Looks, Wall-mount capability, small form-factor.

Poor bass, shrill and very directional treble range (may have to re-angle tweeter due to flat wall-mounting). Labor of love to achieve proper imaging.

I have four of these speakers in a home theater setup, paired with a visually perfect-match Pinnacle Quantum Plasma V center channel and an Advent AV550S 15" Sub. If you find them for <$500, they are worth buying for their rare exotica alone! These speakers were ahead of their time, without a doubt. You are now starting to see higer-end wall mountable speakers from Definitive, Boston Acoustics, etc. But Acoustic Research came out with these puppies when plasma TV's cost $20k. Not a very big market back then. This was AR's last hurrah, as they sold out to Recoton soon after this model was introduced. Exotic materials, from woven carbon-fiber woofers with magnets on the OUTSIDE (to reduce mounting depth) to plasma-hardened dome tweeters and aluminum mid-ranges, these speakers are something to look at. Unfortunately, the woofers are all show, no go. I run 120w RMS to these 8" carbon-fiber under-performers, and get all the bass of a decent smaller bookshelf speaker. OK, so who builds a home theater without a sub, so this is no big deal. All four of the speakers are wall-mounted 3.5ft off the ground. This is too high, but I had to put them in-line with my wall-mounted plasma, which is positioned above a couch (the couch faces the primary listening position, which is another couch). The speakers are mounted 10 ft apart from each other, which makes a perfect equalateral triangle with the listening position, but requires building custom tweeter shims to redirect the tweeters inward and downward (you can't exactly toe-in a speaker that is hard-mounted flat to a wall!). Until I did this, the speakers sounded HORRIBLE from the listenning position. Imagine my worry after months of planning and execution, to be utterly disappointed the first time I popped in a test disc. After this correction, and playing with the 30-band EQ for a few days, I am now satisfied with the sound - it is more than fine for HT, but I wish the tweeter had more dispersion for music (narrow sweet spot). I have the front speakers flanking a 50" Panasonic plasma. Instead of hunting down an AR Phantom center channel, I bought a Pinnacle Quantum Plasma V from Crutchfield. It is AMAZING how similar they are - both have aluminum extruded housing, black foam damping material on the face, identical dome tweeter (I mean, same manufacturer, with the same three-point plastic guard around it), and woven carbon fiber drivers (the Pinnacle has four 3.5" mid-ranges). Crutchfield no longer carries the Pinnacle, so I can't tell you if they are still in business. The Phantoms have an acoustic compensation network depending on if you wall mount or use the speaker stands. Even if you wall-mount, you should set it to 'free standing', or you will suffer from even LESS bass. please don't kid yourself - if it is worth finding and mounting these speakers, don't try to get by without a decent sub. It is sweet to be able to mount yoour speakers and TV on the wall, and mount your stereo components in another room (I have it all in the basement) so the room isn't cluttered with the equipment, only the desired user interfaces: eyes and ears. These speakers are worth getting for the wow factor, even though the treble range is made rather shrill by the metal tweeter and midrange. Use an equalizer, and you will be stylin'.

Similar Products Used:

dbx, Sony, Wharfedale, Advent, Polk, BIC-America.

The Phantom 8.3 Is a Great Speaker and good sound, is not for rap music or over base music.

Unique styling, very high quality built, sound quality in my environment is top notch

Speaker stands were missing the adjustable floor spikes, I went and bought my own for $10 at a local harware store and turned down the ends on my lathe

I have recently purchased and recieved these 9-15-03 can't say enough about these. Very exotic speakers, look at the quality of these things they have woofers made of carbon fiber weave (very expensive material) plasma hardened tweeters and a very unique midrange driver, what do ya got: one heck of a quality speaker. I have already listened to three movies and at least 10 hours worth of the music in a few days and I can't say enough about them. I would suggest that anyone that is looking for deep, hard bass look somewhere else but nice tight balanced bass and very discriptive sound qualities are in these. I own a JBL 400W RMS powered sub to take care of the 60HZ and below job and that it does, I am still in the middle of tuning these things (location, sub adjustments, and tone control) but all in all they sound great for the money. I drive them with a Harmon Kardon AVR 520 wich is high current 85WPC in stereo and 75WPC in surround and I was a little leary of the power rating of 250watts RMS. They can handle everything this reciever can give them and I'm quite sure that they'll go much further than my reciever will push them, as for looks very modern styling you would almost think they were loaded with ribbons in them to be this thin and still handle power and sound quality reproduction the way they do. I got the stands with my purchase at Accessories4less.com the only downfall that I found in these is that AR is out of business now purchased and exchanged hands with many company's but I have already contacted the tech support on a few technical questions I had and they still have info for ya and the sight I bought thesee from is an authorized dealer so that the 5 year warranty will hold.

Similar Products Used:

Bose,JBL,Polk,Crewin-Vega (2 thumbs down), Infinity

Great looks; smooth, yet crisp, mids and highs; good bass response for size

very poorly-designed speaker wire terminals

These are some great-looking, great-sounding speakers. I am really impressed by the way they make the music (and movies) come alive. I hear things now in my favorite songs that I've never heard before (although I had Bose Interaudio speakers before, so that may not tell you much).

