very clear and "tasteful" sound. well built and high quality drivers and connection terminals (gold, screw down style or banana plug compatible)

heavy, but heavy means high quality parts inside. Little lack of bass, but that's why there's the AR2C

I bought this center channel a while back to complement my then 4 speaker setup. I actually didn't know which one to get til I clicked on the reviews for center speakers and decided to get the ar4c. This fits my sony 27" wega perfectly. The top of my tv slants downward and with the center speaker I automatically have it aimed directly at hearing position. I currently have these paired up with a pair of wharfedale emerald 97s, two polk audio dipole/bipole rears, and a sony modified 12" sub (driver replaced with a rockford fosgate He sub at 8ohms) I also took the time to spike the mains and the subs just for the heck of it. everything is powered by a harman kardon avr225 and the sound is great. the performance of the center speaker is fantastic for either movie or music! I had to lower the output to the center -3dB to match them to the wharfedales. Music sounds much better when using the hk logic7 dsp mode, guitars and saxaphones become life-life and vocals are clear, not too bright not to broad. Movies become more interesting to watch now because the dialog is so clear and I can actually understand the plot better. Before when I saw LOTR using a cheap center it always seemed like "Lord Selron" was mumbling or groaning whenever frodo sees the big red eye. But with the AR4C I realized that what he was groaning about were actually words! This center channel was worth every penny and I'm glad I bought it otherwise I don't think I would be satisfied with other centers at this price range! If your in the market for speakers, use the reviews posted here because they help a lot, it's the second best thing to auditioning speakers for yourselves. As for me there was only a best buy near and they mostly carry JBL products which I passed on after listening to a few, plus they were pretty expensive!

Similar Products Used:

wharfedale, polk, sony, bose, klh, jbl

Rich bass, crisp highs. Performs well as the main center speaker or the center rear speaker in a AR High Res set-up.

None for the price range. I have not experienced a problem with the tweeter like I have with the AR2C. Be careful when calibrating your receiver.

By far, this is the best performing center channel for the money. Much like its' big brother, the AR2C, this speaker has rich bass and very crisp highs. The mid-range speakers perform very well. This speaker is perfectly matched with other High Res speakers. I use if primarily for the rear center surround speaker. It delivers!

Similar Products Used:

Bose and Sherwood speakers.

Clear, loud and surprisingly musical

Unfortunately the speaker can't be angled downward.

I don't think it gets much better than this for a center channel speaker considering price/quality. Exceptionally clear for dialogue and loud enough so you don't need to reduce the amount of sound coming out of the other speakers. This was certainly a worthwhile upgrade for me and I have a perfect match with my AR hi-res fronts.

Similar Products Used:

AR 225ps

Sound/Respose freg

Quite big to put on top of my 68cm tv

Just had this centre speaker for few days.Love it - music is so tight and movies dialog is very clear/warm. I bought it to bring my current Bose (dual cube) to centre rear. AR4C is more sentive than Bose centre I found

Similar Products Used:

bose

The AR4C is a very solidly built unit that should last a long, long time. There is an adjustable foot to set the center line projection angle (mine is towed down slightly). The 4C is very efficient, and is very easy load for my Yamaha RX-V630 Receiver to drive. The funky green tweeter is very clean and detailed. The foam surround must contribute to this by reducing refractions at te cabinet edges. The 2 mid/woofers don't seem to interfere with each other and produce a strong bottom end, more than I would expect. The dialog is clear from one side of my listening area to the other, which is a great attribute in my book. Can you tell that I like this puppy? I heard Definitive Technology and a B&W center channels that would beat the AR4C but those units were between $500 and $600. That would be my upgrade path, but not now as I really enjoy the AR4C.C

This speaker is somewhat tall and needs about 8" of clearance above the TV. This may be a drawback to some, but I don't mind as the bigger drivers in the AR4C sound so much better than narrow speakers. Even though the 4C sounds really good, it could use some more bass, given the amount of sound that is tasked to the center channel on today's DVDs. I don't use a sub at this time, but a nice 10" powered unit would be very beneficial to fill out the bottom octive that the 4C is missing.n

