solid construction, sound produced, price

none

I just moved into a new house and home theater was project #1. When planning my system setup, I researched interconnects. Monster was just way to overpriced.....if I had the money, I still would not have bought Monster.

The Acoustic Research Pro Series was exactly what I was looking for. The cables are well constructed and although you will not see them, they also look great!

I would recommend these cables to anyone who wants quality and performace without having to buy a lot.

My system:
36" Sony WEGA (KV-36FS12)
Sony SAT-A50 DSS
Harmon Kardon AVR 110
Harmon Kardon HKTS1 Speakers
Panasonic RV-31k DVD Player
Acoustic Research Pro Series Interconnects

Solid construction tight contact with connectors.

None that I know of.

I am of the opinion that high end interconnects are generally a waste of money and are essentially jewelry for one's system. That being said, I also think the basic connector cables that come free with your components are of poor quality. Found interference with one set and a short in another(radioshack)prior to getting these. The construction of the AR is solid and tight fitting. So far I am very pleased. I purchased an AV set that came with an S-video cable and one pair of audio interconnects. These seem to be of equal quality to the Monster Cable at a cheaper price without all of the confusion of their multiple line choices, which is staggering. Sound quality is marginally better, but I feel much better knowing that interference and connections are good. Better than I expected. I would recommend these interconnects to those users who want to upgrade to decent quality with out a high price. An excellent bargin.

Similar Products Used:

Monster Cable, RadioShack gold line, in baox cable interconnect

Warm, involving sound.

None really.

I bought these interconnects because of a good review in Home Theatre Magazine. I connected them between my Arcam Alpha 7 CD Player, and my NAD 3240PE amp. I regularily use Wireworld Oasis for this connection. The AR's are warmer sounding than the Oasis, but not as bright and "airy" sounding. I would recommend these cables to someone who has an overly bright sounding system. They will really calm that situation down. A well balanced, good sounding interconnect.

Similar Products Used:

Wireworld Oasis

Great value, great bargain

There is a world of difference between these $20 cables and $10-$15 Radio Shack cables. There is more sound, more detail, better depth.

I thought that cables were cables- just a pathway for electrical signals. However, after switching to these
AR cables, I was definitely convinced of differences in cables. Before, the sound was throttled, in a sense, with dynamics and range trimmed. These cables bring out more sound- the sound is fuller and more complete.

These may not be the best cables out there, but they're definitely a bargain.

Similar Products Used:

Radio shack

Acoustic Research Pro Series: great value for the $

none for intermediate audio

Installed a brand new home theatre system, and could not believe Monster cable prices! So I bought all Acoustic Research Pro series: component, RCA, & S Video, toslink, coax, RCA audio, 12 GA wires, and banana connectors - online at www.Consumer-Direct.com Instead of spending approximately $1,500 on Monster, I spent $400 on comparable AR connections. I have $1,100 in my pocket and a smile on my face.

These cables are a great value!

Onkyo TX-DS 696
Polk Audio RM 6600
Polk Audio PSW 350
Panasonic DVD-CV51

Similar Products Used:

out of box cables

Clearer more detailed, criper and more dinamic sound. Well built quality

None

I was not a believer in better cables, I thought that a good interconnect or a standard one would make no difference in the qaulity of sound, so I replaced the cd player interconnect with one of these and after I heard the difference I ran back to the store and bought a full set of replacement cables and interconnect fr my system. I gained a 20% in overall sound quality and the annoying hum I had in my subwoofer is COMPLETELY GONE. If you have cheap cables don't wait any longer, REPLACE THEM!. They will improve the sound of any system even the less expensive ones. Acoustic Research cables are an EXCELLENT VALUE for the money.

Low cost cable that made difference. Cheap.

Cheap. Cheap, really cheap radio shack RCA cable. It's the same quailty as the monster cables.

I got this interconnect from ac4l.com They were selling it for 14.97 dollars. I saw this interconnect at lowes and it was 19.99, so i ordered the cable at 12/31/2000. THe interconnect arrived at 2 days later even though it was ground shipping. That's what I call service. The cable itself made a big differnce. I hooked it up, played Starwars Empire Strikes back and noticed huge clarity and bass respond from my old CHEAP radioshack cable. Please don't buy anything from radioshack. They are cheap. Just last week I bought monster cable audio optical cable to find some difference between optical cables and interconnect. It mad no differnce what so ever! I couldn't believe how I spent 44 dollars on monster cable and there was no audio improvement. Monster cables are just too dang expensive and did nothing to my system. Anyway, this speaker is worth every penny. I would recommend for everyone. Thanks.

