Athena AS-P400 Subwoofer Speaker
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Similar in Home Theater Speakers and Subwoofers
- Speakers Function: Subwoofer
- Connectivity: Cable
- Magnetic Shielding: Not Magnetically Shielded
Similar in Home Theater Speakers and Subwoofers
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Athena AS-P400 400 Watt Subwoofer - Powerful Bass, Good Sound
Pros
Price, power, sound quality, looks, build quality, ease of integration with Athena speakers
Cons
Power cycles on/off with low-volume material, not very small
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
The Athena AS-P400 is an excellent sub for moderate to large rooms. It looks nice, sounds very good and does not cost an arm and a leg...
I have used the subwoofer from the Athena Point Five speaker package for about a year and change and then bought a replacement: the Athena AS-P400 for $173.
The original black subwoofer (Athena P.5) was rated at 75-watt and had a down-firing design and a port in front. The subwoofer tended to get boomy at moderate to high volumes and was definitely not adequate for my other components and the room size. The Athena AS-P400 fixes this problem.
About Athena AS-P400 Subwoofer
The subwoofer is powered with 100 W RMS, 400 W peak power output, 23-120 Hz frequency response. It has a front-firing design with a port in front. The subwoofer uses an injection-molded 10-inch woofer and Mosfet amplifier. It features auto on/off with dual-colored LED status indicator, internal protection circuitry, anti-clip circuitry and MOSFT amplifier.
The subwoofer is rather large and weighs 28 pounds. It is made of solid medium-density Fiberboard (MDF) and it top and sides have dark/black wood-like finish. The rear panel has a line-level subwoofer input and speaker-level inputs and outs. I use the line-level input.
The front is silver with removable black cloth grille. The front panel has two knobs to adjust volume and low-pass filter frequency. The latter has markings in Hz as well as the letters for pairing with other Athena products (F1, F2 floorstanding speakers, B1, B2, .5 system).
In Use
After the sub arrived, I attached the cone-shaped feet, plugged it in and attached my subwoofer cable to it. I immediately discovered that the P400 worked much better than the original sub in my moderately-large room. No more boomines, better (faster) response, tighter bass, more volume when needed and look better coordinated with other Athena speakers I have (F1, C.5 and S.5).
I have used it with my Panasonic SA-HE70 receiver and later with my Panasonic SA-XR55 digital receiver. I use the subwoofer's low-pass filter set to F1 position when I listen to music in stereo with my Athena AS-F1 speakers and to .5 when I use my Athena Point Five system when watching movies.
The P400 blends perfectly with either F1 speakers or the .5 system both aesthetically and sonically. The sound is excellent. The bass is tight, well-controlled and powerful when needed. The presence effect is stunning. On numerous occasions I was going to get up and see if somebody knocked on my door when somebody knocked on doors in movies. Helicopters, gunshots have the same effect.
During music reproduction, heave notes are pronounced and the impact from low-frequency instruments is amazing. The sub goes pretty low and even reproduces sounds that you can feel rather than hear.
There is a small issue with AC power. The subwoofer turns on and off automatically (the LED is red when the sub is off and green when it is on). If the power level from the receiver to the sub is not high enough to make sub realize it needs to be on, but the volume fluctuates (like with any movie or music), the sub starts cycling power on/off, making low-volume noises. It is not a big deal, but a bit annoying.
Bottom Line
The Athena AS-P400 is an excellent sub for moderate rooms (up to 400 sq feet per Athena). It looks nice, sounds very good and does not cost an arm and a leg. I highly recommend it.
The original black subwoofer (Athena P.5) was rated at 75-watt and had a down-firing design and a port in front. The subwoofer tended to get boomy at moderate to high volumes and was definitely not adequate for my other components and the room size. The Athena AS-P400 fixes this problem.
About Athena AS-P400 Subwoofer
The subwoofer is powered with 100 W RMS, 400 W peak power output, 23-120 Hz frequency response. It has a front-firing design with a port in front. The subwoofer uses an injection-molded 10-inch woofer and Mosfet amplifier. It features auto on/off with dual-colored LED status indicator, internal protection circuitry, anti-clip circuitry and MOSFT amplifier.
The subwoofer is rather large and weighs 28 pounds. It is made of solid medium-density Fiberboard (MDF) and it top and sides have dark/black wood-like finish. The rear panel has a line-level subwoofer input and speaker-level inputs and outs. I use the line-level input.
The front is silver with removable black cloth grille. The front panel has two knobs to adjust volume and low-pass filter frequency. The latter has markings in Hz as well as the letters for pairing with other Athena products (F1, F2 floorstanding speakers, B1, B2, .5 system).
In Use
After the sub arrived, I attached the cone-shaped feet, plugged it in and attached my subwoofer cable to it. I immediately discovered that the P400 worked much better than the original sub in my moderately-large room. No more boomines, better (faster) response, tighter bass, more volume when needed and look better coordinated with other Athena speakers I have (F1, C.5 and S.5).
I have used it with my Panasonic SA-HE70 receiver and later with my Panasonic SA-XR55 digital receiver. I use the subwoofer's low-pass filter set to F1 position when I listen to music in stereo with my Athena AS-F1 speakers and to .5 when I use my Athena Point Five system when watching movies.
The P400 blends perfectly with either F1 speakers or the .5 system both aesthetically and sonically. The sound is excellent. The bass is tight, well-controlled and powerful when needed. The presence effect is stunning. On numerous occasions I was going to get up and see if somebody knocked on my door when somebody knocked on doors in movies. Helicopters, gunshots have the same effect.
During music reproduction, heave notes are pronounced and the impact from low-frequency instruments is amazing. The sub goes pretty low and even reproduces sounds that you can feel rather than hear.
There is a small issue with AC power. The subwoofer turns on and off automatically (the LED is red when the sub is off and green when it is on). If the power level from the receiver to the sub is not high enough to make sub realize it needs to be on, but the volume fluctuates (like with any movie or music), the sub starts cycling power on/off, making low-volume noises. It is not a big deal, but a bit annoying.
Bottom Line
The Athena AS-P400 is an excellent sub for moderate rooms (up to 400 sq feet per Athena). It looks nice, sounds very good and does not cost an arm and a leg. I highly recommend it.
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