everything

nothing

The AR1 is the most spectacular speaker I've heard (wich cost less than 7500)
A friend of mine had the Sunfire True Subwoofer (8")and sold to buy a set of AR1 after listening to it for 1 hour at my place. You will never find a cheaper speaker-set than this, playing that great. how many 15"subs go down below 18Hz except the Velodyne and Sunfire subs.
The is excellent value for money.



My System consists of:
Yamaha DSP-A2
Yamaha CDX-493
Sharp DV560
AR1 front
AR2C center
AR15 rear

Similar Products Used:

Tannoy M3 w/SoundDynamics THS-2000

bass

just read the other reviews

An answer to Bob (last review). It really doesn't say much for people to say they are audiophiles but stand behind these speakers and say they are among the best. These are great speakers for a former circuit city purchser that is stepping up to some good home theater speakers. If you know anything or have listened to a real high end audio speaker you would laugh at these. I have left a review before and rated these low. I guarantee you that these bad reviews are not from the same person (hello!!) I'd say that bob is probably a retailer like the guy from a couple of reviews earlier, trying to sell their product. My sub blew, now how can you misuse the sub that has a built in amp and you set it at the reference setting? When I called ar (or rectum or whatever they call themselves) they said they send these things out all day long, they didn't even want the original one back!!! They just sent me a free one without checking to see if I was for real!!! You don't have to listen to me or the others but listen for you're self and I guarantee!!! that a true audiophile would laugh at these. Also watch soundpros, they were fairly nice but when I went to send back my speakers becasue I was unhappy with them and they had a blown woofer, they told me that they recieved them destroyed, and they could'nt take them back, they are unusable. I pay for the shipping back and they have a broken grill, and 1/8 of an inch scratch on the bottom. So I'm now stuck with these bohemoth of speakers, anybody like to listen to the 5 star reviews and believe them then you can buy mine!!! And it isn't my system that is bad, believe me, I tried replacing everything else to make these sound better.

Denon avr-4800
ATI at1505 amplifier
sony cd
sony dvd
MIT terminator interconnects and terminator 2 cables
horrible system huh!

see previous review

As promised I am adding an updated review in hopes it will help others with the difficult decision of purchasing these speakers. As I continue on my audio journey I have discovered a match made in heaven. I have paired the AR1's with a seperate subwoofer as I stated below. I just received a 20-39 PC from SVS subwoofers. I still stand by my original review and only add that they are still kicking butt, and I now have the super tight bass I desired by utilizing the SVS seperate subwoofer. Movies and music alike are amazing. Overall I cannot be happier with the setup I have now. I will not be looking for replacements for a long time. Exactly why I spent the extra cash. I will add that most individuals do not need to spend the extra money on the subwoofer, these speakers worked wonderful by themselves. It was just personal taste. The SVS totally complimented these speakers and all sound just flawless together. It is my opinion that the AR1's are a great speaker at a much greater value than any other I researched.

Internal Sunfire amp - 500 watts!

Expensive

The new Hi-RES speaker series from Acoustic Research replaces the company's successful High Output line. The flagship of the new fleet is the AR1, a three-way, floorstanding tower. Like the other models in the Hi-RES line, the AR1 has a 1-inch titanium tweeter coated with diamond via some arcane process Acoustic Research terms plasma transfer. The increased rigidity provided by the coating purportedly expands the driver's frequency response.

The tweeter is centered between two midrange drivers, each of which couples a 1-inch copper voice coil to a 5.25-inch cone fashioned from an aluminum-magnesium alloy.

Last but far from least is the AR1's 15-inch woofer, featuring a paper cone and a sealed-enclosure design. The driver is powered by an internal Sunfire amp delivering 500 watts, and a roll-back circuit prevents the voice coil from overheating during prolonged use. Between the woofer and the tweeter, overall frequency response for the AR1 exceeds the limits of human hearing on both ends, going from 18 Hz to 23 kHz.

Externally, the AR1 is conspicuously high-end, starting with the gold-plated five-way binding posts in back.

The AR1 is available in Black and Cherry Woodgrain finishes. Get yours at only $664.50 each!

The reviews here do not impress me at all. From the www.acoustic-research.com web site, I could not find any end user support information, no phone number no e-mail address. There is no dealer locations. There is also no company information !!! What a poor marketing and web design !!! It is the worst I have seen. The www.bostonacoustics.com and www.energy-speakers.com sites are much better.

