Mounting Acoustic Research HC6 system? (1 Viewer)

[Corey W]

BradZ Thanks for the explanation...as you can tell im new to most of this whereas my dad has a lot better setup. Im mainly into computers etc.

I havent unwrapped any of my speakers but from looking at the back of the one the other day i dont think there are any holes in the back of the speakers at all.

I will check again when i get home from work to make sure and i will try to put some pictures up of one of the satalites.

Corey W

 

[Corey W]

Well looks like i was wrong there is a hole on the back of the speakers. I should have picutures up shortly though my digital camera is not the greatest.
Ok here are the pictures:
Front
Back
Corey W

 

[Brett DiMichele]

I just read this over at AR's Message Forum.
"First I called tech support at AR. They suggested I call omnimount (www.omnimount.com). I called Omnimount and spoke to a rep about mounting brackets for my HC6. They suggested ceiling and wall mount brackets that will use the 1/4 inch threaded hole on the back of the HC6 satellites. The model 25 RSTUMK mounts are for walls and the model 25 RWXUMK mounts are the ones for the ceiling. I think they said Radio Shack has the wall and ceiling mounts. The omnimount Furniture works model RC-1 floor stand wil also work with the HC6 satellites. They can be found all over the net. Hope this helps."
There ya go!

 

[Phu Vo]

Ok, my brother's speakers came in today. Keep in mind that a year ago, I bought the Energy Take 5 set, my first ever foray into satellite speakers, or HT for that matter. I have been one happy camper with those suckers ever since. We don't have time to hook up the HC6's till the weekend, but my initial reaction when I saw them was something like this:
HOLY MOTHER OF CHRIST! THESE SPEAKERS ARE BEAUTIFUL! AND I ONLY PAID 450 FOR THEM?!!!!
I bought these for my bro sight unseen. Even though, I have yet to hear them, it is safe to say that my Energy's are going up for sale this weekend. I will be getting a set of the HC6's for myself . These babies are absolutely gorgeous! I have Energy Take 5's, I have seen the new Take 5.2's, my friend has the JBL's from Best Buy, and my other brother has the Klipsch Quintets, I must say that the HC6's are by faaaaaaaaarrrrrandawwwwwaaaayy, a better looking and built speaker set in this class and price range. It isn't even close fellas. I am definitely an AR convert. I will post side by side comparisons and a opinion of the sound quality in comparison to my other brother's Quintets and my own Take 5's by this weekend. Nuff said.
P.S. Looks like I will have to sell those other mounts I bought. Corey, Brett, Thanks for the info.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Phu,
AR most definatly makes a quality product. Yeah I sort of
wish they offered real wood veneer's on thier product line
rather than using vinyl but the build quality of the cabinentry
is astounding. My AR9's weigh in at 65Lbs each... Dropped one
on my toe the other day and I was to say the least!
The Black Laqured finish of the HC6 has to be something to
behold.. Do they come with white gloves? I had read that AR
included a pair in every box.

 

[Corey W]

Well only part of my box ive opened so far is the Sattalite's and there was no pair of white gloves in them. Its possible that they are with Subwoofer which i havent opened yet since i havent set them up but they are beautiful.

Corey W

 

[Phu Vo]

They come with white gloves. Good thing, because they scratch easily.

 

[Phu Vo]

Ok, my brother did a great job of setting up these speakers this weekend. Not a wire to be seen. It is safe to say that these speakers are the real deal. Literally and figurativly. Literally, they were only $450. Figuratively, they sound and look absolutely great! I have had the original Take 5's for over a year now. Recently, I have coupled those with an Onkyo 595. I always thought that my system was a bit on the bright side. So after my brother set everything up, I brought over my Onkyo 595 since his Denon 3801 has yet to arrive, just so I could test things. The sound was nice and warm. It was incredible. I couldn't believe these speakers were running off my 595. I popped in Armageddon, and that first part of the movie where Charlton Heston is talking about the meteor crashing to Earth, came in nice and warm. On my Take 5/595 setup, Charlton Heston's voice comes in a bit bright. It is nice to hear Charlton Heston's firm voice come through nice and warm through home speakers for once. We then went through with Pearl Harbor to give the sub a workout. The main selling point of these speakers for me had always been the sub, what I had heard about the sub was the reason why I decided on this set over the other speakers in this price range. And that didn't dissappoint either.

