sgnewman

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.40 of 5, 5.00 votes

Price Paid:  $250.00 from AudioAdvisor.com

Summary:
Great value for the money. Tight, solid bass to about 60hz, transparent and sweet mids and highs. Same tweeter and same construction woofer as the top of line ASF2's. They really respond to being used with a high quality amp. I use mine in a stereo system with an older Crown DC300A power amplifier with super high damping factor. I use a separate subwoofer but it's set for only 50hz and below. 99% of my sound comes from the Athena speakers. When I added the Crown amp, the sound quality from the Athena's became incredible. That's when I realized just how good these speakers are. By the way, I hadn't intended to use the Athena speakers in my stereo system...they were intended for a separate surround sound system...but they sound too good. The owner's manual says to not judge these speakers until 50 to 100 operating hours. That's the break-in period. I absolutely agree. Out of the box, the rubber woofer surround is too tight and the highs are too harsh. Everything sweetens up about about 50 hours.

Strengths:
Overall transparency and tight bass, given the limits of the woofer size and cabinet dimensions.

Weaknesses:
None really, just don't expect bass you can feel. The laws of physics don't allow for that type of bass in a small cabinet. A bi-wiring option would have been nice.

Similar Products Used:
Infinity Primus 160's (nice speakers), Older B&W 630 floor-standers (not really comparable).

Price Paid:  $240.00 from Future Shop

Summary:
Picked up the ASB2's because of numerous good reviews on audiophile websites/forums. I am extremely pleased with the balanced sound these speakers exhibit. I've listened to a lot of speakers in the past and these beat out most of the competition even up to the $500 range.

Strengths:
Vocals are clear. Acoustics sound crisp. Bass is more than adequate, especially if you don't like the bass drowning out the rest of the music.

Weaknesses:
Need more colour choices maybe?

Similar Products Used:
Bose, Polk, CV.

Price Paid:  $290.00 from Future Shop

Summary:
Best value! Beat the JBL's. Beat the Polk's. Bose were twice the price for similar sound.

Strengths:
Price. Hardly any distortion, on highest volume.

Weaknesses:
I heard Tannoy was the way to go, but I kept the extra $200 in my pocket for a sub-woofer.

Similar Products Used:
Polk, JBL, Bose.

Price Paid:  $260.00 from Dumoulin

Summary:
I was looking for new front speakers to replace my existing ones. I was also looking to add a new center channel. I wanted speakers mainly to listen to my DVD movies. I wanted also speakers good enough to listen to my favorite musics. I was looking for speakers not too punchy (too much bass) nor too itchy (too much trebble). I also listened to Mission and Energy bookshelfs on Denon amp. I found that the Mission were too punchy and that the Athena a little bit too itchy. But at the same time, details were there. When I connected at home I was totally satisfied of my new AS-B2 and of my new AS-C1 center channel.

Strengths:
Detail of sound Detailed but not too present bass sound Nice look Cheap price

Weaknesses:
A little bit itchy on a Denon receiver but not on a Kenwood 1070VR

Similar Products Used:
Mission MS-71B Energy Technics SB-LX10

Price Paid:  $200.00 from brandsmart

Summary:
I,m using the two,s as rear surrounds and the bass coming from the rear is incredible.When listing to music or movies there is always deep extended bass and placement of the surround effects are dead on.I measured the bass around 50 hz.I''''''''m driving them with the Deon 3801 Marantz 3000 cd player and a Pioneer 414 dvd player.

Strengths:
Deep bass and pleasing for my wife to look at and price.

Weaknesses:
Big and heavy

Similar Products Used:
Energy,polk and def tech