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Athena AS-F2.2 My Thoughts |
towerpower
Rank: Sony Enthusiant
Joined: Jun 03, 2006
Posts: 34
From: Long Island N.Y.
 |  Posted: 2006-07-09 16:18
Joe,
I am very happy with the sound from these speakers as they stand right now , if they improve further I won't want to leave my house .
Dom
On 2006-07-08 22:38, jttar wrote:
Dom,
Happy to hear how pleased you are with your new Athena's. I found that setting the speaker toe-in about 20 degree's sounded best in my room.
When I decided to purchase a set of floor standers I wanted to buy a speaker that I would be happy with for a long time. I was willing to pay the price for this investment. You can fully appreciate what a bargin I found with the Athena AS-F2's for only $400(US). I was ready to pay 7 or 8 times that amount for this kind of sound quality.
Give them a month of use and wait and see how incredible they sound. They will lose that slight sharpness in the highs and will settle in to a full, warm, articulate sound.
It is rewarding to hear a person with as many years as you have in this hobby to remark, "I can honestly say they are one of the best speakers I have ever owned ." I fully agree.
Enjoy re-discovering your LP's.
Joe (aka BeastMaster)
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towerpower
Rank: Sony Enthusiant
Joined: Jun 03, 2006
Posts: 34
From: Long Island N.Y.
| Posted: 2006-07-09 16:50
On 2006-07-09 01:35, Maxxwire wrote:
Dom- I have seen the Athena AS-F2 speakers used with some very maticulously restored vintage Tube gear which was outfitted with rare and expensive '40's and '50's Tubes. It was obvious that they could have afforded to use most any speakers, but they chose to use the Athenas.
What Turntable, Arm and Phono Cartridge are you using?
~Maxx~
Maxx,
The turntable I'm using is nothing special it's an old Philips quartz phase locked loop table and arm combination Mod 977 . MY cartridge is a stanton 881s .The only modification I have made was adding capacitance in the phono leads so the input to my preamp has the correct value to match the cartridge .
Dom
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Maxxwire
Moderator
Premium Member
Rank: Sony Adept
Joined: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 25726
From: Portland, Oregon - USA
 | Posted: 2006-07-10 02:33
Dom- Your Phillips 977 Turntable that cost nearly $400 25 years ago would be considerably more expensive today.
Do you have a large ecord collection?
~Maxx~
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A Satisfied Sony Fan Since 1974!
The OCCC Furu-Charged Sony DB 930
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towerpower
Rank: Sony Enthusiant
Joined: Jun 03, 2006
Posts: 34
From: Long Island N.Y.
| Posted: 2006-07-11 10:11
On 2006-07-10 02:33, Maxxwire wrote:
Dom- Your Phillips 977 Turntable that cost nearly $400 25 years ago would be considerably more expensive today.
Do you have a large ecord collection?
~Maxx~
Maxx ,
I'm not quite sure on how many I have , it's not very large maybe three hundred give or take a few .I also have about the same amount in CD's .I still have and use a 19 year old philips CDB -650 CD player .I also have a dedicated CD recorder/player the philips CDR-775 .I tend to keep my equipment for a long time . Over the years I have had four different speaker systems .It started with a general electric two way system in the late 50's ,followed by the AR-3 the AR-3a ,Boston acoustic t-1000 ,and now the athena AS-F2 .I remember hearing my first HI-FI set in 56 or 57 , from the first note of music I heard I was hooked , and will remain so for the rest of my life .
Dom
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Maxxwire
Moderator
Premium Member
Rank: Sony Adept
Joined: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 25726
From: Portland, Oregon - USA
| Posted: 2006-07-11 14:40
Dom- That's a wonderful succession of speakers that you have owned over the years and makes the compliments you pay to your new Athena AS-F2 speakers all that much more significant.
~Maxx~
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A Satisfied Sony Fan Since 1974!
