Customer Reviews

Athena AS-P6000 800-Watt 12-inch Subwoofer, Black

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This product has my highest recommendation. I am running other Athena speakers from a Yamaha receiver. I like the sound of deep bass, but I find myself limiting it to about 40% of its rated capacity. Anything more and it sounds like a teenager's more-bass-than-car is driving by.

Power to spare, yet not sluggish at all--suitable for both music and movies. The only caveat is its size. This is not a subtle sub.

That being said, if you can handle the coffee-table size, I do not think that anyone but the most discriminating audiophile would be disappointed with this product for the money.

Background: I am not a hardcore audiophile, just a casual listener.

I can't dish out big bucks for the most uber mega audiogeek sub. So I ended up getting a refurbed Athena AS-P6000, and got a tremendous value.

For 5.1 HT, the bass is strong and tight, it doesn't drone or roll on or flab out. Not boomy. Very CLEAN sound, not just one horrible mess of bass. This unit is being used in a medium sized room, and it has way more power than I need. I have the level set between 3 & 4 (out of 10), and the sub level on the receiver between 5 and 10 (out of 19), depending on the source. I dare not make it much louder because of the neighbors (duplex house). It is very easy to lose self control because there is a lot of available power (200 w rms, 800 peak), and it still stays clean at higher levels.

There is a defeatable auto/on switch, and the auto mode is completely invisible, seamless.

I got this unit for an HT system originally intended to be 95% movies, 5% music. But music actually sounds good with the P6000, so my system has evolved to around 70% movies, 30% music. I don't notice any mismatch between the Athena and my speakers, but that may just be because I'm using beginner-budget speakers to begin with. And I do believe Athena is categorized as a beginner-budget brand. All around I'm happy.

Just be aware of the size. It's huge, it's as big as a small nightstand. But 12" is a lot of speaker to build a cabinet around, so that is the tradeoff. For people with a smaller listening room or lots of furniture, keep in mind that your room placement may be limited.

For reference, the system I'm using the P6000 with is a Panasonic SA-XR55 with JBL E80 mains (bi-wired), EC35 center, E10 surrounds. The Athena P6000 seems to match well, at least to my ears. YMMV.

Unlike the previous reviewer, I DID do my research before purchasing this subwoofer. I was in the market for a sub and at first got sucked into trying an MTX-SW2 12" sub. It did not have either the dynamic range I was looking for or satisfactory performance with music. So, I decided to take another look at Athena. I have two Athena AS-F2 mains, an Athena AS-C1 Center channel, and 2 Axiom Audio m2i bookshelves as surrounds driven by a Yamaha HTR-5790 receiver. I had avoided their subs previously because I had seen some comments that they were just not up to par. But then I saw that the P6000 was completely reworked and used a BASH amp and decided to give it a try. I have not been disappointed.

Setup is quite easy if you own Athena mains. Simply set the crossover to match the model of your front speakers. If you don't have Athenas, frequency is also listed on the same dial and is easy to read and calibrate to match the proper crossover point for your speakers. The volume knob is also clearly marked with numbers to let you know the current level. Neither of these was present on the MTX I purchased, so I appreciated the attention to detail.

The sound of the unit is excellent. I have found it to be a great match for music as well as movies. It is unintrusive when music is playing, but provides great depth and extension. Getting a sub to blend in music environments can be a real challenge, but this one blended for me immediately. I have used it in both Stereo and multi-channel SACD environments with great results. For movies, the sub has plenty or power and extension. I have the volume set to about 1/2, and it will provide the kind of bass you can feel hit your chest in adventure movies. More than enough bass to rattle the windows too! But it's also articulate and accurate. Something I appreciate after the MTX.

Finally, the styling is really nice--Especially if you need to have the sub in a visible place to get the best sound. It's a nice contrast to the simple "black box" design of most subs.

So if you are looking for a quality sub that looks good and sounds great for music, movies, or both, I really recommend this product.

Worked really great for 372 days, then it died.

At first I thought it might be a loose connection since it was buzzing, but no luck on that front. I even swapped to a different cable, reset the receiver setting, etc. but no luck. The auto-detect feature that turns it on when detecting a signal still works (light turns green), but no sound comes out no matter what the volume setting.

I have a 7.1 all Athena Home Theater system (AS-F2.2 fronts, AS-F1.1 surrounds, AS-C1 center, AS-B1.1 surround backs, and AS-P6000 subwoofer).

Performance wise, I am happy with my system including the subwoofer

Why the 2 stars then?

The subwoofer's amplifier failed about 2 weeks ago, 2 days before the expiration of the 1 year warranty.

I was able to reach an Athena Tech Support Rep by phone without being on hold. He was knowledgeable and pleasant, and referred me to an authorized repair shop in Florida (Simply Speakers), where they were also very responsive. I am still waiting for it but so far the experience dealing with both companies has been positive.

