small slim foot print,bi-wireable,subwoofer input jacks on back,15inch sub built in 500w sunfire amps

gain control,tweaking,floor spikes(more on this later)

Yes this review is about 2 years late. But I had to voice my oppinion on these awsome speakers. I actually had these speakers two years ago, and finally broke them out the box April 2001. reason being they where bought in anticipation of me moving in 1999. The move fell through and the speakers stayed in boxes with a slew of audio and home theater gear all brand new in small room.that resembled a wharehouse. I bought them after researching,reading reviews and literature. The two years I went through were total hell. looking at pictures and reading literature on the speakers while I listened to the crapy bose I had,dreaming how p315ho's would sound. I actually sold some of the components I had to upgrade to newer and better gear. I finally moved and got these speakers out of the boxes. When I bought them from smile photo they didn't come through a delivery service. since the shop was near I got a van and picked them up myself, so I avoided any damage to the boxes or the speakers. These speakers rock, the build quality on mine is excellent I have them running off the subwoofer out with a y-adapter from my reciever with the reciever amp handling the mids and highs.after a short break in period these speakers sound beautiful.the bass was awsome at around 20hz the walls and floor shake and the window paynes rattle although it took some time to get it right with that gain control on the back of the speakers. There are no indicators/dashes or marks as to the level you have the gain control set. Mine is about a quarter of the way from the off position. also out of 8 spikes for the pair of speakers only 1 spike screwed in easy. The rest were a battle to put on. DVD's sound phenominal bass heavy movies like Jurrasic Park, lethal weapon 4 will probably get me evicted.Music is also excellent and it also depends on your software, certain recordings I get a cool blend of highs,mids and bass on others some time the vocals and mids sound to recessed and to far in the background. I have a lot of cdr's with mp3's on them and they sound better than some of my older store bought cd's. I also have been looking at the reviews for the ar1's and it seems the AR1's are essentialy the same speaker with different mid drivers. These speakers are not audiophile speakers. They are speakers that are better than your average Wiz, circuit city, bestbuy,J&R chain store speaker. lets face it if you can afford to buy Krell and Linn components you shouldn't be buying anything from AR. The p315ho's are excellent speakers that offer good clear clean sound with the addition of slam for your dollar. If by chance you could find them and you have the money don't hesitate get them.

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Bose

I am very pleased with the AR P315HO. I chose this speakers partly thanks to good comments from others at this review site. I couldn't find any dealers in Houston carrying the AR; therefore I didn't have a chance to listen to it before buying. I bought them from Shop4 for $1150 delivered. I read some not very good comments about Shop4 too and was a little worried. I received the speakers 9 working days after ordering through their Web site. The delivering company called me one day in advance and the speakers were delivered not double-box but in excellent condition. These speakers are very heavy.
I have been enjoying the speakers which are excellent for all type of music, especially soft acoustic music. They rock for digital movie too. I use them for main speakers together with Infinity CC3 for center and two Bose cubes for rear surround. Together they form a pretty decent home theater system. I don't need a subwoofer since each AR 315 has an active built-in 500w sub which is more than enough for my living room.

Highly recommended.

I can only agree with the above review. Be warned that these require a break in period of loud plaing for several days. I am using a Threshold 400 on the mids and highs. On badly recorded CDs they reveal all the flaws. With good recordings there is space, balance, air, depth, width. You must use your pre amp to drive the base unit, and adjust the base carefully. Pull the speakers away from the back walls for best results.
The bargain of the decade.

It's time for me to make some contribution because I had used a lot of information here in this site.OK. I purchased the AR P315HO one month ago at $1600 from a web site www.netmarket.com and the list price is $2500. The speaker was mentioned as one of the best sounding speaker in the HIFI98. Its frequency response is 20-20K +-3 db and it has a buit-in 500 watts Bob Carver designed amplifier for its 15" subwoofer. It also has the toughest Titanium tweeter in the world. I BET YOU CAN'T FIND A BETTER BARGAIN ON THE MARKET BASED ON THE SPEC.

Sound Quality:

In one sentence : 'It gives the life to the music'
Vocal music: You can feel and touch the singer's emotional presence. You can even describe the facial expression of the singer.
Jazz: The dynamics will make you sweat. (Lee Ritenur's Latin Lover)
Opera: It brings back the 'theater experice'. As you know it's so strong on mid and bass and dynamics.
Classic: Full of air....

If you are an audiophile, I can tell you this speaker has the passion of 'Spendor', the 'live atmosphere' of 'Avalon' and the most natural mid that no other speaker can match.

I give it 5 stars.

Did I forget to tell you that it's better to use Tube amplifier to drive the mid and high of the speaker and use an interconnect cable from your preamp to the speaker and let the 500watt built-in amplifier drive the subwoofer.

