Hi... i am a huge music lover, i love nice clean stereo sound, without any colorization, as u can tell by my stereo audio gear: CD player: Micromega Stage 3 Amp: Cambridge Azur 540D Speakers: Rogers LS35a
After years of passive resistance, i am considering buying a 5.1 system, partly to please my soul mate (who would luv to listen to movies in 5.1, we are in the movie business and we have to watch every movie that comes out), mostly because i am attracted to SACD and DVD-A (i've listened to my 1st DVD-A yesterday, 5.1 remix of a classic folk album from Quebec, and it was so wonderful)...
Now, as you can tell by my audio gear mentioned above, i do not like "bright" sound, i am not looking to impress my neighbours, i am not tring to break glasses. And i do not have a home theater room. It's in the living room, and it is cluttered with toys, books and everything that comes with a big family.
Now (finally) my real question: Athena Micra 6 has received high praise in many magazines I've read. There is this deal, which is almost over, at Future Shop in Canada (Web only!). 360$, instead of 700$. (They also have Athena Point 5 at 500$). Looks like a deal impossible to decline for somebody who would like to start a system, with not too much money to spare.
But i won't be able to listen to them before the deal is over.
So tell me, what do they sound like. Are they musical? Bright? Will i hate them after 2 weeks? Or should i use my Rogers as a basis for a 5.1 system and buy other speakers to complement them? What other music lovers do? Keep a separate stereo system from the 5.1 monster?
I'm not familiar with Rogers speakers but if you are happy with them I'd buy their center channel speaker (if they make one). If not, buy one identical speaker to the L/R ones you already have and use that as a center (if they are available singly). It's very important to timbre match the front 3 speakers, esp. since these do 90% of the work in most applications.
Then buy whatever cheap $100/pair bookshelves you can for your surround L/R, maybe Fluance sv-6 or Polk R15.
The Athena packages are pretty good for their market segment but would be very overmatched by your other components. I have listened to them briefly in stores where they did sound rather bright to my ears, but they are still an excellent value in that price range.