For their size, the bass response is very good. The bass is not booming, but it is definitely quick and accurate. The woofers are something to see - the magnets are actually in _front_ of the cones (no room for them in the 4"-deep cabinet, I guess).

As I noted above, the only drawback I found to these speakers is the way the speaker wire terminals were designed. You can either wrap the wire around the terminals and twist the terminal cap to lock the wire in, or it looks like you could use banana plugs. However, there is no clearance above the terminals, so I was unable to get banana plugs to work. Plus, once you get the speakers on the wall, it's very difficult to manipulate the wires and twist the terminal caps. For these reasons, I am taking a star off of the overall rating. As far as sound quality and aesthetics go, I definitely say "5 stars!".

Now I'm looking forward to purchasing a new receiver and powered sub to round out my system. ((right now I'm using a 10-yr-old Kenwood Dolby Pro Logic receiver and I have no subwoofer))

Probably the coolest looking speakers I have ever seen. Exceptional sound quality. Build quality. Bi-wire, Bi-Amp capability. Oh yeah, PRICE!!! I got these 8.3s with stands NEW for only $600.00. That is less than half of what Crutchfield charges.

Initial set-up is a bit clumsy due to binding post location and mounting bracket design, but hey, if you're lucky you only have to do this once.

I have had the Phantom 8.3s for about 4 months now and I couldn't be happier. I am using them as floor mounted speakers with the optional matching stands. They look so slick. They have a real "Tech" look to them. These are not your grandfather's ARs. Now for the sound. I can't really tell you what these speakers are capable of since I am using a low to mid-grade Kenwood VR-309 A/V receiver (great for Home Theater not so good for music) to drive them. I will post another review in a few weeks after I have hooked up and broken in my new Technics SA-DA10N with Bi-Amp capability in stereo mode. What I can tell you is that even with a not-so-musical-sounding receiver, the Phantoms are very detailed and dimentional, with great separation, even more so when they are Bi-wired. They a bit fatiguing right now for extended music listening but I am almost certain that is the fault of the VR-309. As for home theater, I can't think of anything negative to say about them. These units do it all, clearly, cleanly, and accurately. If you can find these anywhere near what I payed for them, don't think twice, just buy them and be happy.

Similar Products Used:

NONE

They are Bad ASS!

ACOUSTIC RESEARCH Phantom AR8.3 On Wall Three Way Speakers (Pair)

The top-of-the-line three-way Phantom 8.3 is a remarkable technical achievement. This model features a plasma hardened 1" titanium dome tweeter, a 2" MagAlloy midrange and an 8" IllusionT long throw, Carbon Series woofer. The 8.3 has an excellent frequency response down to 40Hz, pinpoint imaging, and a wide soundstage from a cabinet that measures a scant 3.3" in depth. Hanging on the wall next to the latest generation flat panel TVs, the Phantom 8.3 is a work of art, at home in any decor, blending seamlessly into room environment. Get 'em: $749.95(pair)

Good BASS considering the speaker is only 4" thick

Awkward wire hookup

When I first saw these speakers in a crutchfield catalog last year, I knew I wanted them. I thought they would go well with the Home theater setup I'm slowly building in the family room. They looked really nice, not too bulky. I wanted to audition them first before purchasing them, but I couldn't find them in the local stores. I was a little hesitant about them at first. I was skeptical about the speakers sounding good since they are only 4" deep. Also the MSRP was rather steep for my modest budget. But when I saw Adelcom online http://www.adelcom.net selling them for below MSRP, I took a chance and purchased them along with the 5.2, the matching center channel speaker 252C, and a S112PS sub woofer. When they arrived, I was pleased with the build quality. It matches well with the Sony KV32XBR250. It will aesthetically match better with a plasma screen though. I installed them on the wall. The speaker wires connect to the phantom 8.3 via 5 way binding posts, which are located at the bottom of the speaker. The bracket that holds the speaker to the wall also serves as a cover to the binding posts. This makes wire hookup a bit awkward. Luckily, this only have to be done once. Once installed, they don't look like ugly box speakers attached to the wall. At only 4 inches deep, they don't stick out too much from the all. Actually, they look quite pleasing to the eye. Anyways, I hooked them up to the Sony STR-DB940. The moment I turned them on, I was glad I bought them. I am not an audiophile. But to my ears, I thought they sounded great. I listened to some easy listening songs with female singers and they sounded natural. Even though the enclosure is made of metal, the sound coming out of the speakers weren't harsh. I use the speakers more for watching movies though, where they really show their mettle. The speakers can pump a decent amount of bass considering they are only 4 inches deep. They still need a sub woofer though to cover the 20Hz to 50Hz range. For the money, I think you can buy better sounding tower speakers. But for On wall speakers, these are tops. Overall I am very happy with these speakers. They sound great and they look great too.

Similar Products Used:

Acoustic Research Phantom 5.2, 252C