AUDIOPHILES - Is this a good receiver/speaker package for under $1000?

Question

Hey everyone, this will be my first home theatre setup and I'm wondering if this system is a good price at $699.99. I think the Athena speakers are good but what about the Yamaha receiver? Please check it out and let me know what you think! Thanks!

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10077063&catid=#

Answer 1

Not bad. The Athenas are crisp and articulate, and matched to that subwoofer by Athena, but the sound is still a little thin, and the sub lags behind the performance of the sattelites and center. I had the bigger Athena 12'' sub, and sent it back. It had enough power and bass extension, but it was muddy and inarticulate. And I couldn't dial out the muddiness with the crossover or the volume, because it wqs producing excess energy at around 80HZ. The Yamaha reciever is good, and for $700 bucks, the package is a good deal. The weakest link is the sub. And if you're after realistic volume levels with that sub - forget it. For $300 dollars more, you can do much better with separates.

Answer 2

That system is a great buy especially with the $300 off. Athena is part of Klipsch - not made by them, but under the same umbrella, so quality control is huge for them. In that same price range there is a top rated Home Theater in a Box from Denon called the DHT687 - $699. It comes with a DVD player as well, so you get a little more bang for the buck. If you are looking in the $1000 range you can keep an eye out for the Klipsch/Yamaha package that Future Shop and Best Buy do on a regular basis. This is similar to the one you are looking at but included the Klipsch Quintet speaker package and 10" subwoofer. The 10" sub (SUB 10) is the top selling/highest rated sub in the country and has been for 3 years running. The Quintet package is the top selling surround package in the country as well. They package the system all together right at $1000 on a regular basis and compared to the Athena package it would smoke it. Only thing is, if your budget is $1000, and you spend $1000 you won't be able to get all the wiring and accessories that you will need.

If you get high quality speaker wire, optical cables, sub cables, etc for the Athena system it will be a great sounding package, and will all come in under your $1000 budget.

I do training nationally for Best Buy (own Future Shop), but do not work directly for them, so I have unbiased opinions for you. If you have additional questions don't hesitate to email me through my profile, or check out my blog below for more posts similar to this.

Answer 3

Hi, u can get some pretty decent computers for under $1000. If u play a lot of music and do some stuff with photos. Then get any nice decent computer for that price. You could get a Windows Vista pc for that price withput any problems, however if u want to improve the hardware a bit then why not use Linux and since its free and improve ur hardware specs a bit more. If u choose Windows then make sure its Windows Vista, since Windows Vista's new security features resemble the Linux kernel. U could still try Linux if u want since u don't play games I guess. Here is what I think u could get for ur price: intel core dual 2.0 ghz 2gb ram at least 80gb hard disk dvd-rw built in sound and lan card 256 to 512 mb vga card mouse keyboard webcam monitor of course The computer will run Windows Vista without any problems. Good Luck and take care!

Answer 4

The Athena's suck ***. Get something else, they are cheap and boomy sounding speakers and are quite large in size for what you get. Stick with a more respected name IE:Polk Cerwin Vega, Yamaha, JBL, Klipish etc. You get what you pay for!!! A decent reciever alone is at least $500 bucks. You would be way better off to buy $700 worth of reciever and shell out $300 more for a decent pair of speakers. It will be more worth it in the long run. Excellent sound from 2 speakers or SHi11y sound from 5 crappy speakers.

Answer 5

There is a system from Denon and Boston Acoustics thats sold at Circuit City.
The Denon Home Theater System DHT687BA
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Denon-Home-Theater-System-DHT687BA/sem/rpsm/oid/159500/catOid/-12954/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do
IMO, Denon Receivers sound more natural compared to Yamaha's overly bright sound.

Answer 6

yeah its a good system heres a similar system that you might want to look at. Yeah its a good price and atherna speakers are good.

this is a complete THX certified 7.1 system for under $1,000
Onkyo HT-S990THX
http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/501999644

Dont buy bose and you will be ok

Answer 7

all good quality equipment.
Yamaha have been around forever and make great equipment
Athena are made in Canada - nothing wrong with that