Summary: I bought this center when my cerwin vega center's tweeter died. After about 2 Months I had bought the asb 2.1's (front and surround), and the asb 1.1's for surround backs. The clarity and power of this center channle is mind blowing considering the price. The ability of this spekaer to preform clearly at high volumes for long periods of time is unmatched by any of its competition at the same price point. The whole audition series speakers are "bright" speaker's but to compensate turn your treble down especially if you like to listien to loud levels. This speaker is sitting atop my projection hdtv at a downward tilt, I have never had a problem with not being able to hear dialooluge druing movies. It also dose very well with female voice's for music but I dont think there is enough low end to add the warmth that a male voice needs to sound natrual. If your reciver is set right your crossover point should compensate for the lack of low end. Despite that the speaker is still reliable and clean sounding what ever the use.
Strengths: -Can be very loud for very long
-always sounds clean and crisp
-Female vocals wonderful sounding
-dialouge for movies sounds great
-60hz crossover point farliy accurate with this spkr
Weaknesses: -Not enough low end
-I wish athena made a larger one with a 6.5" mid/woffer
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Summary: I purchased the AS-C1 center channel along with the Athena AS-F2 tower fronts and AS-R1 bipole surrounds. While I truly enjoy the AS-F2s and the AS-R1s, I cannot say the same for the AS-C1.
Athena recommends a 50-100 hour break-in period for this speaker, and I found this to be a good recommendation. The AS-C1 was very bright when new, and putting 50 hours on the speaker did reduce some of the brightness.
Though the AS-C1 is a very dynamic and detailed speaker, I encountered some troubles with dialog intelligibility while watching movies. I tried various settings and calibration tweaks...even tried a new receiver, but I was never able to resolve the issue. After some research I discovered the problem was a "lobing" issue - something not uncommon for some horizontal center speaker designs. Lobing is a problem for seating areas not located directly in front of the center speaker (more than 15 degrees or so off to the left or right).
Once I determined the cause of the problem, I purchased a set of Athena AS-B2 bookshelf speakers, and now use one of these as my center channel speaker. Using a vertically oriented bookshelf speaker as a center is not the best looking solution, but the lobing issue is resolved, and much of the "brightness" in my system has been tamed.
Strengths: -Detailed, dynamic speaker
-Solid build quality for the price
Weaknesses: -Severe lobing in off-axis seating areas
-A little on the "bright" side
Similar Products Used: Ascend CMT-340C, JBL EC-35, Onkyo HTIB center
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Summary: I added this center speaker when I previously went without one. It makes a huge difference. All the other speakers seem improved. Also, the Dolby Pro Logic processing for two-channel sources on my receiver (Yamaha RX-V800) now sounds quite good, when before it was intolerable to me.
I'm quite impressed with the ASC1 itself. I agree with others about its cripness and clarity. The highs seem a little strong compared to the Polk RT600i's I have as front speakers, so I adjusted the center channel EQ in my receiver and now everything is matched quite well.
Strengths: Tremendous value.
Weaknesses: Highs a little harsh out of the box..might improve after burn in period.
Similar Products Used: None
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Summary: I first bought the JBL NS center, I believe ns 1. It was terrible! It was extremely inaccurate and bright.
I went back and forth between the Athena and the Bose. The Bose was defintely more accurate in the replication of voice but the Athena was more dynamic.
I found that it worked very well with my Linaeum fronts and Yamaha YST-305.
Strengths: Powerful and dynamic range.
Full mid range response.
Crisp highs.
Great price.
Beautuful.
Great cushioning available to prevent resonating.
Weaknesses: Sometimes they are a little hissy and bright.
Similar Products Used: Yamaha NS-C444
Bose VCS-10
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Summary: I bought the Athena AS-C1 centre channel speaker on sale during the Boxing Week at Futureshop.ca. I couldn't believe the price. I never heard of Athena before and decided to do research before I bought this product. To my amazement this product had some great reviews and the specs speak for itself. At low volumes the clarity is perfect. I don't understand the conditioning part of the setup for 50-100 hours. This should have already been done by the manufacturer before it reaches the consumer. Other speakers just don't compare to the Athena AS-C1. It complements any home theatre system.
Strengths: All-round speaker with picture-perfect clarity and range.
Weaknesses: Don't exist!!!! (except the long wait of 50+ hours to listen to movies at MAX Levels).
Similar Products Used: Bought the RCA RT2250 Home-Theatre-In-A-Box and used its centre-channel speaker until now. I have the Quest 660 floor speakers but still use the RCA surround speakers from the box.
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