Athena AS-P400 Subwoofer Review
Reviewer: SheepStar!
Maker: Athena Technologies
Model: AS-P400
MSRP: 400USD new
Website:
www.AthenaSpeakers.com
Pro's
1.)Front mounted controls (Vol, Xover).
2.)Clean musical bass.
3.)Easy placement via front port.
4.)SCT for easy Athena Speaker integration.
5.)Spikes for ANY carpet (2 inches long).
Con's
1.)Lower (<25hz) Frequency's missed, but at this price, its a moot point.
2.)Rather Tall (Cabinet install, not an issue here)
3.)Port noise during dynamic peaks in reference level playback on <30hz content.
4.)No phase control
Introduction:
After almost 2 years with an 8inch subwoofer, I found myself wanting. Wanting depth, power, and integration. This wasn't an issue until I moved into a larger (16x12, from 8x10) room. Because my Home theater is in my room, the area I live in, there was some comprimises. I couldn't have ideal seating position due to 2 doors and miscellaneous objects in the way. I also couldn't have large subwoofers by the dozen. Thusly, the bass response in my listening position was unsatisfying. Enter the Athena AS-P400.
Packaging:
Although I bought this subwoofer used, it still has its original box and supplied supporting Styrofoam. From what I saw, its very sturdy in its shipping package. Styrofoam on every corner, as well as a plastic bag to cover the unit itself. Spikes were in a separate plastic bag.
Setup:
Setup was a breeze for this subwoofer. The right spot is almost any spot. It can go in the corner, or beside the TV, or anywhere, as long as there's a wall behind it. This is why I like front ported subwoofers. They don't react with the room so much as to become room dependent. I have also found that they are less boomy, if built properly. Once placed, simply plug into the sub-in, or direct input and choose Xover and volume level. This is also a breeze as the volume and Xover are mounted on the front of the subwoofer. No more reading upside down numbers, or straining your under worked hamstring muscles. If you have Athena mains, this subwoofer is fool proof to get the right blend. It has marked on the Xover knob, where it will sound the best with existing Athena Speakers. What will they think of next?
Build Quality:
This part of the review will not as "extensive" as the other parts. Why? Because im not going to take apart my new subwoofer. A knuckle rap showed that the cabinet was fairly well-braced. There was a "note" change midway down but nothing too severe. The controls on the front were clean and precise, and there didn't seem to be any veneer issues. The subwoofer came with optional spikes, but mine had rubber feet installed on it previously. The rubber feet were sufficient for me as I have a concrete floor. Worthy of noting is the spikes will decouple the subwoofer from ANY carpet. They stand roughly 2 inches off the ground, and I doubt you will use all of it.
Music Performance:
For my music evaluation, I will be using DVD and CD formats only. Why? 2 reasons. I don't have a DVD-A/SACD player, and most people don't. This review is for the average Joe (no offense AverageJoe), whom usually don't have these players.
Blue Man Group - The Complex: This is a great cd for testing speakers, as well as subwoofers. Track 3 is great for testing punch. At first I though the subwoofer was to quiet. I then realized that it was playing what I SHOULD be hearing, rather then what I WAS hearing on my previous subwoofer. Tracks 5, 6, and 7 offer lower, harder hitting bass then track 3. 7 having the most content, there was a clear difference between the 2 subwoofers. During the instrumental chorus, the bass note would fade out on my older sub, while this one maintained the original energy of the recording.
Rush In Rio DVD Concert: This is my favorite concert DVD. Why? Simple. A 15 minute Neil Peart drum solo. In this solo he plays numerous drums ranging from high toms to a 30hz bass drum. At one point he is hitting 32nd notes on only bass kick drums. This is a great way to test transient response. On the Athena, everything came out clear and the way it was intended. This subwoofer had my feet a' tappin.
Movie Performance:
Subwoofers have different duties for music and movies. They show off their finesse in music (or try to) and show off their power in movies. I will be using a number of movies that include bass "situations" to gauge the performance of this subwoofer.
Team America World Police: Although a little on the vulgar (to me, funny) side, this movie contains loads of LFE content. The video quality is so-so, and the acting is terrible. Oddly enough, this movie has some of the best orchestra recordings I have ever heard. The intro to this movie features large letters spelling out the title flying away from you, starting from behind you. Its a great panning and bass effect for a HT system. The Athena dug down deep and conveyed the tactile energy of this scene that was missing from my old sub.
Star Wars Episode 1: This is a very popular test movie. Perfect video picture, and the Pod Race for subwoofers. The intro for this movie has a THX scene. This scene consists of a blue ball exploding, releasing nice deep bass. Both these scenes were handled quite well over the Athena. The pod race scene was much different from my previous recollection, in a good way.
U-571: What's left to say about this movie? Depth charges that extend down to 5hz. Is Athena up to the task? Sort of. With in its FR, the subwoofer did an admiral job with the depth charges. I personally though that it could have been better at conveying the tactile energy of the scene. At any rate, it was an acceptable performance.
Matrix Revolutions: This movie has almost non-stop LFE content. Whether its the camera flying around the green city in the beginning, or the APU stomp, its great for a subwoofer test. The Athena handled the opening scenes well but I didn't feel the APU stomp in my chest. Greater tactile response would have also helped here.
Lord of the rings(all of them): This is another top-notch choice for testing subwoofers. All three of these movies have their own signature bass encounters. For the First, its when the dumb hobbit(Can't remember name) drops the corpse down the well. This itself isn't that bassy, but the drum beat the emits from the well will drive a ported subwoofer insane. The second movie has loads of bass when the wall at helms deep is blown up by a suicide bomber. And lastly, the Oliphant stomps in the third movie of this trilogy. How did the Athena subwoofer do against these tasks at hand?
First Movie.)Let there be port noise! Once the camera went into the well, all heck broke loose. The subwoofer did a better job then my old one though. At the bridge of that thing.... the falling rocks had the tactile response I was looking for. It seems this subwoofer can handle these as long as they stay above 27hz or so.
Second Movie.)When the suicide bomber blew up the wall, the initial bass was all audible. But once the rocks started hitting the ground, you could feel it in your chest. Again, has to do with the root of the note or frequency.
Third Movie.)This is a daunting task for any subwoofer. From a distance(in the movie) the sound was convincing. Once they got close, I wasn't convinced a 20 story elephant was thrashing around and falling over. To get that performance, your going to need at least a 12inch subwoofer with some serious power behind it.
Test Tones:
This is to determine the lowest note the AS-P400 can produce in my 16x12 listen area. All reviews should have this, as its very unclear/un-truthful in some manufacture specs. Once my computer was hooked up to my reciever via a Digital Coax cord, I was ready to begin. I opened up WinISD Beta and prepared the signal generator.
I started at 40hz to be safe, and worked my way down until I felt there was not enough volume for it to be considered "hit" or "produced". I got down to 25hz before the subwoofer finally quit. It was very prominent at 30hz, and started to tail off from there. This shows that Athena was more or less correct in their 23hz bass extension assessment. My situation wasn't ideal either as I used ears, and the sub had to over-come my fairly loud 7 fan computer.
Conclusion:
Athena has made a subwoofer that will give you theater like performance for a fraction of the price of an actual theater subwoofer. From its looks, to features, to performance, this is one heck of a sub. Although it has been discontinued, its newer counter parts take on the exact same qualities and features. There's even a 12inch version now too!
Note: All CD listening was done in DTS Neo:6 format.
All DVD listening was done in Native Dolby Digital or DTS. Test Tones were done in stereo.
SheepStar
