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COPYRIGHT 2001 Sensible Sound
Manufacturer: Audio Products International, 3641 McNicoll Avenue, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada MIX 1G5; 416/321-1800; www.athenaspeakers.com
Price: S1 satellites, $275/pr.; P1 woofer, $275 ea.
Source: Manufacturer loan
Reviewer: David R. Moran
Let me lead with the news here: these Athena speakers' performance is fully competitive with (if not superior to) what you will find similarly priced from the other high-value loudspeaker companies, say NHT, Polk, Boston Acoustics, PSB, etc.
The Athena S1 satellites with P1 powered "subwoofer" (it's really a woofer) are from Canada, part of the Audio Products International family; API also makes Energy and Mirage speakers, among others. The S1 is a 5.5" smoothly baffled conventional 2-way, and the P1 unit contains a single 6.5" bandpassed (internally mounted in a vented cabinet) woofer with 75W amp and several useful controls. There are bigger Athena models, S2 and S3 satellites with P2 and P3 subs. Everything is shielded, including the subwoofers.
The novelty of this line is that the systems can be easily configured in two different ways. The satellites can be placed on stands (or wherever) and driven by the receiver or amp, with the receiver or preamp's line-level subwoofer (bass-only) output going to the woofer module(s), presumably tucked away in or near a corner; this is a standard partially powered 3-piece or 4-piece sub/sat system. Alternatively, the satellites can be docked atop the P1 cabinets, assuming you get a pair, via connecting rails, to create floorstanding towers with powered woofers.
Finally, one or two subs can be hooked up with some other company's satellites. Upgrading later on for an all-Athena home theater, with additional satellites and a center speaker, is a cinch, as is adding the bigger Athena woofer units.
The woofer cabinet comes with controls for overall level and variable-crossover point (lowpass function, governing the driver's upward reach) along with a switch to invert polarity for smoothest stitching with the satellites. The latter two controls can be defeated to default settings, depending on what satellites you are going to use. The whole system is surprisingly lightweight, making canny use of plastic yet with lots of wood as well, and is pleasingly finished in light maple (but no Maple Leaf flag). The target audience may well be young consumers who are budget-conscious yet looking for something with serious performance.
Marketing hype aside, it is unclear in my view how many consumers really care or make...
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