|
New member Username: FontboyPost Number: 1 Registered: Jul-05 | dear members, here is what my question entails: i got a killer deal on my athena as-f1 speakers; and now i may need a new amp? i am currently running them through my denon mini system, and i am considering the denon dra295, dra 395, and the dra 685; and also the nad c320bee and the c352. if you have heard the athena as-f1 or as-f2 with both the 320bee and the 352 please let me know your thoughts. if you know about the denons, also please let me know. details and full story below.......... about four months ago i bought my first house. my little denon with its bookshelf mission speakers that have served me sooo well over the past five years could not cope with the new living room. denon has the new version up on their website, but mine is pretty similar... at one time some hi-fi magazine praised it for being the only mini-system that cut the mustard at the $600 price point (or maybe even the less than $1,000 price point). http://www.usa.denon.com/catalog/pdfs/dm50LIT.pdf previously, the denon mini was only called upon to service 150-200 sq foot rooms with normal height ceilings. my new living room is quite a bit larger, it's 13' by 30' with a ceiling that's 8' raising to 14', with a pass through into the kitchen, and open to the upstairs hallway, and open to the entry way.... all in all there's around 400-600 sq ft it needs to cover, depending on how you count it, with some ceiling space adding to the overall cubic dimensions. i have been reading with much interest over the past couple of months about how to put together a decent sounding & relatively cheap 2 channel stereo system on this forum that would be able to provide some bass response for my new space. thanks to many positive reviews, i was all set to buy the athena as-f2... then i saw that they were discontinued. so this sunday, in lieu of finishing painting the living room, i headed down to my local best buy to see if they were clearing them out. they were. but they only had one as-f2... however, they did, at a different store about 20 minutes down the road, have a pair of new as-f1s, at a very attractive price. when i got to the store, they weren't even aware they had them. i had them dig them out, and i bought both of them for $163.24, with connecticut state tax. that worked out to an amazing $1.99 per pound of speaker! so although i wanted the as-f2 for the slightly better bass response, i couldn't really pass up the deal... one of the best buy guys took interest and asked me how i was planning to drive them, and i told them i was just planning to hook them up to my denon and to see how they sound. well, he was completely freaked out by the notion and tried to talk me out of it, saying that i would blow up amp. then he tried to sell me some crap amplifiers and told me even the opp $99 no brand asia soured receiver would sound better then my denon mini. i kindly told him i would take my chances on blowing up my old receiver. my wife was not pleased -- she loves that little stereo. so then i had to explain to her that you can pretty much hear it if the amp is being overworked because the sound that will come out of it will be fuzzy and distorted. she was not sold. so i further explained that the amp is rated at 25 or 30 watts at 6 ohms, and that the speakers are rated at 20-200 watts at 8 ohms, and that we would just make the minimum requirements for the speakers. she still was not sold, but what was she going to do. so then i explained that i wrote athena, and asked them if i would screw something up, and they responded that no, i wouldn't, but it would not be enough power to drive the speakers. she thought i was making the last bit up... i wasn't, i just forgot because it had been a couple of months (by the way, i can attest and verify that athena does have really good response time). we got home and i immediately hooked up the speakers. she was appalled at the sound. i explained they were right out of the box and needed some break in. after about an hour, they already sounded better, and she conceded. and there was a surprising amount of bass, and no discernable clipping, fuzz, or distortion with the volume set to where i typically had them set for the mission bookshelfs. and surprisingly, the athenas were louder at the same volume setting then the missions were. i thought the higher ohm rating would work against their favor, but i guess they more than make up for it with their sensitivity. but still, from reading all these posts, my curiosity was piqued. so today, i headed down to the local hi-fi store to listen to the nads at lunch. the salesman was convinced that i would melt the speakers with the denon mini