Athena B1 vs Old Mirage

[JJMP50]

Due to the current sale on Athena products at BB, I am considering picking up a pair today but I’m not sure if I will be downgrading or just moving sideways. This is for my basement (secondary) system which I am currently using two older Mirage bookshelves (FRxOnes) on stands. I have an Athena AS-C1 Center and P300 Sub with Mirage Omnisat Micros as rears. I plan on replacing the FRxOnes with the B1s and using the Mirages in my bedroom as a 2.0 system with an old Technics receiver I have laying around. Comparing the Mirages with the Athenas, they are almost identical:


Mirage: Tweeter ¾” Metal/Woofer 5.5” Poly/Butyl/Freq Res 55hz-22khz/pwr 100w/Room SPL 88db

Athena: Tweeter 1” Teteron/Woofer 5.5” Composite/Freq Res 60hz-20khz/pwr 100w/Room SPL 90db

The Athena’s are in a slightly taller cabinet. The width and depth are about the same. If I pick these up all my fronts will match aesthetically (I can take the grills off when my wife isn’t home!) but will I lose anything? The Mirage’s work well in this system and are well matched with their API brothers so I don’t want to move backwards. Any thoughts?

 

[warpdrive]

I think it's worth a try, at least you'll get better tonal/timbre matching across the fronts which is a good thing. Just that alone will likely provide a better overall experience.

I remember listening to the FRx series before, they were pretty good, but the Athenas will definitely give them a run IMO....whether they are any better is really up to you to compare, I can't remember much about what the FRx sounded like, but they were decent speakers that represent good value.

Best Buy has a return policy, make use of it...just buy them and try them side by side....that will easily answer your queston

 

[JJMP50]

Well I picked up the B1's. When this bug hit, BB had them on sale for $124.95. I didn't really need another set of "budget" speakers. When I went over to pick them up, they were down to $114.95 but they were out (only display left and they wouldn't sell them to me). They told me that their Laurel store had 3 pairs left (about 10 miles away) so off I went. To my suprise they had them for $99.95.

Now back to my original post. When I got home I set them up and did an A-B test with the older Mirage Bookshelves. In stereo with no sub running the Mirages won. Keep in mind these cost $270 seven years ago and, still it was close. Once I kicked in the HT modes the Athenas were a clear winner. This is what Warpdrive mentions in the previous post. Even though the Mirages come from the same parent company, they aren't as perfect a match as the B1s are.

My only concern (and it's not major) is when I put on "Hell Freezes Over" by the Eagles in DTS, it came off very bright. This may go away after the break in period. This is the first time I can remember that Dolby sounded better than DTS. This isn't much of an issue because I usually listen to my music on my main system. All in all, the B1's are here to stay.

 

[markw]

When I got my Athena's, they took a few days to settle in so I'd wait a little before rendering a final judgment.

Another thing you point out is that while they sound bang up for HT, they seem a little tilted towards the high end for music. This is not an unheard of statment in this forum. HT is easier to play back satisfactorialy, particulatly with a sub in the equation, then music.

I do think you would have been better off going for more of an "upgrade", speaker wise and spring for the B2's or even F1's, at least for the fronts. Sub or no, a larger main can add to the experience greatly. The B1's would make great surrounds, though.

FWIW, here's my system: http://cgi.audioasylum.com/systems/1606.html

P.S. It seems that the Audio Asylum is currently off line.

 

[JJMP50]

I would agree that I would have preferred the B2's but BB does not carry them. I needed the Mirages for a different application. I had recently set up a TV and an old Technics receiver in an Armoire in the bedroom. I was using some old (25yrs) Radio Shack speakers (also in the Armoire) and I noticed Lenny Brisco's head was turning purple during a repeat episode of L&O. Oh dear, these RS speakers are not sheilded! I also have a disc player hooked up and sometimes listen to music and the Mirages are great little speakers for low volume stereo.

Where I have the HT that the B1's are now running is a very small area in my basement with a low suspended ceiling and burber carpet that shares that half of the basement with my home office/computer so I think they will work out fine.

PS: The furnace ads a lot of low end bass during the winter!