It makes me to believe they do not have good post-sale support. If you are paying the retail price of $2100 to $2400, it does not seems to worth it unless you trust your local dealer for the post-sale support. If you buy from internet, it could be a big problem on support !!!

I got a pair of Wharfedale speaker from ubid, and the services from the Wharfedale dealer is very good even we only pay 1/10 of the retail cost. Just check out the review for modus and sapphire model, then you know what I am talking.

Occationaly, I see the AR1 speakers selling from $1200 to $1800 at different auction sites (ebay, excite and yahoo). Actually, you could buy the new AR1 for $1400 at many online stores with full warranty. Someone told me the www.cnet.com which compare prices for your for many products.

After 4 months, I still could not find any dealer in my area who carry this speakers.

I hope this review does not disappear. For some reasons, some of my reviews on other product disappeared !! I hope it is not intentional to try to remove bad review here in order to improve sale. I do not want to mess up the rating, so I put one 4 and one 5 here.

Look ok

Don't sound ok

I must say these speakers sounded good in the showroom but
when i got them home they fell on their face. The bass is weird, it is not detailed, but it isnt thumpy either.
I guess mushy is the word. Like one other reviewer i felt the tweeter just did not cut it, to dark a sound for me
very little imaging . My old 12 inch 3 ways pissed on em.
My listining room is very revealing of a speakers true nature, it is a sound eater, all the above speakers had a differnt sound and i now truly belive that the acoustics of the room are 70% of the game. Now have 600 watt sunfire with Al 1000 and in this room it is not that great but better then the AR. Bookshelf speakers sound silly in here.
I have a small pair of PSBs in my beadroom and they sound great in there but in listining room they were blowin insulation out the port and i was just turning it up.
Well the rent is cheap. While cranking the ARs the round cover on the sub which is not easy to remove was poppig off
from the force of the woofer and i was still wanting for good clean bass.Spikes are a pain and will bend easy if not careful. this speaker was just out when i got it so i paid
like 2200 pair (it lasted a week).The value rating is for what i paid.

Similar Products Used:

PSB stratus gold i , Klipsh ksw 30 , cerwin vega al 1000.

smooth mid & high

cabinet workmanship

I have concern about the bass. I bought it purely based on the review in Stereophile without listening to it first. I did listen to the previous generation (High Output series) product. The reason I bought it was it could go deep. I was pretty satisfied with the bass performance of NHT 2.5 I previously owned but was wondering what a speaker can do with capability down to 20Hz. So I sold the NHT 2.5 and bought the AR1. Maybe it is because of my room and the volume just overflows the room (I still live in an apartment), the bass is not really well-defined.
I can hear the eletric hum from the speaker at night when there is no noise around. If I put my ear against the speaker cabinet, the hum is obviously audible. Above are my complaints about the speaker, it does not mean it has no strength at all. I listened to Burmester "Music for the Ear" CD quite often. It is a terrific collection of music. With that CD, you can easily test a component with various kind of music material. All the material is presented in a comfortable & easy-to-listen-to style.
For an analogy to a car, I would say it is a Camry/Accord.
A practical car indeed. But if you want to move up the curve of diminishing return, you better find something else.

Similar Products Used:

Von Schweikert VR4, NHT 2.5

Bass, VALUE

Some top end sizzle

Kicks ass big time. Owned many more expensive speakers and this is just about as good as them and for the price you can get it for brand new cheaper then picking up something used and old like the higher B&Ws.. etc... Find it a wonder using it with tube gear since it is only driving the mid and highs and can get delicay in sofer music but yet still have a total in your face feel it in the gut rock speaker. Defenitly a keeper which is a first ever the way I play with my system.

Similar Products Used:

B&W Matrix 801, Magnepan MG3A

! ! ! ! !

Lordy Lordy Lordy. Ive never heard a better sounding speaker in the same price range. This is the speaker to get if you are serious about sound and have a budget. Although id recommend not to get them from a dealer, try looking at online stores or auctions.

I Purchased these speakers from Netmarket for $1025.00 pair. I originally ordered the P315HO's, but the speakers were discontinued and the AR1's were substituted. I believe the regular price for these on Netmarker is around $1500.00. These speakers are great. Very pleased! The Midrange and tweeters sound great and the bass is awesome! Seperation is incredible. It took a short period of time to break in a little bit, but once they are, lookout! These sound much (alot) better that the B&W's I recently auditioned.