Athena AS-F1 vs. AS-B1

[peclark]

I have a HSU VTF-3 mk2 sub and Athena AS-B1's front and rear and AS-C1 center. I am looking at buying AS-F1's for $190 shipped. I have read how in lower budget area with good sub you are better off with books. I have always wanted some towers though. With the sub, are you gaining or compromising any sound quality with the ASF1's compared to B1's?

 

[peclark]

Reason I ask if sound is compromised is I wonder if with 8" woofer if the mids are as good, etc. compared to B1's?

 

[peclark]

Also, what would you recommend as crossover. I usually put B1's at 70, which is 10 above capability. If I got F1's I thought I would do same and set at 50hz, is that too low for either one? Thanks

 

[peclark]

Bumping post

 

[peclark]

Bumping again so I can pm.

 

[markw]

F1's have similar charcater to B1's exept with more extended bass. I run mine full range (large) and they simply accept whatever is thrown at them.

I cannot adjust Xo frequency on the receiver so I use the default 80 hz as a low-pass.

Why you felt the need to post four times minutes within five minutes is beyond me, particularly when you consider that the main body of this site's population was sound asleep. This is not a chat room.

 

[peclark]

Sorry, I wanted to pm someone and I am newbie and needed 5 posts to be able to pm. I sent email to HSU asking about crossover and response was, "I would suggest setting the crossover to 80 Hz for all speakers. That would increase the dynamic range of the whole system. The Onkyo has limited power and by keeping bass out of the main speakers, more power is available for the rest of the frequencies." Now this sort of makes sense I guess but with the AS-F1's up front what benefit is there in having them if one sets crossover at 80, the same as the B1's? I thought one pro of having towers is to set crossover lower for them for fuller sound from front?

 

[markw]

Everyone has their own ways of doing things. I just use what works for me.

Those F1's are quite efficient and do fairly well with bass of the non-sub variety. I don't use the sub when playing them in the stereo mode which, since all my music is two-channel, is my preferred method of listening to music.

You may want to try experimenting and finding out for yourself what works best for you. After all, it's your ears.

 

[krzywica]

Everyone has their own ways of doing things. I just use what works for me.

Those F1's are quite efficient and do fairly well with bass of the non-sub variety. I don't use the sub when playing them in the stereo mode which, since all my music is two-channel, is my preferred method of listening to music.

You may want to try experimenting and finding out for yourself what works best for you. After all, it's your ears.

I used to have the F2's at several different houses. I found that the optimal settings were different for each environment. However I always set them to "Large", but the xover frequency was always different. Optimal settings will vary with subwoofer placement, in room frequ response, and SPL levels that you prefer.

 

[JJMP50]

Former Owner

I used to own F1,B1 & C1 (1st Gen) system and found that the B1s were actually very good bookshelves but was a little dissapointed in the F1s. Not that they were bad, just that the difference between the F1s and the B1s was not as significant as the difference in their footprint. The nice thing is that they sold on Craigs list in about 2 days.