HTIB speaker. The last set sounded closer but no cigar. Even the demos we have at my store exibit the same problem. We've also had 2 returns and 1 tweeter repair in the last 3 months on the RTi8s. I'm pretty certain there's a problem with these speakers recently.

 

[billy p]

LOL!! There following Best Buy lead.

 

[markw]

Wow. That's discouraging.

Nope, not room placement. The right speaker sounded dull, switched it around, that same speaker sounded like crap. Did the same for 2 more sets of RTi8s and the same deal with one speaker sounding like a HTIB speaker. The last set sounded closer but no cigar. Even the demos we have at my store exibit the same problem. We've also had 2 returns and 1 tweeter repair in the last 3 months on the RTi8s. I'm pretty certain there's a problem with these speakers recently.

The Polk sound isn't my cuppa tea, but I gave them more credit for turning out a quality, consistent product.

 

[jcPanny]

Floorstander version of Onix X-LS

Av123.com will have a floorstander version of their Onix X-LS speaker available soon for $300 / pair. They also have a powered woofer version w/ 2 mids and one tweeter for $600 / pair. They should be a step up in performance and looks from the Axioms.

 

[Bluesmoke]

Av123.com will have a floorstander version of their Onix X-LS speaker available soon for $300 / pair. They also have a powered woofer version w/ 2 mids and one tweeter for $600 / pair. They should be a step up in performance and looks from the Axioms.

Well, I get staff discount at BestBuy/Future shop. So if I'm going to buy anything, it'll be from them. Granted, they don't sell really nice speakers, but I take it that the Polk, JBL, and Athena stuff is more than addequate for a semi-beginner setup.

I was just hoping that someone with more knowledge on the Athena vs Polk debate would chime in and give me some answers. No Future Shops around here has an audio room set up to compare the speakers, which really sucks.

 

[Bluesmoke]

If anyone can give me some pointers, I'd appreciate it.

 

[simpleHT]

That was a while ago. Unfortunately, my store doesn't have any stock at the moment. Also, they disconnected the switching system which allows you to compare speakers. Pretty stupid thing to do but then again pretty much all Future Shops are run by morons.

If you are interested in the older AS-F1, there are plenty on Ebay right now with starting bid of $125/pair, and I saw it ended at about the same price. Awsome deal.