Athena B2's that much better than b1's?!

[HurleyBC]

I am looking to finish my 7.1 package have the f1's and c1 but the b2's are a hundred bucks more here and I think they offer a 6 inch driver over a 5. IS this worth the 100 bux or will it really make that much difference. Also anyone with these bookselfs how did u mount them all I can find are piddly little stands that i think would be top heavy or thick stands that are 3 feet tall. Should I just make my own?!

 

[krzywica]

I am looking to finish my 7.1 package have the f1's and c1 but the b2's are a hundred bucks more here and I think they offer a 6 inch driver over a 5. IS this worth the 100 bux or will it really make that much difference. Also anyone with these bookselfs how did u mount them all I can find are piddly little stands that i think would be top heavy or thick stands that are 3 feet tall. Should I just make my own?!

I've got b1's and b2's and the b2's have a lower frequ response resulting in a slightly more robust sound. I use my b2's for a seperate room and my b1's are my l/r surrounds. In my opinion I like the b1's better for surrounds (I've tried both) because they are smaller and the surround effects are a lot less demanding than main channel workload.

Have you purchesed rear surrounds? If not I would recommend the as-r1's, I'v got on e for my 6.1 setup and I love it. I also have a c1, fs2's, and klipsch ksw-12


You can get the b2's for around 165$ on this site.

http://www.thepricebuster.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=4448731


Here are the athena wall mounts made specifically for the as-b1's, they work great!

http://athenaspeakers.com/swb1.htm

 

[HurleyBC]

Ya I think I will go with the b1's for left and right surrounds and rears. The r1 is great but the back wall is like 10 feet from the back of the couch, and the mounts are cool to but I cant use them because the speakers would be like 7-9 feet above the couches since one wall is just handrail and again the back wall is so far away. I need speaker stands that will hold the speakers about 4.5 feet to be above the back of the couch

 

[JJMP50]

Due to budget restraints (WAF) I recently put together a mix matched second system for my basement using all API products but not from the same division. I already owned a pair of Mirage FRx-1s and a pair of Mirage Microsats. I picked up an Athena P300 sub and C1 center speaker at Best Buy as open items for 50% off. Using a low end Pioneer AV (D514) and a couple of stands for the FRx1s, my budget system was complete (I had an old but high end Pioneer DVD player). I mounted the Microsats on the suspended ceiling with the included mounts w/plywood on the inside of the ceiling tiles. So far this seems to be working fine although it doesn't have the same punch as my main system. The Pioneer is rated at 100Wx5 but I find that hard to believe.

 

[NetGeek]

Have the B-2's

I have the B-2's but think the B-1's sound just as good, will be adding a pair of the B-1's for Presence speakers soon.

API makes wall mounts for the B-1 / B-2 called the SWB-1 and a mount for the R-1's called the "macromount" that will allow you to position the R-1's in any direction you desire. I used the macromount for my R-1's and am waiting on the SWB-1 mount to arrive, could not find any other wall mount that would work with a speaker the size of the B-2 locally. AudioAdvisor.com carries these mounts and the full line of athena speakers, bestpriceaudiovideo.com does two and usually has better prices; they sell the R-1 for $90 or $95 each.