Very detailed upper register, not strident sounding in the least. More bass than expected from 6.5 inch driver (a lot more). Fit and finish are first rate. Binding post connectors. They look tight with the grills off. Oh yeah, they are helliloud.

None

I purchased the AS-B2 with 6.5 inch drivers. I listened to the AS-B1's and the overall fidelity was better with the B2's (more bottom end). Athena recommends a 50-100 hour burn-in period to acheive optimal sound reproduction, but the speakers sounded great right out of the box. The cabinets are built solidly, and it's classy of Athena to put binding posts as connectors. I believe they are worth the money I paid for them.

Similar Products Used:

JBL, H&K, Mirage

Clenn sound. Great bass for a bookshelf speaker. Solid build.

I wish they were offered in white so I could use them for surrounds (light-colored walls)

I used to think that consumer reviews were fake. I was wrong. These are simply the best bookshelf speakers I have heard. All the reviewers that rated these speakers 5 of 5 were correct. Try them. You have nothing to lose.Congratulations to Athena for producing an excellent product at an unbelievable price.

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NHT Super One

They deliver the goods. Period.

At this price? You gotta be kiddin me?

This review is based on the AS-B1's big brother, the AS-B2 (same tweeter, 6 1/2" mid/woofer). I auditioned these against competitive bookshelp speakers from Bose, Infinity, JBL and Polk (at up to 2 1/2 times the price. I came home with the Athenas and never looked back. I purchased this pair to upgrade my older Infinity surrounds. To do the suggested (and necessary) break-in, I hooked them up as my main pair, fired up my Denon 3803 receiver, put on a favorite CD and sat back to listen. I promptly fell off my chair. Right out of the box the sound was crisp, clean, tight and cohesive. The bass was really surprising (I bypassed my sub for the break in). Yes, they were a little edgy at first, but that totally disappeared after a few hours. Then I did a stupid thing. I compared them back to back with my regular front speakers, my tried and true Paradigm 9se towers. These little Athenas were tighter, crisper - better in nearly every way. Now I'm going to have to replace the Paradigms with one of Athena's full range speakers. Thankfully they are also an incredible bargain. I'm beginning to think that well designed loudspeakers, lovingly crafted by small companies, represent not only the best value, but some of the best sound out there regardless of price. A word of warning. These speakers will play superbly at high volume levels, but make sure you have plenty of clean amplifier power. Low power, low current amps can start clipping at high SPL levels and fry these little jewels. And that would simply be wrong. You can waste your time additioning speakers in the stores (with their usually terrible accoustics). Or you can go on line to a reputable web retailer and get the best price you can. They'll probably even deliver them for free.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm, Infinity, PSB

performance to cost ratio, sound is very comparable to models that cost more than twice as much, size does not hinder the living room space.

casing is not sexy - but who cares when you get speakers that sound like this for the money

Ok, so like a good little audio-fool, I do my research - then more research - ask all my fellow audio-fools and then go out and listen. I wasn't looking for something to brag about or something that may litterally bring the house down around me - just a great sounding set of speakers that would justify a purchase to appease my movie and music listening without scaring the neighbors. I had almost decided on the Klipsch SB-2's when a salmesman was kind enough to take me back and forth between the Klipsch and the Athena AS-B1's (same hookups - no sub - same songs) and low-and-behold, I do believe the Athena's sounded a bit more crips and instruments more defined within them. I brought them home and am using them as my main speakers for music and home theatre - they sound amazing - and I still need to buy a sub! If you are looking for great sounding speakers at a low cost - these Athena's will treat you right. Many out there do not live in an environment that enables one to "crank up" to full potential whenever we feel like doing so - hence the awesome sounding bookshelf speakers I now own and love....

Similar Products Used:

Polk, Klipsch,

Clear highs, solid mid-bass, wide soundstage. Very high price-to-performance ratio.

Plain styling, no natural wood option.

Great little speaker. Clear highs, nice wide soundstage. When I first got it, the highs were sharp to the point of being shrill, but after about 15-20 hours of breaking in the highs are now clear without being overpowering (a la Klipsh et al.). I recently bought the AS-B2 (the B1's bigger brother), and had the same experience with the shrill highs that eventually disappeared. Bass response is tight and crisp, though not very deep, due to the small size of these speakers. What surprised me most about the B1s is the transparency of sound: on jazz/classical recordings one gets a sense of "being-there", something one would rarely experience with speakers in this price range (if ever). They also go quite loud without distorting, which happens quite frequently with cheap speakers that are trying to reproduce full range (Sony's "speakers" come to mind). In a direct A/B comparison with my brother's $500 Tannoy Reveal studio monitors I was very hard pressed to tell a difference in performance, except for the leaner low bass. Really good value for the money. I am very happy with my purchase.

Similar Products Used:

Tannoy Reveal studio monitors, Paradigm Studio 20,

Price Clarity

Well, you can get better. But it'll cost you more than CAD$200!!

