Infinity -vs- Athena: Does size ~really~ matter?

[AlienZen]

Hello all,
I've been lurking for a while, getting all sorts of great advice, and finally have a worthy question.
I'm looking at 2 economy subs, both available locally, and both on sale, today.

I can get the 10" Athena p4000 for $189.00
Specs here

Or
The Infinity 8" PS-8 for $199.00
Specs here

The Athena has a better dynamic range, presumably due to it's larger speaker, but the Infinity, well... It's Infinity!

The room is 14X14, so either should be more than capable of providing tooth-shaking bass during those big explosions we all love, I'm just not sure which is the better value.

The room will be about 75% TV, and 25% jazz/blues/classic rock audio.

Help?

Mike
Hitachi 51"
Denon 1706
assorted mis-matched speakers, next to be upgraded

 

[zumbo]

You could have a 12" Cerwin for just a little more.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001H6DKS/sr=8-1/qid=1141336092/ref=sr_1_1/103-2319417-9827036?_encoding=UTF8

http://www.cerwinvega.com/products/homeaudiovideo/index.html

 

[TheLaw]

I would choose a 10 inch driver over the 8 inch. It will be able to hit lower freqs which is really great for those big explosions.

 

[highfihoney]

i looked at both sets of specs & the infinity has a terrible response,35hz isnt low enough to give a decent bass response & you may have to end up turning up the sub to the point that you get distorted & over extended bass.

if these 2 subs are your choices i would stay away from the infinity & go with the athena but if your flexible then zumbos suggestion of the cerwin vega is a better sub.

 

[avnetguy]

Given the two choices, I'd go with the Athena .... or wait for a sale on a 12".

Steve

 

[j_garcia]

You have to go pretty high up the food chain to get a good sub from Infinity, IMO (or at least until you get to the RABOS models). I like many of Infinity's speakers, but their subs (big name store type models) aren't among them.

Between the two listed, I'd opt for the Athena, mainly because it is available for $149 at a number of places and it will likely give you the same or better performance than the PS8 (definitely more extension).

It's nearly impossible to compare subs based on driver size because you can design an 8" driver that is capable of a lot of output and that can actually go quite low, but in general, a larger driver will more easily move more air and theoretically give you better performance. Don't count on that in every case.

 

[AlienZen]

You have to go pretty high up the food chain to get a good sub from Infinity, IMO (or at least until you get to the RABOS models). I like many of Infinity's speakers, but their subs (big name store type models) aren't among them.

Between the two listed, I'd opt for the Athena, mainly because it is available for $149 at a number of places and it will likely give you the same or better performance than the PS8 (definitely more extension).

That's pretty much what I was thinking. Granted, a high-end 8" may well outperform an economy 10", but apparently this is not the case here.

I was a bit leery about Athena, as I had not heard of the brand until I saw this one, and Infinity is a well established name in the loudspeaker industry, but in all the discussions on this forum, Athena speakers have held their own as a viable product. That works for me!

Mike

PS, I think the 12" CV might be a bit much... LOL

 

[highfihoney]

PS, I think the 12" CV might be a bit much... LOL

you cant have too much power or bass response

you can always turn the bass down but if its not there to begin with then your up a creek

 

[Sheep]

Athena is Apart of API. They are Energy's sister company.

That subwoofer is very capable, and I would recommend it over the Infinity. We have that Infinity at my work (BB) and its pretty good. Its more of a music subwoofer. Solid construction, and clean output.

The FR is VERY conservatively rated. It will go lower with room gain.

SheepStar

 

[zumbo]

PS, I think the 12" CV might be a bit much... LOL

Not sure what you meant by LOL, but Cerwin Vega makes good quality products. I have a pair of Cerwins I purchased new in '85. They have been the most reliable speakers I have ever owned. They are not in use at the moment, but they aren't for sale(if you know what I mean). If you have the funds, it will flat-out smoke the other two.

 

[Nuglets]

I would have to second the choice on that CV. I have never used a dedicated sub by Cerwin but I have used 3-way floorstander's with 15" bass driver's and they sounded good. For that price range the CV seems like a better buy than the Infinity to me. I can't say much about the Athena as I haven't ever heard their speaker's before.

 

[SilverMK3]

For the price, the Athena is a bargain. I've got the same one in a 12'x15' room and the tactile response is awesome. I love seeing people faces when they feel the couch shake for the first time!