The OCCC Furu-Charged Sony DB 930
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towerpower
Rank: Sony Enthusiant
Joined: Jun 03, 2006
Posts: 34
From: Long Island N.Y.
| Posted: 2006-07-16 17:17
On 2006-07-09 16:50, towerpower wrote:
On 2006-07-09 01:35, Maxxwire wrote:
Dom- I have seen the Athena AS-F2 speakers used with some very maticulously restored vintage Tube gear which was outfitted with rare and expensive '40's and '50's Tubes. It was obvious that they could have afforded to use most any speakers, but they chose to use the Athenas.
What Turntable, Arm and Phono Cartridge are you using?
~Maxx~
Maxx,
The turntable I'm using is nothing special it's an old Philips quartz phase locked loop table and arm combination Mod 977 . MY cartridge is a stanton 881s .The only modification I have made was adding capacitance in the phono leads so the input to my preamp has the correct value to match the cartridge .
Dom
Maxx ,
I Switched from the Stanton cartridge to an old inexpensive Grado MTE+1 that I had on hand .As pleased as I was with the Stanton the Grado has a more natural sound Quality . It took the F-2s to expose that difference . I'm like a kid in the candy store ,thats the only way I can express my satisfaction with these truly fine speakers .
Dom
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Maxxwire
Moderator
Premium Member
Rank: Sony Adept
Joined: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 25726
From: Portland, Oregon - USA
| Posted: 2006-07-16 23:03
Dom- Now you know exactly why Robert Reina said in his Stereophile Magazine Review that the Athena AS-F2 was the best sounding speaker he had heard that was priced under $2,000!
~Maxx~
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A Satisfied Sony Fan Since 1974!
The OCCC Furu-Charged Sony DB 930
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towerpower
Rank: Sony Enthusiant
Joined: Jun 03, 2006
Posts: 34
From: Long Island N.Y.
| Posted: 2006-11-07 15:01
Hi Guys,
Just wanted to let you know that six months have passed since I purchased the Athena AS F2's, and my opinion of them has not changed one bit .It's one great speaker .
Dom (aka tower power)
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jttar
Moderator
Premium Member
Rank: Sony Master
Joined: Feb 28, 2003
Posts: 9156
From: Chicago,IL, USA
 | Posted: 2006-11-08 00:11
Dom,
I'm happy to hear that your still happy with your Athena F2's. I agree with you completely. These speakers continue to impress me with their full range. I would have gladly spent many more times the money to acheive the sound of the F2's. They truly are some kick a$$ speakers.
Joe (aka BeastMaster)
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towerpower
Rank: Sony Enthusiant
Joined: Jun 03, 2006
Posts: 34
From: Long Island N.Y.
| Posted: 2006-11-09 16:45
On 2006-11-08 00:11, jttar wrote:
Dom,
I'm happy to hear that your still happy with your Athena F2's. I agree with you completely. These speakers continue to impress me with their full range. I would have gladly spent many more times the money to acheive the sound of the F2's. They truly are some kick a$$ speakers.
Joe (aka BeastMaster)
Joe,
Thanks for the quick reply .The speakers that the athenas replaced did cost four times the price of the athenas .It amazes me that ,even considering they are manufactured in China, that the cost is so little for such a high quality system .The designers really did their home work .My audio system never sounded better !
Dom
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Pneumonic
Rank: Sony Buff
Joined: Jan 22, 2007
Posts: 13
From: Ontario Canada
 | Posted: 2007-01-22 22:33
Hello all.
I found this site because I was looking for a place of Sony lovers since I am the proud owner of a vintage Sony 6060FW receiver.
Anyhow, I happened upon this thread about Athena 2's and, I just so happen to also own two pairs of Athena speakers. A pair of awesome little AS B1.2's (which I am powering with the Sony) and a recently added pair of demo AS F2.2's, which I picked up for a paltry $170 CDN.
I have given these guys a good solid workout and all I have to say is they sound much better than they have a right to sound. They beat the snot out of my Axiom M60's. The Athena's seem to be a very easy load to drive. I have driven them with a variety of amps including a Yamaha A760 Int Amp, a Yamaha CR 1040 receiver, the Sony 6060FW receiver, a Sugden A21 Int Amp, a Bryston 2b/0.5 combo a Redgum Rgi120 and a Sonic Frontiers SFS80 power amp/Bedini BAC800A pre combo which I have driving a pair of Martin Logan Sequel II's down in my main rig.
