February 2006 Reviewed by Vince Hanada	Athena Technologies WS-100 / WS-60 / WS-15 / AS-P4000 Home-Theater Speaker System

Description Model: WS-100 floorstanding speaker Price: $600 USD per pair Dimensions: 41.6"H x 4.2"W x 4.0"D Weight: 14 pounds each Model: WS-60 center-channel speaker Price: $200 USD Dimensions: 23.8"W x 4.2"H x 4.0"D Weight: 10 pounds Model: WS-15 surround speaker Price: $175 USD per pair Dimensions: 6.7"H x 4.2"W x 4.0"D Weight: 2.8 pounds each Model: AS-P4000 subwoofer Price: $300 USD Dimensions: 17.5"H x 11.5"W x 18"D Weight: 28 pounds

Description (cont'd) System Price: $1275 USD Warranty: Five years on speakers, three years on subwoofer electronics Features 1" Teteron tweeter 3.5" injection-molded polypropylene woofers 10" injection-molded polypropylene woofer (AS-P4000) Aluminum and MDF enclosures 400W manufacturer-rated BASH amplifier (AS-P4000) Spring-loaded binding posts Polycarbonate bases (WS-100) Wall or shelf mountable (WS-60, WS-15) Removable black grilles Magnetically shielded

As their prices finally drop to reasonable levels, thin-panel LCD and plasma video displays are all the rage. Although these display technologies are coming closer to the performance of CRTs, buying a thin-panel display still means compromising on black level, contrast, and refresh rate compared to good old CRTs. And the new panels still cost a lot more.

Makers of loudspeakers have followed the trend toward flat TVs by producing speakers to suit. Most of these are slim, long, and sexy-looking, with aluminum enclosures. As with thin-panel TVs, the drive for ever thinner speakers typically results in shortcomings in sound quality compared with conventional box speakers, and a hefty price tag to boot. One such system that bucks this trend is the Athena Technologies WS-100 / WS-60 / WS-15 / AS-P4000 ($1275). Contrary to most "lifestyle" speaker systems I’ve heard, it is a really good-sounding setup at a really low price.

Athena by API

Athena Technologies is one of the three speaker brands owned by Audio Products International (API), the huge Canadian speaker manufacturer. The other brands are Mirage Speakers and Energy Speakers, two highly respected names in audio. Think of Athena as API’s "value" line. Because they’re sold in Best Buy and Future Shop retail outlets across North America, it isn’t obvious that these speakers have an audiophile pedigree. Athena speakers, however, are meticulously designed and tested in state-of-the-art facilities, including a large anechoic chamber, at API’s headquarters in Toronto.

The Athena WS

The Athena WS system I auditioned comprises two WS-100 floorstanders for the front left and right channels, one WS-60 bookshelf speaker for the center channel, two small WS-15s for the left and right surround channels, and an AS-P4000 subwoofer. Except for the sub, all of these have aluminum enclosures that measure 4.2" wide and 4" deep. The fronts of the speakers are finished in removable grilles of black cloth. Around back are spring-loaded speaker posts, which need to be pushed in when you connect your speaker wires. The connection ends up being secure, but you’re restricted to bare wire (12AWG or less) or pin connectors.

The WS-100 is so tall and narrow that it needs a wide base to keep it from tipping over. The base is broad and made of transparent polycarbonate, which makes for an elegant yet stable platform. The 1" tweeter, which Athena calls the Teteron, is made of a soft synthetic material that feels like cloth with plastic laminated onto it. It will deform if you poke it, but rebounds to its original dome shape immediately after. The WS-100 has a ton of 3.5" midrange drivers: three active and five passive, all made of stiff but lightweight polypropylene. According to Athena, the passive drivers help increase the sealed enclosure’s bass response.