I like Infinity's higher end stuff but I think Athena has them beat on the low-end of the scale. There aren't many other subs that'll hit as low and as hard as the P4000 and P6000 at that price range. You could spend a little bit more and get something a lot better from SVS, HSU, Paradigm or other companies but, but you're always going to run into that situation no matter what price range you're looking at.

 

[AlienZen]

Sold!

Thanks to all for the excellent input and discussion.

I stopped by the local BB superstore last night, intending to pick up the Athena. They were sold out, but had the floor model available for a reduced price. I opted not to take it, and travelled to a few other BB in the area, and discovered this sub was completely sold out in the local market.

So, today at lunch I stopped by the original store, found the floor model was still there, put it through a few stress tests to ensure it was still working as it should, (This store has only been open about 3 months, so this sub has not been abused much ). I then found the sales clerk, fudged a few details, and wound up buying it for substantially less than retail.

Now I just have to wait a few hours to go home and hook it up.

Thanks again for the input!
Mike

 

[Reorx]

Why those 2 subs?

How does that Athena sub compare to the Dayton 10" and 12" subs from parts express?
From what I've gathered from reading here and other reviews, seemed like it went Dayton($100-$200/$300) < Cadence(200~400ish) < SVS + Others($400+).

A few others are mixed in here and there.
links

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7977
http://avsforum.com has a bunch of reviews...do a search.

 

[SilverMK3]

Thanks to all for the excellent input and discussion.

I stopped by the local BB superstore last night, intending to pick up the Athena. They were sold out, but had the floor model available for a reduced price. I opted not to take it, and travelled to a few other BB in the area, and discovered this sub was completely sold out in the local market.

So, today at lunch I stopped by the original store, found the floor model was still there, put it through a few stress tests to ensure it was still working as it should, (This store has only been open about 3 months, so this sub has not been abused much ). I then found the sales clerk, fudged a few details, and wound up buying it for substantially less than retail.

Now I just have to wait a few hours to go home and hook it up.

Thanks again for the input!
Mike

Awesome, I got mine Open-Box too for ~$200 CDN + the 5 year product service plan.

 

[AzN_plyR]

AV123 X-SUB 8inch. goes down to the 28hz,

Acoustech H100, 12inch, good down to the 24-25.

Cadence X-SUB good down to the 25.

etc..

heard some people say the Athena P4000 was horrible when they tested it out. Not enough DB.

 

[AlienZen]

<snip>
heard some people say the Athena P4000 was horrible when they tested it out. Not enough DB.

It works quite nicely. The thunder in the THX demo at the beginning of the 're-mastered/re-released 25th anniversary ultimate-collector's-version of the original digitized/sanitized/pasteurized Silver-gift-boxed trilogy set of Star Wars' Episode 4 actually scares the cats out of the room. The subharmonics in The Ring vibrates coins sitting in a dish on the counter in the kitchen. The subwoofer test during the speaker calibration on the Denon 1706 resonates the house. The venting from the front firing port moves the vertical blinds 3 ft away. This is all while it was set at lvl 4. And the bass line on "Take five" comes out smooth as silk, punchy but not pounding.

It may not be the top-of-the-line, but it has all the bang for the buck I was wanting in a room that is only 200 sq ft, and cost me less than $150.00.

Color me happy
Mike

 

[Sheep]

heard some people say the Athena P4000 was horrible when they tested it out. Not enough DB.

Yeah, and just how was it setup? I heard it at FS and It sounded good, and will sound 10 times better in a real room.

SheepStar

 

[colin.p]

It works quite nicely. The thunder in the THX demo at the beginning of the 're-mastered/re-released 25th anniversary ultimate-collector's-version of the original digitized/sanitized/pasteurized Silver-gift-boxed trilogy set of Star Wars' Episode 4 actually scares the cats out of the room. The subharmonics in The Ring vibrates coins sitting in a dish on the counter in the kitchen. The subwoofer test during the speaker calibration on the Denon 1706 resonates the house. The venting from the front firing port moves the vertical blinds 3 ft away. This is all while it was set at lvl 4. And the bass line on "Take five" comes out smooth as silk, punchy but not pounding.

It may not be the top-of-the-line, but it has all the bang for the buck I was wanting in a room that is only 200 sq ft, and cost me less than $150.00.

Color me happy
Mike

Glad to hear it. I have the P-6000, and I must say, if this sounds so good, I have to wonder what a $1000 sub must sound like. I can't see myself looking around for a sub upgrade for a long time.

Colin