because the clipped signals would ruin the tweeters.... once again i explained that i already had them hooked up, and the speakers sounded fine. he tried really hard to get me to spring for the 352 or the 372, and i explained that i only needed enough for comfortable listening and proper bass response.... don't need rock concert levels but just enough to fill the room.... and even the denon mini with its 20 or so watts max at 8 ohms provides room filling sound without the volume knob cranked to distortion levels. (i think my denon mini, older then the one on the link above, are rated at 25 watts at 6 ohms -- and the newer ones are 30 watts at 6 ohms) i listened to the 320bee through some $500 jm labs - thought the athenas were actually a bit less harsh and definitely had more bass, and then through some $600 paradimes, which were better, i thought, then the jm labs. the listing room was smallish, so it may be the music didn't have room to breathe? anyway, i think the 320bee might be enough for me? does anyone have a 320bee with as-f1s? the other nad dealer i called in the area also thought that the 320bee would not be enough to power, but he said he would be happy to order one for me and let me audition one. i just don't want to him to go through the trouble if in the end the denon mini is adequate for now.... and what about the denons available at tweeter? i am noticing that the athena floor-standers do seem to sound brighter then the mission bookshelfs i had hooked up before, but i have only about 5-6 hours on the athena speakers so far..... please help |
|
Bronze Member Username: RsxmanPost Number: 18 Registered: Jul-05 | way too long bud, skipped most of it, get a Marantz receiver. Im running a yammie 5790 with my as-f1's and it sounds awesome for music and movies but ill be going to marantz pretty soon |
|
Silver Member Username: Stu_pittNYC, NY Pakistan Post Number: 229 Registered: May-05 | Pablo - I have a C320BEE, but don't use the speakers you mentioned. My advise (even if I did have your speakers) is to bring the speakers to the store that has the C320BEE, and listen to them together. Or better yet, see if they will let you audition the C320BEE in your home. The 320BEE is under rated as far as power goes. Your room is pretty big, so the C352 may be the way to go, but I definately wouldn't rule out the 320BEE. Just my opinion, hope it helps. |
|
New member Username: FontboyPost Number: 2 Registered: Jul-05 | eric, that's why there was a handy summary at the top. which marantz do you recommend? how much is it? why do you recommend it? and how do you like your as-f1s? thanks stu, thanks for the insight. |
|
New member Username: FontboyPost Number: 3 Registered: Jul-05 | stu - what kind of speakers are you running? |
|
Bronze Member Username: RsxmanPost Number: 20 Registered: Jul-05 | A good marantz would run for $500-$700 or so. I live marantz build quality and sound better than most other receivers but thats just me. I love my AS-F1'S, couldn't be happier with 'em. |
|
Silver Member Username: EdisonGlendale, CA US Post Number: 758 Registered: Dec-03 | Marantz 7200 is the good one. The NAD you mentioned is good too 320 one. If you don't want to spend that much, this one has a warm smooth sound - discreet and wide current 100watts per ch. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem%26item%3D5789087223&category=3279% 26%26 |
|
New member Username: FontboyPost Number: 6 Registered: Jul-05 | James - thanks for the reco. I think I'll pick up both the Onkyo TX-8511 and the NAD 352 and try them out at the same time with my new speakers. Both the NAD 320bee and the 372 seem to be well loved on this forum, but the 352 seems to get all sorts of conflicting opinions... why is that? |
|
Silver Member Username: Stu_pittNYC, NY Post Number: 247 Registered: May-05 | Pablo- I'm running PSB Image t55's (towers). I haven't noticed conflicting info on the 352, just the 372. The 352 has been praised just as much as the 320BEE in professional reviews. In my opinion (take that as you will) the 320BEE and 352 sound very similar. The differences are the differences you get with more power - lower and tighter bass, wider soundstage, etc - but they aren't night and day differences. When I bought the 320BEE, I compared the two side by side on the same speakers I have, with the same source. I didn't need the extra power the 352 has, or the other extras - like a second set of pre-outs, extra speaker outs, etc. Your room being bigger, the extra power may mean all the difference in the world, or it may not. In a normal sized room with normal sound levels, I don't think there is a night and day difference between the two. But everyone hears differently. |