Athena, Energy and Mirage all come from the same parent co. I know Athenas are bright and match well with HK, but what about the others? Which order would you put them in in terms of quality. I really love Athena's SCT line. They sound great and are very good looking to boot. Hard to find though. Just curious about the other two if anyone has experience with them.
I wouldn't say any of them are better quality than the other lines--I just think it is just different distribution channels. We all know that Athenas are in Best Buy, and Energy is sold through audio shops. Around where I live, Mirage tends to be in with the custom installation businesses. I spoke to one dealer about it and he says API will not let any dealer carry more than one of their lines, so if you opt for Mirage, for instance, you cannot get Energy or Athena.
When I was auditioning speakers to go with my PE system I listened to a variety of speakers. However I was able to hear both monitor audio and Mirage speakers back to back with my reciever. I listened to the MA S8s (which I now own) and the Mirage but I forgot which model they were sorry). The Mirage is very efficient I remember and was easy to drive. The difference in sound to me was minimal but I felt the MAs had a slightly better high end sound to them. However there was a lot that I liked about the mirage and for the price they are very hard to beat. All I can say is what everyone else says - go out and listen listen listen only you will know what you like or dislike... Good luck HTH
NHT is a definite winner with the NADs. Great sounding combo. I love the Dynaudios even more, but my local dealer has just dropped them, so they may not be available to me any longer. Krix are next on my list to actually listen to with the 753. I'll keep you posted.