Of course, I am not an audiophile, or an expert, all I can say is that the HC6 setup sound a whole lot better then my Take 5's. Good enough for me to go ahead and sell off my Take 5's to get the HC6's. I will post some pics of the speakers when I get home tonight.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Awesome Phu!

I can't wait to see those pictures.

My mother and her fiance will soon be looking to purchase

a Receiver and at the very least a 5.1 speaker package so I

told her when ever they decide to go, take me with them.

She is not sure yet if she wants towers or mini monitors so

when we go shopping I plan on auditioning the HC6 system as

well as Hi Res towers like I own. It all depends on what she

is willing to spend and live with (size wise)

 

[Phu Vo]

Take a gander at them Link Removed.
BTW, here is a pretty accurate review of these speakers here. Of course, he said they aren't as good as the new Take 5.2's, but then again, I have read other reviews where the AR HC6's are rated higher then any other speakers in its class.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Phu,

Great pictures, they sure are pretty.

As for the review you posted. I have to question any reviewer's

credentials when he states "there is no provision for wall

or stand mounting" yet right on the back of the enclosure

is a plainly visable 1/4-20 threaded hole for wall mounting.

And they could also be stand mounted, you just need the right

stands.

I will say that the Take 5.2 "should" have a better mid range

than the HC6's and frankly AR should have used at least a 5.25"

Midbass in the satelites (or at least 4.5") but I understand

thier reasoning and if the satelites can produce at least 80

Hertz then there should be NO GAP in transition from Sub to

Satelite at all.

Thanks for posting the images and that review, while I don't

agree with some of his words it still was a great review and

the Take 5.2's are also a nice system.

 

[Hai Tran]

I'm a newbie.
Ok ok, I'm convinced to stay away from the home theaters in a box. Now instead of spending under $400 for the Kenwood HTB-504, I'm going to get the Onkyo TXDS 595 and the AR HC6 and who knows what comes next. Thanks to this forum, my credit cards love me more and more every moment I spend time in here Here is my shopping list.
Receiver: I got a refurbished Onkyo 595 for $299 at bestpriceaudiovideo. It comes with one-year warranty.
Speaker: I'm in search for a place to order the AR HC6. I have tried electronicsemall but they don't have it in stock. Phu, would you tell me where you got it from. Thanks.
Cables: I'm planning to get two S video cables, 50' speaker wire 16 gauge, one optical cable.
Speaker mount: two set of Omnimount RST universal mount
DVD player: Panasonic DVD-RV31K or Pioneer DV-440, I think I'm going to pick it up at Bestbuy or Circuitcity.
Help! Do I need anything else? And where can I get the HC6 besides from crutchfield.com or 800.com
Thanks,
Hai

 

[Phu Vo]

