Great sound. Shallow depth (compared to my Paradigm center)

cant swivell down, only up. This is bad for mounting on top of a big screen TV.

Great center, blends well with rest of the HI-Res line up. Using mine with AR-S300, AR15, and AR17 speakers and Onkyo TS-DX676 receiver. The grill also comes off easier than the other Hi Res speakers, which is nice. Overall, great value and great sound, so i hightly recommend it.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm CC-300

Looks,sound quality

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I got the speaker deal of my life recently. I went to a regional chain store and got an awesome closeout deal on a pair of AR9's($398,normally $600-$1000) AR17's ($119/pr.) and the awesome AR4c center channel for only $85!! For the price I paid and the quality of the sound I just couldn't go wrong. The tweeter deliver's great highs and the dual 5.25" woofers do a great job on the mids. This an excellent center channel. All my AR speakers handle my Marantz SR7000 excellently. By the way, I highly reccomend the SR7000 to any one looking for an awesome 5.1 ch. receiver. Sorry to get off the beaten path, but again, the AR4c is a great center channel.

Similar Products Used:

Infinity,Klipsch

Crisp, clear dialog; great bass push for FX

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OK...I bought the DVD Player...then, you know what happens next: stereo upgrade! So...for a few weeks, I looked and I listened to rear channel speakers and center channel speakers...I listened and listened and then BAM! A Center Channel that gives crisp clear sound, great bass, awesome highs.

My first component system (circa 1981) had a pair of AR18-S Bookshelfs that served me well and provided many hours of enjoyment. I liked the company and the product; so while testing a lot of stuff, it never occoured to me to listen to AR again. Needless to day, AR still kicks! Best Center Channel I listened to! Others I listened to sounded too "tinny" and very artificial. This product was warm, crisp and clear.

My new system is an Onkyo TX-DSS575 (5 stars) receiver hooked up with a Sony 550 DVD Player (5 stars), Advent Laurent Front Speakers (circa 1994...which i *refuse* to part with...5 stars), the AR-4C Center Channel, and AR Edge Speakers (5 stars) for Rear Channel. TV is a Sony 36" XBR. All these components compliment one another, from the great picture on the TV/DVD, to the superb *warm* sound I get when playing either Video or Audio. Btw...Onkyo's receiver has 5 channel stereo surround, and CDs has never sounded better...particularly because of the amazing depth that this Center Channel provides.

This ran me about $250, but well worth the price. If you're shopping, try this product out and compare it with the others in it's price range. Quite simply, it's the best out there, imho.

Yeah...I'm *finally* happy with my system...for now...until the next technological breakthrough that renders this system obsolete!

Regards,

Ken

Similar Products Used:

(listened to) Paradigm, Polk, Infinity

Legendary AR reputation, Visualy pleasing design, Use of High Tech driver materials

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------------------------------------------------------------
Before I start the review I just want to let everyone know
that you CAN anglethe AR4C downward (for us RPTV owners) To
angle it down you need to rotate the pedastool around so
that the foot of the pedastool faces to the back of the speaker.

By doing this you can get a great deal of downward positioning
and the speaker still remains stable. I run AR4C toed down
about 30 degrees set up with a laser so that it hits the
sweet spot.
------------------------------------------------------------

Construction:
The AR4C is a 3 driver D'Apolitto Design (Mid-Tweet-Mid)
The Mids are 5.25'' Magnesium-Aluminium Alloy Hemispherical
with Butyl Rubber Surrounds, Cast Aluminium Baskets, Heavy
Magnet Structures and heavy Magnetic Sheilding. The 1''
Tweeter is made from pure Titanium Alloy that has been treated
to a Diamond Hardening process as well as being Anodized for
looks.

The enclosure is made of a heavy ABS plastic finished
in a matte grey-black color, the inside of the enclosure is
lined with Poly-Stuffing, Binding Posts are heavy 24K Gold
Plated 5 Way's that accept Spades, Banana and Bare Wire
termination. Around the drivers there is a open cell foam
that acts as an wave guide for the Tweeter and it also is
for asthetic purposes. The enclosure also houses a cast
Aluminium pedastool that allows you to angle up or down and
mount the center to a wall.

Sound:
Naturaly, sound is a very subjective property that many will
debate over till the end of time. Idealy all speakers would
sound identicle as we are trying to accurately reproduce
recordings. But in the real world this is impossible. Each
speaker has it's own set of features that determine the sound
quality that said speaker will output. The AR4C as like the
rest of the Hi-Res Series, is a very high sensitivity speaker
that can play loud and clean with little input power.

The
sound is best described as vivid but not overly bright. The
use of metals in all the drivers lends it's self to great
reproduction of metallic sounds, be they from stringed or
wind instruments or in a movie sense from perhaps a crash
scene. Vocals are ultra clear with no traces of distorsion
at the highest of volume levels.


My Equipment List:

Receiver: Onkyo TX-DS787 THX-Select 100wpx x 6ch
Monitor: RCA 61" RPTV NTSC Home Theater Series
DVD Player: Panasonic CV51 5 Disk Interlaced DVD Carousel
VHS VCR: Phillips 4 Head Hi-Fi
Front L/R: Acoustic Research AR9 Towers
Center: Acoustic Research AR4C
L/R Surround: Acoustic Research 216PSB Bookshelfs
Back Surround: Acoustic Research C225PSB Center Channel
Interconnects: AR, Monster, RCA Home Theater Series
Speaker Wires: Mains Bi-Wired with D.I.Y 12awg 16awg CL2 for
Surrounds (In Wall)
Other: X-10 Lighting Control
Remote: Sima SUR-20 (Pronto TSU2000 in a week or so)

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer, Sony, Infinity, Phillips, Auditioned various other brands.

Sound Quality, Size, Price

none

I'm more than happy with this purchase. Cost me $160 + $30 for shipping.

Similar Products Used:

none

Great sound, looks good

None

Picked up a "like new" on eBay for $125 including shipping. Came packaged in the box, looks brand new to me. Sounds incredible - and looks great. A great speaker!

I just got these Center speaker to go in to my masterbedroom's HT system. I wasn't able to find the old CS25HO since they are discontinued. I was told the AR-4C will match tonal with the 312HO I have. So I went ahead and got them.
To my surpise, it did match. I tried several movies with lots of dialogue, and it sounded natural. Than shifting left->right and than right->left it was smooth, with out any tonal differences.

There isn't much I can say more about these center speaker as they are ment to be use for strictly dialogue. It definately deliver what was expected. Like the CS25HO, it has a tilt, that allow you angel the center speaker which ever way you prefer. It's locked in by 3 hex screws.

PS: These looks EXACTLY the CS25HO....Same drivers and setup.

Matches wonderfully with my AR7s.

Could use a bit of the AR2's bass, but not really worth complaining about. (The AR2's bass ain't that great.)

The voice matching claims of AR seem to be true. With my AR7 fronts, you can rarely pinpoint the source of dialog, especially when there's music in the background.

I say go AR.

Similar Products Used:

Atlantic Technology 153c (piece o' junk)

clear high ends nice looks

none at this price

great sound the high ends are very clear much better than bose center channel matches well with my ar15 you will not find a better center channel for 165 dollars

Similar Products Used:

bose sony

Price. Matches perfectly with other AR Hi-res speakers. Sleeker than AR2C.

none

I considered getting the AR2C over the AR4C and found that I could not justify spending the extra $130. The AR4C worked perfectly with my AR1s, fit perfectly atop my TV (the AR2C is rather obese because of the downfiring woofer) and sounded no different than the AR2C. The voice dialogue during HT use is very crisp and clear.

Similar Products Used:

AR2C