How many own (AR) Acoustic Research speakers?!! (1 Viewer)

[RISUG]

It WOULD be the one day I'm not online that an AR party is
thrown -sigh-.:frowning:

Better late than never I guess. As most already know I'am
a disturbingly ecstatic owner of a pair of AR1 power towers
. They are the L/R front channels in my 5.1 setup......and
the wing beneath my wings.



P.S: Take all the love and enthusiasm Rocket and SVS owners
have, and the combined sum would barely be equal to that of
a gnats eye in comparison to how I feel about the AR1's.

 

[Curtis]

Hey Terence,
It's good to know that I'm not the only one out there enjoying my HT set up using these AR speakers as they are a very nice set of speakers.
Slim and sleek.
Heavy with adjustable spikes etc,etc.
Black cabinet which blends in well with any decor.
And most of all they sound damm good!!!!!

 

[Dale B]

Hello Brett. Yes they do sound better than the bose. When watching movies is where I see a great improvement. I can see why people bash Bose. I have been trying to convince myself for over a year that the were good. Also my wife liked them because they were small, but now that I got the ar's she is content. Me to for now?

 

[DanaA]

I have some AR M4's, the holographic type, in our living room. To be honest, I haven't listened to them much for years. They're more for my wife and kids to listen to their music, while I listen to mine in the bedroom.

I did use them quite a bit in the past though and liked them a lot. On some pieces, like Holst's The Planets and certain percussive and accoustice pieces, they were/are magic.

Every now and then, I wander out of my lair and say, "Hey, those speakers still sound pretty darn good."

 

[DanaA]

I wanted to add that my first home theater had all AR speakers, 2 M4's, and 3 M3's, along with my trusty Onkyo Pro-7 Receiver and a sub made by Yamaha that got good reviews then, but would be pretty inadequate next to the subs put out today. If I recall, this was about 1987-88.

 

[Alex F.]

I have a pair of the original AR9s, purchased new about 1981. They sit, unused, in my home, patiently awaiting replacement of the foam surrounds in the 12" woofers and 8" lower-midrange drivers. I haven't decided, though, if I will keep or sell them.

The sound quality of these ol' friends is awesome, but the only place I can utilize them in our new home is in the theater room, which is still filled with unpacked boxes (and the lonely ARs). Unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to make a perfect tonal match with a center channel and surrounds.

Presently, a set of Polk LSi-25s and their supporting cast are my leading candidates to replace the AR9s. LSi-25s, which we also use in our den system, share many sonic similarities with the AR9s.

 

[GabrielC]

Running a full set of ARs right now,

Front: S50's
Rear: 208V's
Center: C225PS
Sub: S112PS

and then have an extra pair of 208V's and one S50 that I might use for a Center or Rear Center one of these days...

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Alex,

How much for the AR9's...... How is the finish on the
cabinents? Do you have the original packaging cartons?

 

[terence]

This is great! All of these AR owners chiming in old & new speakers, man this excellent. Hey GabrielC & Curtis. How do you like your S50's? Do you use the spikes? Lastly are they bi-amp or bi-wired?

I'm using the spikes and mine are bi-wired. I found the bass tightened up when i finally installed the spikes a while back. When i bi-wired them only heard a slight improvement.

 

[Scott_Lip]

I'm actually involved in the sale of Recoton, and I can tell you that Gemini is not bidding on the Audio division, only the accessories.

There is a "major manufacturer" of consumer electronics bidding on the entire Recoton package that has GREAT plans for AR. They are a publicly traded company, and can be found in many major retail stores. It's not any of the names that have been mentioned here.

There are also 3 other MAJOR names who are interested in Recoton. Believe me, no matter who gets them, they WILL be back in a big way.

I was actually thinking of either purchasing the HC6 setup, or a setup consisting of S50's, S20's, SC2, and the P1010 Sub. Anybody recommend one over the other? THANKS

 

[Curtis]

Terence,
I really like my S50's as they sound good and can pump out some strong bass with or without the sub-woofer on.
When I first purchased them and hooked them up I had them bi-wired using AR's 10 and 12 guage speaker wire. Once we moved I didn't re-hook them up doing the bi-wire method because I couldn't really hear a difference.
I hooked them up straight from the 5ES receiver using AR's 10G Master series speaker wire with banana plugs and I left the gold jumpers off. I replaced the gold jumpers with speaker wire. Yes I use the spikes because of carpeting in my HT room.
The only puzzle that I coulnd't ever figure out was those Foam Plugs that came with all of the speakers.
I left them out and stored them for now. Do you know what the Foam Plugs are for ?
Thanks

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Curtis,

The foam plugs are for the Bass Reflex Ports. AR designed
those speakers to work as Bass Reflex or Acoustic Suspension (Aka Vented or Sealed).

Sealed should be more musical in most cases. Give it a try
and see what you conclude.. You will most likely loose some
output but the output should be tighter.

 

[GabrielC]

terence: I like my S50's right now, they sound great to me, not too harsh. The bass extends pretty low, but when I add in the sub, it makes a difference. Even without the sub though, I've found myself forgetting that it's not turned on, b/c the speakers do a great job for the full range.

Then again, I haven't tried using the spikes yet, and I'm on carpet, so maybe that will help out even more.

I tried bi-wiring once, but I didn't notice much of a difference at all, I don't have proper equipment though, I don't have any kind of decent amps to attempt that, I'm running them off a Samson S1000 right now though and they like the extra power for sure!

I've actually tried looking hard for another pair of S50's, or even a single one (I have an extra S50 speaker sitting in a box) to use for surrounds, but I couldn't find a place selling them.

 

[terence]

Curtis Brett got to your question before i could, good job Brett, glad you love them Curtis.

Scott, if you can find the S50's go for it, the S40's are great as well & the S20's can be used all around if you can't find the towers. The SC2 center compliments the S50's,S40's & S20's well, good luck in your search.

GabrielC try the spikes you will hear improvement in the bass, also good luck finding S50. I think AR stop making them.

 

[LanceJ]

Recoton also owns Advent (& Jensen too) I believe....and unfortunately, that once proud company quickly went down the toilet.

Any news on an Advent revival?

LJ

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Jensen and Advent were down the Crapper long before Recoton
bought them out.

Recoton also owned NHT up untill a few months ago and I
don't recall anyone saying NHT had gone downhill. I guess
once Jensen and Advent's reputations were smeared by other
previous ownerships that Recoton didn't bother to promote
any products from said companies.

 

[Scott_Lip]

Jenson and Advent will be going to the company that buys the Audio portion of Recoton. While theses brands have been hurt, they are definitely not dead.

 

[terence]

There is a "major manufacturer" of consumer electronics bidding on the entire Recoton package that has GREAT plans for AR.

So Scott, can you shead any light on what is in the works for AR? What have you heard?

 

[Scott_Lip]

Of course, I can't really say much. But I will say that if "they" win the bidding, they plan on expanding the AR name into other home audio products, for example shelf systems, MP3 players, etc. Look for a much larger presence in the market.

The really good news about this buyer is that they already have an excellent manufacturing supply relationship with a number of factories in the Orient. The prior supply problems should be a thing of the past!

 

[David Lawson]

Man, I can't believe I missed this thread. I have Performance speakers all around (PS2262 mains, PS215 surrounds, and Brett's old C225PS center), paired with a JBL PB10 and Aura bass shakers.

Dale, I'm glad someone here jumped on the h.h.gregg blowouts! There are some insane deals to be had there, from the HC series to the Stature line.