The WS-60 bookshelf speaker is 4.2" wide and only 24" high, and has a removable metal stand for shelf mounting. This ingenious speaker can also be horizontally mounted, for center-channel duty, which is how I used it. It includes a removable wall-mounting bracket on the back that also acts as a support when the speaker sits horizontally. This bracket is keyed in such a way that the speaker can be angled up or down (or from side to side, when mounted vertically). The WS-60’s central Teteron tweeter is flanked by three 3.5" woofers on either side. In an arrangement similar to the WS-100’s, the WS-60 has two active drivers immediately next to the tweeter; the rest are passive.

The baby of the series is the WS-15. Only 6.7" high, it has a 1" Teteron tweeter and a single 3.5" woofer, as well as a wall-mounting bracket keyed to permit placement at three different angles.

The AS-P4000 subwoofer has a compact narrow enclosure that measures 17.5"H x 11.5"W x 18"D. The driver, a 10"-diameter injection-molded cone mounted on the bottom, has a 1.5" voice coil and a 28oz magnet. According to Athena, mounting the woofer on the bottom increases a sub’s placement options in typical rooms -- close proximity to walls won’t affect the sound as much as with a front-firing cone. The enclosure has two ports, one on the front and one on the bottom. The woofer is driven by a manufacturer-rated 100W nominal (400W peak) amplifier. The connections include a single line-level input and speaker-level ins and outs. The AS-P4000’s crossover is dead easy to set with Athena’s System Control Technology (SCT): just dial in the model number of your main Athena speakers. The only irksome aspect of the sub’s construction is the use of cheap spring clips for connection with the main speakers: awful to use, but thankfully unnecessary in most home theaters.

My overall impression is that the WS series is a well-thought-out line of speakers, but I was a bit bothered by the lack of a bipole surround model. However, you can substitute Athena's Audition AS-R1.2 bipole rear speaker and still get an excellent timbral match all around.

Listening

I used the Athena WS system in both my dedicated home-theater room (20’ x 14’) and my family room (14’ x 12’). It was more suited to the latter -- the closer proximity of the walls made the Athenas sound more fleshed out -- so that’s where I did most of my listening. I placed the WS-60 atop my TV, 8’ away, with the WS-100s on the left and right, also 8’ away. The WS-15s ended up immediately to the sides of my listening seat and 5’ away. The best position for the AS-P4000 sub was in the left front corner, with the front port facing into the room. My modest Outlaw Model 1050 receiver, rated at 65Wpc, easily drove these speakers to high volume levels.

I got a great sense of what the Athena WS system could do while watching Road to Perdition. This fantastic movie has great dialogue, good surround effects, and a well-recorded music score. The WS-60 shone as a center-channel, Tom Hanks’ voice sounding crystal clear. I’m quite particular about center-channel speakers, and often get annoyed when the high frequencies drop off as I change my position. I experienced this only ever so slightly with the WS-60 -- a remarkable achievement, considering that many higher-priced center-channel speakers I’ve auditioned exhibit this trait more obviously.

Thomas Newman’s score for Road to Perdition was wonderfully conveyed by the WS-100s. The piano, in particular, sounded natural, with smooth, extended highs and a good sense of weight. The front soundstage was wide, extending well outside the speaker boundaries. The timbral match of all three front speakers was excellent, too. Chapter 5 includes a scene in which the dialogue jumps from the right WS-100 to the WS-60 center-channel. With the 1" Teteron tweeter and 3.5" woofer common to all of the speakers, it wasn’t a surprise that the dialogue sounded identical coming from both front models.

Chapter 5 also includes discrete and diffuse surround effects. In one part of the scene, a machine gun fires and shells drop onto a concrete floor. The sounds of the shells hitting the floor were nicely rendered by the WS-15 surrounds, with distinct positioning. In another part of the scene, rain pours down. The wide soundstage of the WS-15s spread the sound to the sides of me, but the dispersion was a bit too directional to completely envelop me.

The AS-P4000, too, was an excellent performer -- and so compact that I didn’t expect it to perform as well as it did. But when placed in a corner, the AS-P4000 was not easy to locate by ear, providing even bass throughout my room. Although it won’t plumb the depths that larger, more powerful subs do, it didn’t embarrass itself. The machine gun in chapter 5 of Road to Perdition sounded very heavy with the AS-P4000 subwoofer in place, but without sounding boomy. When I tried the AS-P4000 in my larger room, this scene sounded visceral there too, with the same evenness of bass as in my smaller room.

