All I can say is ......"My God!". I don't know what all of these bad reviewers are listening to but mine sound great. Not necessarily at low volumes though because they don't start talking until you crank up the volume. I bought my pair at the Recoton Factory Oultlet for, get this, 399.00. Thats right. I said 399.00. The right speaker had a slight imperfection in the wood front and they lower the price on it as damaged goods. I am running a Kenwood 1090VR Receiver as a pre amp and the speakers are actually connected to a pair of bridged Rotel 850s giving me 150 watts per side at 8 ohms. I also run a Klipsch KSW150 Subwoofer with my system which may or may not help. Low volumes they sound good but once you push these puppies beyond the 100db point ( measure it with a radio shack sound meter) , they really talk. No distortion, no fatigue, they literally beg for more power. Midrange strong, treble not too bright, and the bass tight and clean. I live in FL and my house is on a slab which may or may not make the difference. I don't know what they would do in an apartment or a house with wood floors or a crawl space underneath. I would think that you would need solid footing under these to keep them in line. by the way, I also bought a pair of 208HOs for 129.00 at the same time. They sound pretty decent too, I've got them in my office hooked to an Onkyo system of separates with 150 watts per channel also through the M501 amp and 301 preamp. Hey, I used to kick the resets on my DCMs, and using the equalizer was out of the question. The 312s will take all I can give it. Its hungry though, so feed it lots of power. Happy listening all.

I got the AR-312HO two days ago from Accessories4less.com for a little more than half the price because the speakers are supposedly factory second (slight cosmetic imperfection, but full factory warranty still applies). I would recommend these guys to any one looking for a good deal on a variety of quality audio products. Right out of the box, I could tell these speakers were not shy performers. I burnt them in for a day and the sound stage has already opened up beautifully. These speakers really have no weakness; the bass is solid thanks to a 12 in. woofer, the midrange is supported by a pair of 51/4 mid drivers and the highs!! Sweet and precise. The only negative that I can see for now is probably the sound stage that is not as wide as I would like, but then again they have been playing for only one day; they can only get better with more playing time to loosen the drivers. These speakers are five stars all the way. I would recommend them to any one.

Just got my 312s and they do sound a little lean. I'm no expert or audiophile but I'm setting up a HT and have the Yamaha RX-V2095 as the HORSE for this system. I think I'll try the Bi-Wire thing. I have hardwood floors and even with the sub (ar s112 ) I can't quite get the bass to sound like I want. They do sound great however with the DVD movies I tried. These babys are heavy, 74lbs. I'm assuming the spikes are for carpet? What that does I don't know. It doesn't say anything about them in the instructions. I guess I'm supposed to be hip enough to know. Also, I'm going to move them around a bit. The side woofers are facing out away from the TV towards the walls. But there is a cabinet on one side and it may be affecting things. I'll add to this if I get any improvment from the Bi Wiring. I'd have to say they are well made and good looking with alot of punch!

I have had the 312's about a week and with HT they're great. For music they seem to really need a quality source. I have them connected to the Yamaha 2095 and using the various sound fields I get the sound I like. I would guess these are mid priced speakers and certainly not top of the line but some of the reviews I really don't understand ( ie Werner ) These cannot possibly be as bad as he says. I looked at much more expensive speakers and didn't see the quality of construction I see in these. The point is, why would AR build something so lousy in sound as Werner says and totaly ignore their performance? It doesn't make sense even to me who is no "audiophile" but I suspect that there is bias in some reviews about these speakers. I didn't even audition them because my environment is no where near what they have setup at the stores and they play tricks to push what they want to sell. I'm going to try the BI-WIRE thing as AR suggests it will improve sound. Anyone know why you have to run two sets of wires instead of jumpering them in right at the terminals? This seems to be the same connection electrically.

I find every aspect of these speakers to be extremely pleasing. The tight, well-defined bass is simply magical. You have to turn up the volume a bit to really hear how distortion-free they are. The midrange is clean enough to eat off of. When I first auditioned these, it was the midrange that struck me as unusually present. I guess it's the forwardness refered to many times in other reviews. I find it pleasing because it's not tiresome to listen to. These speakers sound at their best with music focused on vocals, but they sound great with all kinds of music. I believe the treble is spot on, with fantastic imaging and a nice sense of depth..more so than I've heard in most any other speaker. I've had these for about 8 months and have loved every minute of it. They are equally fanatasic with dvd's and cd's. They are heavy though!

312s are great for HT. It's like having three 12-inch subs when matched with AR s12ho. Audio lacks imaging although it is really difficult to have an excellent audio and video speaker for the price of <$600. A wise compromise for video and audio enthusiasts.

have 312's on A-ouputs and 308's on B-outputs for 4 speaks on L,R front playing at same time (hope my amp holds up). the 308's really add midrangew to the sound of the front channels. combined the sound is fantastic. 312's alone seem to lack some midrange at medium volume and the 308's fill in the gap. low volume the 312's are very natural sounding. mid volume seem bright without the 308's to fill in the midrange -but with 308's on same channels ->fantastic. medium-high volume the 312's stand alone quite well since 12" woofs kick in. may get sepatate amp for woofs, since bi-wireable, for better stand-alone sound. only have 60w/channel amp so cant judge high vol. i play music/videos with treble and base on neutral and loudness button off, 14'x20'room (60w/channel plenty).
seem to be getting less bright with usage (or i'm getting used to them -only playing for 3 weeks). expect brightness from 1" tweet and two midranges at listening level (tall speakers) combined with high efficiency(97db)and only sitting about 8'-10' from them. indirect the speakers dont sound bright at all of course, in fact the brightness helps for indirect listening.

while i was very wary of these speakers at first from the isolated bad reviews here, i have to say i'm very satisfied after listening to them nearly every day. expect as they break in they'll get even better. i was sold on them recently when i heard trumpet/piano-jazz on them -sounded perfect. also sound great with billy joel's cd -storm front, and titanic soundtrack as examples.

have to give them 5 stars even though 308's are combined since the 308's were designed as part of a system with 312's and again, combined ->they're fantastic.

I have listened to this AR 312 HO about one month now. For me, I just love it.They have very good balance among high, mid and bass. Mid range sound is very clear(sometime is little bit too clear). Bass is not boomy. I enjoy this pair very much. Overall 5 stars.

Very happy with these speakers. Bought them for a little under $500. For the money, I dont think I could have done much better. They are very suitable for the music I listen to. Very clear. I would Recommend them.

Mad efficiency.

I've had these 6 months now and I love 'em...except when I have to move them:-). They sound great in general but I can see where people might say that the highs are a little powerful. I've always liked my music with the treble and the bass knobs up a little though so don't mind it one bit heck I think it brings out details that you normally miss. It makes guitars sound great.
I highly reccomend bi-amping them too, if you have the means. We did it and you'ld be amazed how much base the 12's can pour out with just a little extra power. Forget buying a sub, get a second amp cheap and you'll have more crystal clear base than you could possibly need for HT or even the worst rap music. I honestly did put the sub in the closet.
Snap these up if you get the chance. They get better with age...