I will say that even though the 2.2's sounded quite good with my lessor quality electronics they really shone when I used the better amps. The Redgum, in particular, really make the 2.2's sing impressively.
Has anyone modded the 2.2's yet? I am thinking of modding these babies some. I have some leftover No-Rez which I might try to use to try and damp the speakers with. I also am going to re-wire with some various types and quality of wire and maybe fool with the X'over components some.
Anyhow, I have owned tons of audio gear over the years but these 2.2's might very well be the best value product I have ever owned. I can't believe how good they sound. They have no right to sound this good at such a low cost.
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jttar
Moderator
Premium Member
Rank: Sony Master
Joined: Feb 28, 2003
Posts: 9156
From: Chicago,IL, USA
| Posted: 2007-01-22 23:42
On 2007-01-22 22:33, Pneumonic wrote:
I have given these guys a good solid workout and all I have to say is they sound much better than they have a right to sound. They beat the snot out of my Axiom M60's.
Anyhow, I have owned tons of audio gear over the years but these 2.2's might very well be the best value product I have ever owned. I can't believe how good they sound. They have no right to sound this good at such a low cost.
Pneumonic,
Greetings and welcome. Spoken like a true Athena owner. I have owned a pair of the original AS-F2's since 2004 and am even more impressed with them then when I first broke them in.
Although the 2.2's have been well documented in this thread I must advise you that if they are anywhere close to the F2's they are just going to keep sounding better every day.  I use them for two channel listening as well as fronts for my 5.1 system and they do a wonderful job on both. Your right, they blow away speakers that cost several times their LIST price.
Joe (aka BeastMaster)
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Maxxwire
Moderator
Premium Member
Rank: Sony Adept
Joined: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 25726
From: Portland, Oregon - USA
| Posted: 2007-01-22 23:50
On 2007-01-22 22:33, Pneumonic wrote: I can't believe how good they sound. They have no right to sound this good at such a low cost.
We have dozens of Members who have been saying exactly the same thing about Athena speakers for years. Welcome to the club!
~Maxx~
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A Satisfied Sony Fan Since 1974!
The OCCC Furu-Charged Sony DB 930
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Pneumonic
Rank: Sony Buff
Joined: Jan 22, 2007
Posts: 13
From: Ontario Canada
| Posted: 2007-01-23 10:23
Thanks for the welcome Joe and Maxx.
Do either of you know if anyone round these parts have experience modifiying their Athena's? I've searched the net far and wide but can't find much info on modding these. They seem like the perfect speakers for such a project.
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Maxxwire
Moderator
Premium Member
Rank: Sony Adept
Joined: Aug 29, 2002
Posts: 25726
From: Portland, Oregon - USA
| Posted: 2007-01-23 13:29
Pneumonic- Over the last few years scores of Agoraquest Members have purchased the Athena AS-F2 speakers and have been so totaly thrilled with the way they sound that they wouldn't think of changing them in any way because it would alter the wonderful sound they are hearing from them.
I own a pair of vintage JBL L-100 speakers and I see people buy them and tear them apart and modify them into a completely different speaker with different crossovers, wiring and transducers.
I always thought that this was a shame because they end up with a totally different sounding speaker and they can no longer enjoy the thrill of listening to what Eddie Kramer must have heard when he mastered Jimi Hendrix's Music on the stock JBL L-100 at Electric Ladyland Studios!
There's certainly nothing wrong with modifying speakers to suit your own taste, but there are some people who own true classic speakers like the Athena and JBL speakers mentined above who enjoy listening to the sound that made those speakers famous and would never think of altering them in any way because then they would no longer have the sound of the classic speaker they enjoy so much.
~Maxx~
A Satisfied Sony Fan Since 1974!
The linear relationship between outstanding performance and pricepoint can be nullified thru the skillful application of knowledge.
Dad's Pixel Painting #2
[ This message was edited by: Maxxwire on 2007-01-23 13:44 ]
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