Comparison

Finding a system comparable to the Athena WS series was difficult; nearly all thin speakers are either very expensive, or very cheap and don’t sound very good. However, I thought an interesting comparison would be the Infinity TSS-4000 system, which I reviewed in October 2005. This system is similar in concept to the Athena, with a long, narrow, aluminum enclosure housing three 3.5" midrange drivers on either side of a 0.75" tweeter. This system uses the TSS-SAT4000 for the main, center, and surround channels, and has multiple bases and brackets for mounting on wall, floor, or stand. The Infinity TSS-SUB4000 subwoofer is much more sophisticated than the Athena AS-P4000, with a 12" cone and Infinity’s R.A.B.O.S. room-equalization circuit. At a list price of $3994, however, the Infinity TSS-4000 system is more than three times the price of the Athena WS.

In terms of build quality, I give the nod to the Infinity system. The TSS-SAT4000 feels more substantial when you pick it up -- understandable, given its higher cost. However, I liked the proportions of the Athena WS-100 better than the TSS-SAT4000 on its integrated floor stand, which brings the Infinity up to an ungainly 48" high. The Athena WS-100’s elegant black grillecloth is another nice touch.

Comparing the Athena WS-100 to the Infinity TSS-SAT4000 with two-channel recordings revealed the main difference between them. Holly Cole’s "Train Song," from Temptation [CD, Alert Z2-81026], has heavy bass that’s difficult for many speakers to reproduce. The Athena WS-100 was engaging to listen to, and able to produce some semblance of bass comparable to that from a conventional bookshelf speaker. The Infinity TSS-SAT4000 sounded thin in comparison. With the WS-100, you can get away without a sub; the TSS-SAT4000, however, needs one.

When I watched DVDs, both systems admirably handled surround effects -- such as the cacophony of bullets flying in Team America: World Police. With monopoles in the rear, these effects were localized at the surround speakers with both systems. Where the Athena WS series performed better was with dialogue. When I watched The Professional, Jean Reno’s voice sounded more forceful with the WS-60 than with the Infinity TSS-SAT4000.

The Infinity TSS-SUB4000 subwoofer was in a different class from the Athena AS-P4000, which is only to be expected: the Infinity sub lists for $1249, the Athena for $300. With Infinity’s R.A.B.O.S. setup system, the TSS-SUB4000 can be fine-tuned to sound tighter. This made the thump of the bullets in Road to Perdition sound punchier and more realistic.

One drawback of all thin speaker systems I’ve heard, including the Athena WS and the Infinity TSS, is that at high volumes their cabinets audibly vibrate, coloring the sound. When I cranked up Holly Cole’s "Tango Til They’re Sore," I could hear a hint of boxiness in her voice with both systems. This is one area in which a well-designed bookshelf speaker will exceed the performance of a narrow-baffled sealed speaker.

Conclusion

The Athena WS-100 / WS-60 / WS-15 / AS-P4000 is a rare system. Typically, narrow-baffle speakers either cost a lot and sound bad or cost a lot and sound good. This system sounds good yet costs little, which makes it a giant-killer. Like a thin-panel TV compared to a CRT, the thin Athena WS-100 has some shortcomings when compared to a system of typical wooden box speakers. The main deficiencies I heard were colorations at high volume levels. But at normal levels, the Athena WS performed very well. And because they take up so little floor space, the Athenas are house- and spouse-friendly, something that conventional box speakers seldom are. If you need further endorsement, my wife can give it: The Athena WS setup is the only system that she has ever insisted we buy.

Manufacturer contact information:

Athena Technologies
3641 McNicoll Avenue
Toronto, Ontario M1X 1G5
Canada
Phone: (416) 321-1800
Fax: (416) 321-1500

Website: www.athenaspeakers.com

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