BUT... in the process I've learnt that these amplifiers are prone to failure, and if that is the case, a 1 year warranty is too short. The standard warranty for the other Athena speakers is 5 years. Subwoofers from other brands have longer warranties Velodyne 24 months, Polk 36 months. Boston Acoustics 60 months. JBL 5 years.

I was lucky (if you can call that luck) that it failed before the warranty expired... That still meant spending $60 in shipping and handling, plus being without a subwoofer for what I'd expect to be at least 30 days or more to allow for transit time and repair time.

So, I'd rather be "luckier" and have a unit that does not fail.

If it had failed outside of the warranty period I would have purchased a replacement from one of the other brands mentioned above, instead of sending it for repair, because in such case it would cost $60 S&H to send it, plus another ~$60 S&H to ship it back, plus parts and labor... It's not worth it versus buying a new one.

UPDATE - January 2009

I received it back months ago from the service shop, and it has been working fine since then.

UPDATE - August 2010

Still running well. Perhaps the amplifier installed by Simply Speakers in 2007 was better than the original one.

UPDATE - September 2011

Still running fine.

My AS-P4000 amplifier fried 1 week before the 1 year warranty was over (thank god). The rest of the components carry a 5 year warranty but I was worried from the day I bought it.

I use the speaker-in inputs as opposed to the line-in because my receiver doesn't have a sub-out (O.K., I know, time for a new receiver). Anyway, I didn't push this thing very hard so was very surprised to discover it wasn't working one day.

I like and own other Athena speakers but probably wouldn't buy another of their subs. In any event, they've been bought out by Klipsch (since Klipsch bought API who owns Athena).

I'm very pleased with my purchase. I spent hours upon hours researching the best 'bang-for-the-buck' subwoofer out there. I did not want a sub that would just add bass and drown out everything, nor did I want one that would distort and make my experience less. I can safely say this subwoofer has met and exceeded my expectations.

If you are wanting a subwoofer that will shake your house, and probably make the neighbors mad, then this is actually a really good sub to get. I am still amazed just how deep and loud it can get with certain soundtracks and songs, literally making things bounce off the walls in my house.

However, if the sub is adjusted properly you will get a very nice, tight bass that will blend perfectly with your system. I typically keep the sub around 40% during movies and I adjust output from my Onkyo processor as to how loud the subwoofer is.

Pros: Can be as loud or as soft as you want it. Nice crisp and tight bass that blends very well with both music and movies. Does wonders for Lord of the Rings and Star Wars!

Cons: It could really use a remote control interface.

5 stars!

Update: I have owned this sub for nearly two years and it has now failed. Much like the other folks on the Amazon reviews the amplifier has given up on me and it is no longer working. The subs of Athena's only have a 1 year warranty (something I'm afraid I didn't look into very closely when I decided on this one) and I am SOL. Would I buy it again....since it failed, no. I will miss it tremendously though.

I've had this for more than three (or even four) years and still quite happy. I've got this sub for a steal because it was a demo model. Just to be safe, I got the store's extended warranty, and good thing I did as the amp died as others have experienced. So needless to say, the repairs were done at the same store with no additional fees (for shipping etc.) in a couple of weeks.

The sub is in a 5.1 setup that comprise of Athena F-1.2 front towers, WS-60 centre, and S Point-5 surrounds powered currently by a Harman Kardon AVR-3600 (which replaced an aging AVR-247). The system is well balanced with the sub providing sufficient oomph. Actually, I set the nob at 3/10 most of the time as it is too boomy beyond that for the types of music I listen to. Aside from being loud, this sub can go really deep. Even with the crossover for my towers set to 40Hz, the sub is still doing a lot of work in stereo mode where most subs will not between the 20-40Hz range. Needless to say, this thing knows how to rumble especially during movie sessions.

Aside for the reliability issue, it has no phase control and the sub is bulky but that is to be expected for a 12". I don't care about the last two 'issues' and my unit has been problem free for a couple years so I have to give it a 4/5 rating.

I bought this amp a few years back and was very happy with my purchase. Then the amplifier died and I wasn't so happy with my purchase anymore - plus it was out of warranty. These Athena subs are notorious for this problem. I bought another amp to replace the dead one so overall the Athena was an expensive purchase but I loved the sound so I bought another amp rather than just ditching it. I brought it back to life and I still love the sound.

I just wish Athena had fixed the issue. And I wish Athena was still around.

I have Athenas all around 5.0, and they are incredible speakers. I added this to replace a store brand Sub I had used for years. The P6000 amp gave out, in just under the warranty period, and I was luckily, able to ship it to be repaired, under warranty. The amp was bad and replaced. The second amp went out in about 6 months. Shame, the price was right, the bass was incredible (while it lasted). Avoid this for a long term relationship. I classify this purchase as a mistake on my part. Back to my favorite store branded sub from Circuit City.