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Review 2 of 2 Summary:
Standing one meter tall in its cylinder shaped aluminium enclosure, one would have to gasp. This is absolute beauty, eventhough beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
The Athena is a 2-way floorstanding speaker employing 2 times 5" woofers from Vifa`s premium line, but further specialised for the Athena. The cones are treated paper. The
high freqeuncies are handled by a special edition top of the range ScanSpeak 1" softdome tweeter.
The speakers have been hooked up with different amps.
Pre/powers from Thorens, Naim, ML, Thule & Densen.
One thing is for certain, this is an engaging and musical rewarding speaker. There is a certain naturalness, so rarely found in HiFi. The music is way out of the boxes, excuse me, cylinders, presented in a very dynamic but not over forced way. You can also listen to music on high levels for hours, without getting tired. There is no hardness, but it never gets boring, becaurse it is highly analytical.
You should combine the Athena with the best components you can afford. Sensitivity is low at 85dB, but the load itself is nothing to worry about.
This speaker can boogie too, with excellent rythm & timing.
Learn a lesson Linn!!
Compared with Dynaudio and ProAc, there seems to be more MUSIC in the Athena. It seems to combine the best sonic prints from the other two, to end up with one heck of a speaker.
So are there only cons and no pro!
The cons are the soundstage, rythm, naturalness very dynamic indeed.
The only pros I can think of is in large rooms, or the high level disco/headbanger freak. But then check out the new Arcitec Acoustic active Posseidon Low freqency device. Subwoofer beeing a negative term.
Try and seek these speakers out for yourself, I´m sure you will get a positive surprise. Hook them up with some high quality gear and cables, try the likes of Densen, Mark Levinson, Krell and cables from Goertz, Cardas, Van d. Hul and Nordost. A new tip, check out cables from dutch Siltech.
Use good digital and analog sources, this speaker has a Forté in showing nuances in good vinyl replay, and go enjoy yourself for a cheap ride in the high-end class, added with a view to a first class finish and design.
A two cylinder Rolls Royce with the charm of the french 2CV! Strengths:
Beautiful expressive, never harsh sounding and with a very sweet open treble + strong sense of timing.Perfect combination of analytical and musical sound. Great looks too! Weaknesses:
For large rooms, not enough bandwidth. Low sensitivity at 85dB.Not for the ultimate sound pressure level. Similar Products Used:
Dynaudio contour 1.8mkII, ProAc response 2.5
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