AR Speakers (1 Viewer)

[Angelo_c]

Hey,

I would like to know if anyone owns AR 11's in the Hi res which is in the Hi Res series...

Anyone who does have one.. I was wandering how do they perform and if they are a good buy... And the process of bi-wiring i cannot understand how to do that on them....

I am also really considering a setup which is AR 11 as my mains, the AR 4C as my centre, and the AR 17's as my rears..

I am also plannin to get the Onkyo TX-DS696.. But was considering to get 797 until i realised that i don't need 6.1 or 7.1 ... As my HT area cannot support it... In terms of money and want... I really do not see the need. And THX maybe but thats not a big thiung for me..

So if anyone could tell me there Thoguhts on this setup please feel free..

And to those in Australia (Sydney) If they could tell some other dealers that Sell AR speakers .,

Thanks

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Hey Angelo,

I see you made it to the forum! Welcome !

The sad part is that there aren't many AR Hi Res owners on

this forum. AR in general seems to be an obscure brand these

days. AR actualy invented the Acoustic Suspended Loud Speaker

and over the decades have made many speakers which are known

as audiophile quality and giant killers. I am a firm beleiver

in AR as you no doubt known from our discussions and I can

not say enough good things about them.

This whole forum tends to push brands like Paradigm,B&W,PSB,

Totem,nOrh,Axiom,Energy and JBL. There are nothing wrong with

any of those companies and most of them also offer terrific

bang for the buck, so to speak.

If you can I would suggest auditioning as many speakers as

you can, that fit inside your budget and see which speakers

you prefer. Chances are if the AR's you demo are connected

to a good receiver and or seperates with good clean power

then you will be impressed.

As for Bi-Wiring, this is not needed but rather an added

benefit. AR designed most of the Hi Res series Towers with

seperated Lows and Mids/Highs for Bi-Amplification purposes.

Bi-Amping means that you take 4 mono block amps and use 2 blocks

to power the sub section and 2 blocks to power the mids/highs

section. Or you could take a 4 channel stereo amp and do the

same.

Bi-Wiring on the other hand is when you take 2 identicle

length runs of wire and integrate them so that one end merges

into one set of Banana or Spade lugs and the other end terminates

into 4 spade or Banana plugs. You then remove the gold tie

straps between the Binding Posts on the speakers and plug

the 4 connections in to the Sub and Mid/Hi section and then

you take the other end and plug that into your receiver and

or seperates.

I have my AR9's Bi-Wired only because I make my own cables

and it did not cost me any more to do so. I honestly can't

say that I noticed a diffrence at all.

 

[Steve Fisher]

I have a pair of AR-5's for my main speakers, an AR-2c for my center, my side surrounds are AR-15's and my rear surounds are AR-17's. I just upgraded to an SVS 20-39 PCi for my sub. The system sounds great. It's a Denon 3801 7.1 setup. I have been a fan of AR for a long time.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Wow this is a post from the past
I have my AR9's Bi Amped now, the lows are running off an
ARS-500 Sub amp (500 watts) and the highs are running off
and Onkyo M-282 2 channel power amp and it sounds lightyears
better!
I have done some mods internally to the 9's as well. I
stuffed the cabinents with 50% Pollyfill and I replaced
all of the internal wiring with 12 Awg 99.9% OFC and I
will be replacing all of the mid and high frequency
inductors and capacitors on the XO's.
For a mainstream speaker at a very affordable price they
sounded great.. They now sound stellar and they just keep
getting better!
Ultimately though as good as they are they will take a
back seat. I am keeping them for Home Theater but for 2
channel music I am building a pair of Line Arrays that will
stand about 7' tall and run those off tube amplification
ultimately!

 

[Yousaf]

Right now I am using the AR15 speakers and they are really good. They handle power well, have a pretty crisp and detailed sound, and play pretty much the way I want speakers to play. If you happened to read my other thread about upgrading I am doing this mainly out of curiousity because I just don't know what better and more expensive speakers sound like.

With the AR prices as low as they are now, I don't see how you can get much better speakers for the price. You can find AR15s pretty for around $200 pretty easily, and considering that they originally retailed for $500 you're getting a pretty good deal.

 

[Greg Kolinski]

I'm still running my old TSW 510's for my front channels.Pretty sure that anything in my price range would possibly be a downgrade.I bought them in 91,originally went out looking to buy some Bose.The little shop sold both Bose and AR's,when I asked about the Bose the owner kinda smiled and let me demo a pair(cant remember which ones).Then he asked me to listen to this brand I never heard of, Acoustic Research,BIG diference.His comment was "Yeah".10 min later I left with the AR's.
Greg

 

[ChadLB]

Hey Angelo_c
I have that exact setup and love it. For the price I couldn't pass them up(www.accessories4less.com). My friend has the same receiver as I do and definitive speakers and well personally for the price I like mine just as much as his if not more. Take a look at my pictures and setup. I will soon be selling my AR subwoofer and going into the SVS line..just not sure which one yet.
Any questions drop me some mail.