Bass,clarity of mids

subs blow easliy...can have shrill high end

I originally posted a review in April of 1999 when I first got them.Since then, I managed to blow out the subwoofers. I contacted AR service to check on buying replacements and much to my surprise!!!! They sent me 2 new subs at NO CHARGE!! Not even shipping. I am overwhelmed by their customer service. They were over 2 years old! The new woofers are from the AR1's which are much better quality. I have changed electronics. (Musical Fidelity HT Processor and 5 channel Amp) These have really helped with the shrillness. They are performing well and I recommend them and their service protection. Enjoy!!

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many

These speakers are perhaps the best value out there. I chose these after listening to quite a few smaller boxes, thinking the small boxes would be able to produce the best upper frequencies, and I would add a subwoofer for the bass.
Then I heard a pair of very expensive B&W''s. Later I heard a pair of the P315HO. The sound was so similar. With the B&W''s and these, the sound is not coming from a box, it''s just right there. The person singing is right there in the room. The clarity is exceptional, as is the imaging.

Bass handling is also superb. I''ve only got the bass level at just over 1/4, and it''s the natural amount.

They''re such a great bargain through mail order, that the Sat/Sub setup is a distant second choice.

1) I am not an "audiophile", meaning I do not prefer tube amps, do not spend hundreds of dollars on interconnects, do not claim to hear the difference between $5000 speakers and $10000 speakers.2) I was in the market for a decent quality home theater speaker system which could double as a high quality audio setup. My previous system was a piece of excrement.
3) I received recommendations for electrostatic and Magnaplanar speakers from friends. I auditioned these and they were very nice for some types of music (soft jazz, classical, acoustic, vocal) but I sometimes like ta rock, and they didn't really kick out the jams.
4) I auditioned the Definitive Technology BP2000 and matching surrounds. These are pretty awesome speakers, folks, but the setup costs $4400. While in the store I heard the AR speakers and they were pretty damn close to the BP2000. In particular, the powered subs I think are as good or better than the Definitives, although the clarity of the mid and highs is not quite as good. Imaging is slightly better than the BP2000s - probably because of the bipolar design of the BP2000. But, if I had the money, I'd probably get the Definitives. They're pretty sweet.
5) I read the reviews here and found the shop4 site (www.shop4.com). I joined the club and decided to go overboard - I bought the 315HOs, a pair of 310HO for surrounds, and a CS25HO for a center speaker. Total was about $1850, less than half of the Definitive setup (add another $70 to join the site). Received the speakers about 13 days (9 working days) after placing the order. Good condition, no shipping damage although the boxes are pretty deficient.
6) Overall, I am very pleased with the quality of the sound I am getting. Still breaking in, but there is a noticeable improvement even after a few days - the treble initially sounded slightly harsh, but is now giving me a nice sweet tone. The bass is extremely tight. The speakers are revealing some flaws in my Sony CD player and receiver, which will need to be replaced. ;)
7) If you are on a speaker budget under $2000, you can't get a better deal than this. If you can spend 5 or 10K on speakers, go get the BP2000 (or BP3000 or Nautilus or...). But this baby gives you high quality 500W subwoofers and decent mid/highs for an unbeatable price. 4 stars for sound, add one star for "bang for buck" factor.

These speakers are perhaps the best value out there. I chose these after listening to quite a few smaller boxes, thinking the small boxes would be able to produce the best upper frequencies, and I would add a subwoofer for the bass.
Then I heard a pair of very expensive B&W's. Later I heard a pair of the P315HO. The sound was so similar. With the B&W's and these, the sound is not coming from a box, it's just right there. The person singing is right there in the room. The clarity is exceptional, as is the imaging.

Bass handling is also superb. I've only got the bass level at just over 1/4, and it's the natural amount.

They're such a great bargain through mail order, that the Sat/Sub setup is a distant second choice.

These speakers sounds wonderfull in every point of view. I bought the 315HO shortly after i bought the 308HO, which i was using for front. Now my system is completely done with teh admirable 315HO and i can't believe the price i paid for them 1100 for the pair. Here is my 7.1 system setup.
Yamaha RX-V2095 receiver
Toshiba SD3108 DVD player
Acoustic Research 315HO Main Speakers ($1100)
Acoustic Research 308HO Surround Speakers ($399)
Infinity Systems Overture 1CC Center Channel ($375)
Infinity Systems Overture 1 Front Effects Speakers ($650)

Having the Overutre 1CC with the 8inch woofer really is really something magical. I was thinking of getting the Defenitive Technology 15TL but the 315HO
bass output is so immense that the need for a sub is quite useless.

Everybody that has these speakers seems to really love them. I wish I could afford a pair. But for those of you with a little more money than I, thought you might be interested in knowing that these can be had from netmarket.com for the magic price of $1023/pr. The speakers are big and heavy so I bet shipping will be fairly high.
Yes, netmarket is a buyer's club but they have free trial memberships that you can cancel later. To get this price you have to use the haggle zone but it saves you about $200 off thier normal member price.

Hope this helps somebody into a great pair of speakers.