Brett,
My brother got his Denon 3801 Friday and I helped him hook it up today. Funny how much different the sound is from the Denon then my Onkyo. Can't explain it, but it was different. More listening will probably tell me if I like one reciever's sound over the other. Especially, when my own HC6's come in. Denon definitely has a terrible remote and the setup is attrocious. Onkyo wins hands down there. In any case, I brought over SPR DTS and we cranked that baby up pretty loud, enough to cause one of my brother's neighbors to come over and complain. A first! A first of many I should say . Not resolute at high volumes my ass! I didn't hear distortion with the Onkyo cranked up all the way, and I didn't hear any with the more powerful Denon. I honestly think the reviewer had a biased opinion, not just on that point, but overall. I like to think of myself as having a good command of the English language since I learned it from the outside in. Again, I am not an audiophile or an expert, but the impression I got from reading that particular review seems as if part of him wanted to praise the HC6's and the other half of him did not want to get flamed for saying the new kid on the block, the HC6's, were better then the new and improved Take 5.2's. Since every time the Take 5.2's were mentioned in his review, they were preceded by "the HC6 are really good at this, but......" Other then that, I liked the review alot and I praise him for his inclusion of the Take 5.2's in the equation, as we all know that what everyone really wants to know is how well this stacks up against that. Everyone wants to make their dollars go a long way. A singular-focus review would have left more questions than answers for other readers. And he is definitely due his opinion, and vice or versa.
Hai,
You and I will have almost identical setups when we are done in terms of the reciever and speakers. So I am available for questions . I actually have a NEC LT150 coupled with a HTPC, but I plan on picking up a Panasonic RP56 so I can watch some of those less spectacular movies *ahem* token chick-flicks like Princess Diaries, for the ladies *ahem* on my 27" TV, plus the DCDi capable Sage chip inside the RP56 will help for the times when I watch video-based movies through my projector like my Robotech DVD collection. Electronicsemall is getting some more HC6 speakers early this week. My order from them for my set is actually delayed, but they told me to call on Monday to get bumped up the que. I suggest you make a phone order early Monday. Also............
WELCOME TO THE FORUM!
and say good-bye to your extra money.

 

[Phu Vo]

BTW, I updated my speaker page a bit. Added a short rant under the picture of the two center channel speakers. Check it out Link Removed. Also, I bought some of these mounts, as I saw the ones that Brett mentioned at the local Radio Shack (Fry's sells them as well) and they looked pretty "Radio-Shacky". I will post pics and a mini review (dissection of their design, ease of use, etc.) soon. Stay tuned.

 

[Hai Tran]

Phu,
I ordered mine at jandr.com yesterday after calling electronicsemall,simplycheap.com penniesonthedollar.com.
I'm anxiously waiting for those gorgeous babies.
Here are my questions:
Which one is better between digial coxial cable and optical cable. My DVD player has both output for those.
Do I need to get a special cable for the sub woofer beside the speaker wire.
And post your review about the speaker mount quick please.
I guess, I'm just getting too excited.

 

[Phu Vo]

Hai,

I shouldn't even touch that one. There is a huge raging debate about which is better. I personally use coax and have never had a problem, since my HTPC is about 15' away from my reciever and getting a optical cable that long would cost a ton. I made my coax cable myself with some Canare connectors and RG6 cable. I also have a PS2, and I have that hooked up with a cheap $10 optical cable to my receiver. Works fine since we are dealing with a digital signal here. I work with computers. And from what I know about digital signals is that they are either on or off. It either comes in completely, or it does not. Unlike analog, where the signal can be recieved at varying degrees of clarity (think rabbit ear antennae for older TV's). DTS and Dolby Digital are digital bitstreams, so you don't need rabbit ears at the reciever end to make sure the signal comes through. As long as the connections are there, there is not much to worry about. Coax tends to suffer from electrical interference, and optical suffers from jitter. Both of which can cause your sound to glitch during playback. But the real issue is cost. Optical tends to cost 4 times as much as coax.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Phu,
I read your comment about "Bigger is better" pertaining to
the center channels and I smiled.. Check out my Center channel!
This is the Hi-Res AR4C with 2 5.25" Mag-Alloy Mids and a 1"
Titanium Dome Tweet. Sitting atop a 61" 4:3 RPTV which in it's
self is HUGE.. This Center Takes up at least 1/4 to 1/2 of
the cabinent width!

 

[Hai Tran]

Here is another HC6 review
It seems like I have to do against the advice of the reviewer. I need to mount my speakers on the wall. I live in a small apartment studio. :frowning:

 

[tommy_esq]

Hai- did you get your HC6's yet and did you wall mount them? Just curious as to your results...

 

[Hai Tran]

tommy_esq,

Yes, I did. I haven't mount them yet. Partsexpress.com doesn't have the wallmount like those Phu got in stock yet.

The HC6 is beautiful in sound and look.