The AR4C is my first center channel speaker so I didn't have anything to compare it to. I went to several friends homes who had surround systems to get an idea of what worked and what didn't. I quickly concluded that the HTIB systems weren't very good (just barely better than the TV speaker) and that most of the smaller MTM centers were lacking. The best one close to my price range was a row of 3 NHT Super 2s that blended VERY well, but they don't make those anymore. I had read a good review about using 3 B&W DM303s and liked that combination until I ran across the AR15 + AR4C combo. The ARs sounded a little crisper and a little more forward than the B&Ws. I also tried the AR2C, but I didn't feel it was worth the extra money as I wasn't feeling the little extra bass it offers. When I hooked them up at home, the AR4C was a little harsh and it overpowered the AR15s (it is more efficient and therefore plays louder). After breaking in all the speakers, I played with placement and adjusted the levels in the receiver. This step is critical because the center was 2.5 dB louder than the left or right speaker. The center also likes to be slightly over the edge of the TV. Once the adjustments were made, the speakers were now a team! WOW! I was truely amazed at how good the AR4C was, especially since is cost less than $200. DVDs really give a center channel speaker a workout, and the wider the bandwidth it has, the better. The 4C does very well with dialog. It just blows away all the little dinky speakers. It is well built and heaver than I expected. The large gold binding posts are solid and held my 16 AWG wire securely. They also have a richness to them that competing units under $200 lack. I don't usually use these with music, but the few times I tried it, they blended very well with the AR15 main speakers. I don't use a sub since I am in a small apartment, but I don't miss it except some action movies with lots of explosions (such as U571, Pearl Harbor). I have had these speakers for 6 months and recommend them highly. They do need a break in period, the positioning tweaked, and the levels adjusted to get the most out of them. Do it, and you won't be disappointed, especially at this price point. My equipment list: Main speakers: AR15 Center channel: AR4C Surround speakers: Cambridge Soundworks 17 A/V Receiver: Yamaha RX-V630 DVD/CD player: Yamaha DVD-920

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None, but it is better than the JBL, Polk, small B&W & Boston I heard in the stores and about equal to the discontinued NHT Super 2.

Great bargain!

None

Great speaker for the price - adjustable base, and AWESOME sound! Setup: Marantz SR7000 Acoustic Research AR15 fronts Acoustic Research AR17 surrounds AR4C Center Acoustic Research PR1212 sub Awesome bargain!

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm, JBL

Very clean sound. No noise

None

Perfect Center speaker for my system. Love this beautiful ar4c. Great sound. Very sturdy. Well built. Very clear sound. Low noise. Receiver: Denon 3802 Front: Energy Veritas 2.2 S L/R: Polk Audio FX300i SB L/R: Pold Audio FX300i Sub: Energy XL8S-1

Similar Products Used:

Energy, Polk Audio, Bose, Atlantic Technology THX

Bass handling, clear non-chesty sounding dialog in movies. Goes very well with the look of all the other High Resolution series line.

I personally do not like the plastic casing. For looks I prefer wood.

I bought these speakers some time ago. At the time I bought them they were CS25HO's. I opened the box up and ended up damaging the connectors. Well I had the speaker repaired and since the AR4C has a titanium tweeter I had the technician put in a new updated tweeter and voila now it is a AR4C (or at least it has the same specs). Well any way. I used to have a problem with the speaker rattling and that is why I ended up opening up the box in the first place. Well I read the advice of one of the reviews below. He suggested reversing the stand so that the speaker is actually facing down. He also went to state that it is good for those of us with RPT's. Well I then did do this and WOW WHAT A DIFFERENCE. I get absolutely no rattling. Since the rear baffles are facing up the are free and the bass is more extended. I am completely surprised at what these speakers can handle now. I have played music BASS heavy in pro-logic mode and the speaker doesn't so much as flinch at what's being thrown at it. This speaker is down right amazing. To be honest I really do not hear too much of a difference with the new tweeters, but overall the speakers sounds remarkably excellent. I believe that these speakers are ideally made to really be attached to a wall and not necessarily a flat surface unless that flat surface is retardant to vibration. I have noticed a trend and I refuse to follow that trend "for the price". Look forget the price, the speaker is an extremely excellent speaker because of its workmanship not the price. I paid $125.00 for the speaker and $80.00 for the upgrade.

Great sound

None

For the price this center channel is great. Compared to my old one this thing blows it away. Great sound..not to bright. If you can get your hands on one I would recommend it for the price to anything out there. My system: A/V Kenwood DVD: Pioneer VCR: Sony Center: AR4C Front: AR11 Rears: AR17 Sub: AR112PS The whole AR Hi res sounds awesome just need a new receiver.

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood

great match with other ARs

wont swivel down, only up

This center channel sounds a million times better than my Bose center channel. I couldn't find a better center channel for the price and service I got.

Similar Products Used:

Bose center channel