AS-F2.2 floorspeakers

[Virgil]

Howdy folks,

I'm in the market for some good floorstanding speakers under $600 (for the pair) and these really caught my eye. Has anyone purchased these or heard them? Are they as good as they are reputed to be for the price?

I'm very interested in how Athena speakers handle music, and especially classical since that's my fav.

thanks

Virgil

 

[MacManNM]

Howdy folks,

I'm in the market for some good floorstanding speakers under $600 (for the pair) and these really caught my eye. Has anyone purchased these or heard them? Are they as good as they are reputed to be for the price?

I'm very interested in how Athena speakers handle music, and especially classical since that's my fav.

thanks

Virgil

Take a look at these:
http://www.klipsch.com/product/product.aspx?cid=362

A good dynamic speaker.

 

[ducker]

Way back when I was first looking for possible speakers I was looking at the Klipsch set. I felt that they were a bit sharp. (I now know that it's most likely due to the horn style tweeter now).

I looked around a bit more and found the Athenas. Now they were often labled as a bit bright. I found this quality to be excellent for the wide range of music I listen to.

I know little of the F2.2; the remodeled F2's that I have. But I love the crisp quality that I get from the F2's. From organ music, to harpsicord...

--
A quick search showed the RF-7 to be priced over $700 each.
the F2.2 are $300 a piece.

 

[chas_w]

As-f2

Hi Virgil,

I own the original AS-F2, and they are very nice speakers for the price - both for music and movies. I'm sure you've probably read some of the reviews online(Stereophile, etc.). Though I have not heard the new F2.2, I would expect them to be very similar in sound. I don't really listen to classical so I can't comment on their ability with that type of music.

I recently bought some Ascend speakers and just put my Athena's up for sale. The Athenas have really grown on me, and I will be sad to see them go...I wish I had the space (and money) to keep them both!

 

[Audiosouse]

I've yet to read an unfavourable review of any Athena speaker or find another brand that comes close to it's performance/price ratio.

Sound is sound, a good speaker will reproduce it accurately...period. Whether it's a movie or music is irrelevant...another audio myth.

The 2.2's are new, no reviews I'm aware of yet although they'll post 'em on the Athena webisite under Awards and Reviews.

 

[Spiffyfast]

Great speaker for the price. Ya may want to check out the Paradigm Phantom or if your thinking about upping your budget just a little to say 700 or so, the Paradigm Monitor 7 is an amazing speaker for the price.

www.paradigm.com

Or check www.axiom.com their speakers get very good reviews as well, not sure how much their smallest floor stander runs though.

 

[Virgil]

gracias to you all

for the wonderful, helpful, spiffy (and fast) replies. Just one more thing:

Sorry if I'm perpetuating another audio myth that I picked up somewhere, but I've also heard that the Yamaha recievers can be a little on the "bright" side (which I assume means too much treble). If that is true and the Athenas are perhaps a bit bright as well, will that be a problem?

btw - the room these will be playing in is about a 15' x 24' living room, although listening area of that room is only about 15' x 15'. Carpet, furniture, a book case, a fireplace (I'm listing all these details because I assume you audiophiles can mentally fit the room together and figure out what it would sound like).

peace

Virgil

 

[JJMP50]

Athena Audition Series

I have a 5.1 Athena Audition system consisting of a pair of F1s (smaller single woofer towers), C1 and a pair of B1s for my rears and couldn't be happier. The base is incredible for their size and price. Just one point of concern: the Audition Series 2 seem to have gone on a crash diet. As covered in a previous thread, each model has lost a lot of weight. My F1's weigh in at 41lbs. The F1.2s weigh in at 29lbs. I wish I could loose that much weight. This holds true through out the line. I'm waiting for a test to see if there is any significant loss in quality. In the previous thread, one poster got a response from Athena that said they got a new supplier for their wood (MDF) and it allowed them to keep their price in line. IMO that doesn't sound encouraging but I would like to see some reviews.

 

[ducker]

for the wonderful, helpful, spiffy (and fast) replies. Just one more thing:

Sorry if I'm perpetuating another audio myth that I picked up somewhere, but I've also heard that the Yamaha recievers can be a little on the "bright" side (which I assume means too much treble). If that is true and the Athenas are perhaps a bit bright as well, will that be a problem?

I think the major difference is between the type of tweeter each speaker has. The Yamaha has a horn style tweeter, where as the Athena has a cone. (I think that's what they are called... hehee) So the Athena might be bright as well, but it will most likely not be as sharp or harsh of a bright sound as the Yahama.

Again, this is all opinion, and some may really love the sound from a horn tweeter.

 

[Virgil]

email from Joe Fraser

I emailed Athena about the F2.2's, and they promptly emailed me back the next day. Here was my question:

"Hello, I've pretty much decided that I'm going to be purchasing your AS-F2.2 floorstand speakers (as everyone raves about them), and I thought I would get some advice from the horse's mouth (hope you're not offended by the figure of speech).

Along with these speakers I'm going to need a receiver of some sort, and I had been looking at the Yamaha HRT-5850. That was before, when I was considering getting a 5.1 system. Now that I'm only going to by the two larger front floorstanding speakers, my question is: will I need a different receiver to make them sound nice? I play lots of classical, and am worried that the Yamaha may not provide enough power to fully utilize the speakers, or may be otherwise incompatible.

Hoping you can comfort this troubled soul."

Wes


And he responded:

Hi

The entire series is extremely efficient, so you won’t have any incompatibility issues at all. The only decision is whether the system plays loud enough for your personal tastes, and only you can answer that one.

I hope you enjoy the speakers, they do sound wonderful!


Best Regards
Joe Fraser
Brand Manager
athena TECHNOLOGIES
A Division of Audio Products International Corp.
www.athenaspeakers.com

 

[JJMP50]

No Problem

The Athena's are so efficient you could push them with a clock radio...Well at least and entry level from any of the usual suspects. That was really what Athena's target intended to be. Audio Products International (API:Athena's parent) manufactures Energy and Mirage for those that want to hook up monoblocks....