Center Speaker w/Athena's F2's and B2's

[tallman45]

I have a set of AS-F2's and AS-B2's and have read that the AS-C1 was lacking. The room my HT is in is 28x16 w/16ft cath ceiling.

An option would be to just go with a different brand of center, something along the lines of a 37C, or is that way off line in thinking

 

[nm2285]

I would doubt that the AS-C1 was lacking...it has very similar components to the rest of the speakers. Obviously, it would be the best choice for timbre matching. My recommendation would be to take it home and try it yourself. If YOU find it is lacking, look elsewhere.

 

[markw]

I've got an Athena F1 mains, C1 and B2 surrounds driven by a Denon 2802 receiver and nowhere is there an inbalance nor do I feel the center is lacking in any way in comparison to the rest of the system. I cannot play it anywhere near loud enough to even come close to it's maximum output bfore my ears cry out "enough already!".

a room that size might demand a stronger system overall, though.

 

[Leprkon]

I don't think you would want to go with a 37C. It is probably not even close to a timbre (or "voice") match to the Athenas. You will not have a smooth sound transition to match the movement on the TV screen. Sometimes you can help this problem a little by moving the center forward and back, but it won;t correct a major mismatch.

The 37C is also one big, heavy piece of equipment. Putting nearly 35 pounds on top of your TV may be a serious problem for the TV. Most aren;t designed to take that kind of load for long. It's also a very big box that may have very low WAF.

I would recommend you go with the Athenas. The specs on their center look very good. It is better than the 37C in the aspects that I have mentioned. It's much lighter, physically smaller, and matches the speakers you already have.

Just don't set the receiver to "large" for the center and you should be fine. Setting the center to "small" sends the low frequency signals to your mains, that will be much better able to take it than your center. Signals that low are pretty much omnidirectional anyway (at least for human ears), so there is no need to have them flow with motion. The mid and treble are much more of a pinpoint source and are what drive the motion and locationof the sound. The Athena center is certainly equipped to handle those frequencies.

Both my HT systems are Infinity-based. If anyone would be recommending them, it would be me. In this case, I'd have to say no.

 

[tallman45]

Thanks to all for your thoughts. I was in a store asking about this and actually one recommendation was to upgrade my receiver from an 1803 to something that could supply more power for the size room that I have

The salesman mentioned that I should bring home a 37C and I think it was a PSB 8c or 9c to compare along with a AS-C1. Without having a new receiver though I think this test would be better doing after my receiver purchase.

He also mentioned that receivers such as the 54TX would auto compensate for mismatched speakers so mixing brands was no longer as big an issue as it used to be. Not sure how correct that is though

 

[nm2285]

There's no way for a receiver to change the way a speaker sounds. Each receiver has a characteristic sound, each speaker has a characteristic sound. Unless the receiver has some way of switching out the speakers components and rewiring it's crossover, timbre matching is still something to worry about.

Upgrading the receiver, however, would not be a bad idea. The Denon is decent, but there are better performing ones out there right now even in the $500-600 price range. The Athenas should mate well with almost any receiver brand I can think of.

Again, take the AS-C1 home and listen. I doubt you'll be disappointed.