Nice Bookshelf speakers by a new company

[Project86]

Radiient Europas

Brand is Radiient Technologies, new company started by some well known AV people. They are having a sale that ends 10/31. The best deal IMO are the Europa bookshelf speakers, regular price $199, sale price $99. They offer free shipping on all their stuff.

Review of the Europas (favorable even at the $199 price)

All of their other sets are on sale as well, but I don't have any info about how good they are... and if I was spending $250-500 on a speaker set (they are all front/center/rear sets except the Europas) I would go with something I could hear first, or something with lots of reviews. One option though would be building a 6 channel surround setup with 3 sets of Europas for $300 shipped. Add a cheap sub like this Athena P300 for $99 and you have a very nice cheap 6.1 setup.

Note: I have ordered a set of Europas for myself, I'll post a review when I get them, and if I don't like them there is a 30 day guarantee.

 

[dBTelos]

Similar to the Insignias found at Bestbuy? Much.

 

[Jenova314]

I'm not sure about the Europas, but the Athena P300 is absolutely horrid. I auditioned down at an AV shop in San Jose and could not stand the distortion.

 

[Project86]

Originally posted by: dBTelos
Similar to the Insignias found at Bestbuy? Much.

Yes there has been speculation that Radiient made them for Best Buy minus the tweeter on top. Someone (on one of the millions of Insignia threads on the various AV forums) claimed to have emailed Radiient about that, and the response was something like "yes we made them but no they are not the same, the Europas have a better crossover, better sound damping inside, the tweeter for extended range highs (to capture the subtle nuances in DVD-A and SACD), and video shielding."

I don't know how reliable that info is, but if true, those factors could make the Europas significantly better than the Insignias.

 

[Project86]

Originally posted by: Jenova314
I'm not sure about the Europas, but the Athena P300 is absolutely horrid. I auditioned down at an AV shop in San Jose and could not stand the distortion.

Interesting, I've heard great things about it but haven't had a chance to check it out myself. It is obviously a budget sub, so you need to lower your expectations a bit before listening...

 

[zephyrprime]

Originally posted by: Project86

Originally posted by: dBTelos
Similar to the Insignias found at Bestbuy? Much.

Yes there has been speculation that Radiient made them for Best Buy minus the tweeter on top. Someone (on one of the millions of Insignia threads on the various AV forums) claimed to have emailed Radiient about that, and the response was something like "yes we made them but no they are not the same, the Europas have a better crossover, better sound damping inside, the tweeter for extended range highs (to capture the subtle nuances in DVD-A and SACD), and video shielding."

I don't know how reliable that info is, but if true, those factors could make the Europas significantly better than the Insignias.

That all sounds reasonable.

 

[Project86]

++++++++++++UPDATE++++++++++++++

I just confirmed with Radiient that these are NOT video shielded. That won't matter for my purposes but might be a problem for some.

 

[slappomatt]

they look nice. specs arent that wonderfull thought. 86 DB sensetivity. not that unusual. but it certainly could be better. if you want them to get loud you'll need a bit of power.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: Jenova314
I'm not sure about the Europas, but the Athena P300 is absolutely horrid. I auditioned down at an AV shop in San Jose and could not stand the distortion.

I love my asp400 though

I definitely recognize its limits though

 

[Goosemaster]

$50/speaker?

Sounds too low. WAY too low.