I recieved these speakers from a friend and use them as rear surround speakers. I cant believe how great these sound as surrounds. I looked at the reviews about these speakers and they dont look so great, but use them as surrounds and you will be blown away. I saved about $500.00 by trying them this way. Was going to purchase a set of paradigm surround but no need to. So if you want to save the cash try them out as surrounds you will be amazed.

Value ! Good speakers if you have very limited funds or for garage,kids room or maybe even surrounds if desperate.Very sensitive speakers, but hang in there as loud as I would want to listen to them. I say even today you would be hard pressed to find a speaker that sounds this good for 200$.

Fatiguing at higher db's if you using for front speakers. It really needs a sub-woofer to fill in the lower frequencies.

Decent little bookshelf speaker. I was starting over after a divorce and bought a cheap set-up consisting of these and a 300$ a/v receiver.The speakers performed marginally at best. I then bought a 5.1 sony htib and used the sub included to play 2 channel stereo with ar's and they sounded better.I then came across a good deal on a adcom 5500 and hooked it up to my pre-outs on receiver and who these little ar's came to life.The ar's had decent treble,mid-range and the bass was decent for a 5.25" woofer.The speaker actually sounded good and not stressed in the higher db range, which I would of never of thought.I'm not saying these are hi-end speakers but I have seen 500$ speakers that don't sound as good and these cost 60$.

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Value wise ? magnephan mmg's, ascend 170's.

Small size, cheap.

Sound awful.

I bought these as a replacement for some Mission bookshelf speakers I gave to a friend in exchange for a loan he gave me to buy some rare speakers Dick Shahinian designed for Harman Kardon about 35 years ago. I have them hooked up to an old Harman Kardon receiver which I have attached to a computer. In my opinion, they sound awful. They are bright, brittle, have NO bottom end (which is understandable given the size of the drivers) and not musical in the least. I suspect I'll be happier replacing them with a $79 pair of computer speakers. The only reason I have not is because I don't have any place for the HK receiver.

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Mission bookshelf speakers

Appearance, price, and bass extension (for their size). Fine for home theater surrounds.

Forward sounding, and need a sub.

I bought these to replace a set of Boston Acoustics HD5's. I was going to put them into an audio system. When I first hooked them up, they sounded terrible. I let them run for several hours and they had improved a great deal. They are a bit "punched up" and I generally like a speaker that is "warm". After a few days, I decided to take a pair of Klipsch KG1's out of my home theater setup and replace them with these. They sound fine in there and take up less space (making my wife happy). I would say that they have things they do better and not as well when compared to the Boston Acoustics. The bass extension is much better on the AR's. They look better and feel quite solid. The BA's are a bit smoother.

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Boston Acoustics HD5's (are exactly the same size and fit in the same box/packing)

Look Nice Small light weight

did not sound nice, was very disappointed

I bought these speakers and returned them within 4 hours. I went to vision's looking for a small pair of speakers to replace my fronts, and these could not do the job. They sounded like they were missing some sounds. I was disappointed, and would not recommend these speakers.

VERY clear. Fit and finish first rate quality, binding posts. NICE high range frequency, though not as warm as the Bose as i'd like.

Can't expect good imaging, or soundstage for this price. No bass, but i fixed the problem with a sub.

Good speaker for the price.

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Bose 201 IV- very good for classical music or if you like the warm feel. Bose Acoustimass 10- exellent, but too pricey.