Well, what can I say? These are amazing! For the price (CAD$200), they are an absolute steal! Imaging is great, dispersion is great, clarity is awesome, bass is nice and tight, great midrange, with a nice neutral sound. Mind you, they're absolutely destroyed by my Paradigm Mini Monitors V3. But those cost me CAD$500. So in terms of price/performance, you'll be hard pressed to find something that matches the Athenas! If your budget is limited, it's a no brainer, get these!

Similar Products Used:

JBL, Bose, Polk Audio, Infinity.

Very clear and crisp. Great bass for its size - very clean.

For this price? Absolutely nothing!

I completely agree with the previous reviews. I think these speakers are undoubtedly the best value one can find anywhere. They are simply outstanding when it comes to clarity. And I was really amazed at the bass they could produce...frankly did not expect to get so much from so little a price and so small a size. Anyone would easily give them a 5-star value rating. Of course you could buy beter speakers for more money, and thats why overall I would give them about a rating of 3-star sound quality (irrespective of the price I mean - discounting for the price they would definitely get a 5 star rating for the sound as well!). I used them for about 2-3 weeks before returning them to the store and upgraded to the Klipsch SB2. At about twice the price I feel the Klipschs are no match for the little Athenas. They do play extrememly loud and their horn loaded tweeters appear to be more crisp (a little to crisp at higher volumes - can be ear piercing) and the bass output is better (maybe because of the higher sensitivity?!?), but definitely not worth twice the price. Also, as I mentioned in another review (and as pointed out by some other reviewers here), JBL and Bose seem to have really muddied the market. Please take a hearing of the Athenas and compare for yourself. I understand it may not be easy to audition them in the store as it is too noisy, but what else is the no-hassle-return-policy for? For a small budget the Athena AS-B1 is a definite winner. If you want more bass you could buy it with a sub (instead of the money you would spend on a JBL S38) or just get the AS-F2. Superb speakers!

Similar Products Used:

JBL S38, Klipsch SB2, Tannoy MX2. Heard a lot of other (expensive) speakers in audio stores.

Clean and very accurate and very well made.

Little weak with bass, but that is what subs are for.

As it reads in the manual you need to break these in 50 – 100 hours before you really test out their limits. They sounded great out of the box and after 60 hours of break in period I began to crank up the volume. I threw in the Audioslave CD and they sounded crisp and clean. Tori Amos’ piano and voice are perfectly reproduced. From Pearl Jam to the Braveheart soundtrack everything sounds clean and very well produced, even at high volumes. The ASB1’s put out a decent amount of bass, but you will need a subwoofer to get the full effect of the music. These are used as my left and right surround sound speakers in my 6.1 system now that they have been broken in. They are great for surround sound speakers and even can hold their own as a pair in 2 channel system. I am going to upgrade my old Infinity system to Athena’s in the near future. My system is powered by the Marantz SR-5300 and that is a clean and very nice A/V Receiver. For the sub $200 price for bookshelf speakers I couldn’t find any to compare with them. Looking forward to finishing my Athena set up with the ASF1’s or ASF2, (haven’t decided yet) ASC1 and either the ASP300 or 400 sub (also undecided here). These are great bookshelf speakers no matter how you use them.

Similar Products Used:

Tannoy, very good but expensive ($900)when compared with Athenas. Boston Acoustics, Infinity.

Tremendous sound for the price. Very rich and full.

The bass is a little shallow, but what do you want for the price. The AS-B2's bass is more well rounded.

Heilige Scheisse Fledemousemann! I read the reviews, tested the speakers. Bought them immediately. The AS-B2's have a richer tone, but are more expensive. These sweet little gems keep getting better and better. The only problems I now want there big brothers and my music collection keeps growing. I have these hooked up to an older Yamaha stereo reciever (R40) and they are tremendous. Everyone keeps talking about sound stage and imaging, now I know what they mean. If you need a pair of bookshelf speakers or surrounds, run don't walk to the nearest dealership. For those of you who think Best Buy only sells crap, I saw the entire Audition Series line for sale in the Bloomington, Minnesota "flagship" store. Trying to convince the average Best Buy customer that they are superior to every other speaker in the store is virtually impossible. Bose has muddied the mass market so completely, you have to beat people over the head to get them to listen to anything else. By the way Athena makes an 8" subwoofer as well as the advertise 10".

Similar Products Used:

Sony, Yamaha, Polk, Bose (The Polks are the only competition RTi25's. They are the surrounds on my home theater system.)

Wide soundstage, solid imaging, rhythmic, crisp design.

Would appreciate a choice of cabinet finishes. More expensive in the UK than in Canada @ £129 (but hey, most electrical products are).

I needed a pair of inexpensive stereo speakers small and light enough to send to Spain. After auditioning several candidates including KEF Cresta 2, Eltac Reference 3 and Mission 771, I was recommended to try these and they are nothing short of phenominal. Admitedly, they're not as smooth on vocals as the KEFs but they're well-balanced, projecting a rock-solid image, involving rhythm and a punch that belies their size. I've paired them with an Arcam Delta 90.2 amplifier and they are equally excellent at interpreting complex jazz instrumentals or banging house, accoustic/vocals or rock. With crisply-designed cabinets which appear to be well-made, they're manufactured in China which may explain why they offer such good value.