After much research, I have purchased a Yamaha RX-v2500 receiver to replace my very old RX-v793. It has served me well, but now it is time for it to go on to that big home theater in the sky.
Now, of course, "man logic" dictates that, since I got a new receiver, I need to get new speakers to match! My current setup looks like this:
Mains: Magnepan MMGw's
Center: An older Klipsch
Surrounds: Older Boston Acoustics bookshelfs
Sub: Dayton Titanic MKIII 10", 250-watt
.... in a 4200 cu. ft. room.
So, I laugh in the face of "timbre matching", or whatever it is that you call that
Anyway, I was considering going to an all Magnepan system... getting some MMG floor standers for the mains, moving the w's to the back for surrounds, and getting a MMGc center channel somewhere down the road.
BUT... as much as I love the clarity and sounstage of the Magnepans, they just don't kick it very hard for home theater. Musical listening, yeah, they are unsurpassed, but since I'm about 50/50 HT/music, it's a consideration.
I want something approximating the soundstage and clarity of the Magnepans, but also, with punch. And in a very large room, to boot. So I started reading...
I have always known about the reputation of Athena speakers, and was very interested to read that the "flagship" F2 speakers are only $400 a pair. $400 for the flagship of the line? And apparently a very respectable one at that. I was VERY interested in the reviews (on audioreview, plus professional reviews) that talk about the "musicality" and "soundstage" of the Athenas, in addition to their dynamics and bass. These sounded like characteristics often attributed to panel speakers, but in a floorstanding-box! Could the Athenas be the answer to my prayers?
My thoughts were, maybe get the Athena F2's, move the maggies to the back, (so now I have dipole surrounds... sweet), and leave the other stuff the same (maybe use those old Boston's for the 'surround back', now that I am so cool with my 7.1 channels....)
So, I made a decision matrix comparing the MMG's to the F2's, and incorporated such factors as price, dynamics, clarity, bass, etc., and assigned respective values to each according to what I've seen in the reviews. Final scores, Athena: 16, Magnepan: 15. So, there is no clear winner here.
That's where you all come in. Given my goals of astounding musical clarity and soundstage, plus kick-butt in your face home theater, which would be the best overall choice?
Add to that, I'm completely open to other suggestions, as well. Note that, the Magnepan speakers are $550/pair, the Athena's are $400/pair. However, that is not to say my budget couldn't be $1000, or even $2000, I have the money I'm just VERY value conscious. In order to spend twice as much for speakers, I would have to know I was REALLY getting twice the performance in exchange. Both the MMG's, and the F2's seem like such ridiculous bargains, I would find that pretty hard to believe.
Then again, those Axiom M60's look pretty sweet too, at $900/pair.....
P.S. - The reason I bought a receiver, BEFORE speakers, was that my old receiver is broke. I know the matching of receiver to speakers usually goes the other way around, but it's easier to massage the WAF if my upgrades begin by fixing something that really WAS broken....