MY system.

Yamaha 5150
Infinity system CC-3 center speaker.
Pair of Sony SS-MF 515 use it as front.
Pair of Acoustic research PS-318 use it as front.
Pair of old argon speakers for using rear.
Audiosource 15 inch 200 watt subwoofer.
Onkyo DX-730 CD player.
Sony 32 inch Tritron.
JVC VCR.
Creative PC-DVD encore 12x wih decorder.
DVD player is using AR S-video cable to TV.
DVD player is using AR coaxial cable to my receiver.
CD player is hooked up with AR interconnect.
Cheap Philips cable wires all around.

Similar Products Used:

Monster cable 6.6 feet optical cable

Good quality for the price, good looking cable

none that I can find

Although I am not one who believes that cables make a huge difference, I recently changed all my RS gold interconnects to Acoustic Research and am glad I did. I am not going to say there is a huge difference in sound quality, although I do prefer the AR cable. HDCD encoded discs now sound better played through the Denon DCM-370, before I really didn't think there was much difference. I am not going to say that RS interconnects are cheap, but since I have several of them laying around it may be fun to take a few apart just to see. If you are looking to buy some inexpensive interconnects, digital coax, or optical cable give AR a try.

Similar Products Used:

Radio Shack gold series

Neutral, sweet highs, good dynamics, focus and soundstage

Poorly marked L&R connectors.

This review is actually for the new AR Performance Series interconnects, specifically the AP030 (3' length). It comes as a patch cord, but the two cables can be easily peeled apart. The construction is the same as the Pro Series (OFC, twisted pair, Mylar foil shielding, directional balanced line, PVC jacket).

My sonic impressions refer to and are valid only for the setup of my second system:
Sherwood CDC-5010R (a changer hailed by Hi-Fi Choice as a budget wonder)
NAD Monitor Series 1000 Preamp (an unsuccessful product)
Adcom GFA-535II amplifier
Mission 760i speakers

I used the AP030 interconnect to feed the CD signal to the preamp, after burning it in for a couple of days. Compared to the Monster Interlink 400 (old edition), the improvement was noticeable in terms of openness, detail, ambience, midrange neutrality and sweet highs. The Kimber PBJ sounded more brilliant, solid and dynamic, but also revealed the inherent grain of the inexpensive SS equipment. The AR cable topped both the Monster and the Kimber in rendering massed strings, producing a very appealing atmospheric sound with plenty of inner detail. It was also very effective with kick and snare drums, capturing most of the reverberations. Voices were also clean, present and expressive.

All in all, a cable with a relaxed yet lively presentation and no detectable vices in that particular setup.

In a higher-resolution system (linking a JVC Z1010 Digifine player with a CJ-PV10 tube preamp) the AR Performance Series showed its limitations compared to the Kimber PBJ. The soundstange shrunk and in complex passages the sound became somewhat congested, making it a bit difficult to follow individual instruments or musical phrases. Still, its performance wasn't too shabby for a $12 cable.

If you have a mid-fi SS system like the one I described, the AR could be just the right interconnect for it. No reason to spend more.

Similar Products Used:

Monster, Kimber.

Quality, Price

No local availability

Put the finishing touches on my HT system by installing A/R interconnects and speaker wire. Great value for the money, like others here, I believe that cables make a difference. But I also don't believe that a $200.00 cable is worth the slight advantage it provides! I am especially happy with the video cable - it made a big difference in picture quality. This is my system:

NAD T761 A/V receiver
NAD T550 DVD player
Panasonic Stereo VCR
Panasonic 32" Monitor
Boston Acoustic A-100's - Front
Boston Acoustic VR912 - Center
Boston Acoustic CR9 - Rear

Sounds fabulous! If you are in the market for an excellent inexpensive speaker, try the Boston CR9. These are the rare bookshelf speaker that sound better than many $500.00/pair floor speakers! Listen and enjoy...

Similar Products Used:

Monster