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Half a goddess?
Athena’s small sub-sat system
By Michael Jones
May 2002
It
must be hard being a speaker manufacturer these days. The expectations
of better and better speakers for less money must take its toll. Add in
the home theatre effect, where many people expect five speakers and a
powered subwoofer for the price they used to pay for two speakers. I’m
glad that I’m an observer rather than a participant!.
One of the keys to producing good speakers at good prices is in obtaining manufacturing efficiencies. Athena may be a relatively new brand, but it is part of API, a well established loudspeaker manufacturer who also produce Energy and Mirage speakers, as well as OEM-manufacture for several other brands.
The Point 5 speaker system is brand new from Athena. As with mist home theatre speaker packages, it consists of four satellite speakers, a dedicated centre channel speaker and an active (powered) subwoofer.
The S.5 satellite speakers are small at 216mm high and 146mm wide. The front baffle is made from a composite resin compound, which allows the front to be sculptured. In the speaker is a 100mm woofer loaded by a rear-firing port and a 25mm Teteron tweeter.
The S.5's are finished in a high gloss black finish (which is very good at displaying fingerprints) with either a black or silver front. Complete with the speaker package is an ingenious wall mount system that allows both vertical and horizontal movement, plus the ability to lock the speaker in place.
The C.5 centre channel speaker is configured similarly to most other centre channels, with a tweeter between two woofers. Like the other members of the Point 5 family, the C.5 is magnetically shielded, so it won't upset your TV. The C.5 shares the composite resin material for the front baffle, and is also available in black or silver front finishes.
The P.5 active subwoofer is tiny! It’s a mere 254mm wide and 333mm high, while depth is 343mm. Finished in black, many people will find the S.5 subwoofer easy to tuck away.
Inside the S.5 is a 200mm down-firing woofer, loaded by a big port on the front, and driven by a 75 watt mosfet amplifier. There is a line level input (to connect to the sub-out jack on your receiver) and speaker level inputs.
Buyers of the Athena system can add in a pair of attractive Athena stands if desired.
Tonally, the Athena system had a lively and energetic sound. Some brightness in the beginning toned down after several hours of use into a zesty sound. It offers a more assertive tonal balance than the $500 more expensive Energy Take 5.2 system reviewed recently.
Given the nature of the Athena’s tonality, buyers may want to be careful with matching to the right amplifier. Choosing a bright and forward receiver for use with the Point 5’s could easily wind up to be a bit much.
The Athena satellites also produce a surprising amount of bass on their own, without the subwoofer. Many sub-sat systems - particularly those with small satellite speakers - leave a hole in the frequencies between the sub and satellites. I’m guessing that Athena engineered a bit of a bass boost to fill this.
The drawback to this engineered boost is that some male voices start to get a bit boomy and instruments in this region lose definition. If you listen to a lot of cello, then this will probably annoy you.
There’s one school of thought that suggests that having the same speakers all around for a home theatre system is a good thing. Even with this modest Athena system, that’s shown to be true.
Home theatre sound should not be about sounds coming at you from all directions. Instead, home theatre sound, at its best, is about placing you within a soundfield, making you a part of the movie. This, the Athena system does very well.
There were several such examples in the otherwise rather mediocre Harrison Ford movie Random Hearts. In one scene the wind was blowing around you as you watched the movie; another scene in an airport was equally as evocative.
And in a movie such as Gladiator, you are right in there within the battle against the Germanic barbarians. Good stuff!
Athena’s Point 5 is an attractive and good sounding home theatre speaker system and an attractive price. The Athena should definitely be auditioned by any buyers in this part of the market.
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