500 Watts RMS - incredibly powerful subwoofer
Warranty - Acoustic Research doesn't provide warranty information in the box, but it is a 1-year warranty on electronics, and 5-years on the sub itself. It should make you feel better about spending the money.
Sensitivity - the sub sounds great at all volume and frequency levels.
The sub has a nice look to it. It is all black and very sleak looking.
It is a floor-firing sub

The only thing I would change about the sub is the audio/video toggle switch. It is very small and kind of flimsy looking, but not flimsy feeling. It still serves its purpose.

I shopped around all over the internet and read all kinds of reviews before deciding on the ARS500, and now that I have it I can honestly say that it is by far my favorite part of my home audio system. I am also a car audio enthusiast, so when I heard 500 watts RMS I became very interested. This sub is every bit of 500 RMS. It is absolutely thunderous. The bass is very clear, clean, and rich sounding at all volume levels and frequencies, and I don't think I will ever need to turn it up past a third of the volume because any louder will probably bring my house down.

Also I must say that the internet site I ordered my sub from was an absolute pleasure to work with (http://shop.store.yahoo.com/jvc-wholesale/info.html). I ordered the sub and it was delivered within 3 days, and that was UPS Ground! I attempted to order from etronics.com and dmartexpress.com before AOKNet, and both sites gave me the run around. AOK's final price including UPS Ground shipping was $525.26, which is almost 50% lower that the Manufactures Suggested Retail Price.

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This is my only Acoustic Research product, but my best friend owns the Acoustic Research AR-4C center channel speaker, and it too is a superior product. Between my new sub and his center channel, we are both sold on Acoustic Research products.

Deep Deep bass, hookup options, magnetically shielded.

none

Great sound at a great price. The ARS-500 delivers smooth, low bass with no distortion both in HT and music. Great for those loud explosions as well as low frequencies in music, especially in 5 channel stereo mode with the Marantz SR-7000 receiver.
A great buy, especially at the price. Highly recommended.

ARS-500 Subwoofer
NHT 2.5i Mains
NHT 1.5 rear
NHT AudioCenter 1
Marantz SR-7000 Reciever

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CSW BassCube 15

Extremely low end

dangerous spikes

This is an awesome sub! It's low end is much deeper then the B&W ASW100 sub it replaced. Honestly, I would have thought I had one of the better subs made until I heard a coworkers ARS500. Luckily, I only had the B&W for 3 weeks so I was able to return it and saved a bunch of money. The ARS500 provides much more "feeling" of bass. I don't know if the volume is louder or not, but I can sure feel it a lot more. I can get tired of huge amounts of bass anyway, so I keep the volume to less then 20% and I can still feel the bass. I love this sub!

Extremely low end

dangerous spikes

This is an awesome sub! It's low end is much deeper then the B&W ASW100 sub it replaced. Honestly, I would have thought I had one of the better subs made until I heard a coworkers ARS500. Luckily, I only had the B&W for 3 weeks so I was able to return it and saved a bunch of money. The ARS500 provides much more "feeling" of bass. I don't know if the volume is louder or not, but I can sure feel it a lot more. I can get tired of huge amounts of bass anyway, so I keep the volume to less then 20% and I can still feel the bass. I love this sub!

Incredibly Low Bass

None

I have a passion for clean bass and this sub delivers. I purchased it based on the many reviews written here. I couldn't be happier. Luckily, I live a little out of town and I can turn up the volume without worrying about people complaining. Believe me when I say the ARS500 moves air. Boy does it, you can sure feel the bass. Nothing I've ever heard makes moving watching as much fun as the ARS500!!!!

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Velodyne, B&W, Energy

Outstanding tight bass, especially using the video mode for DVD's, etc.

None so far

Put very simply, this sub kicks a....!!!!I have only had this sub a little over a month and it is probably not even broken in yet, however it is a joy to behold! I just viewed "End of Days" on DVD and the bass was nothing short of miraculus, true clean bass when it was called for and short sonic bursts when needed. During the scene towards the end of the movie inside the church, I could feel my whole house rock as if there was an earthquake. If you haven't guessed by now I am talking about the Acoustic research ARS500. If you want a sub that has it all and then some, this is the one and only one for you. Forget about subs costing $1000 to $2000 bucks, this sub retails for about $900, but can be had for much less if you shop around like I did. I got a fantastic deal from LGD (lets go digital) for only $480 delivered to my door!!5 stars for video.....5 for music only....

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Optimus 10" front firing 120watt.

Ultra Low End and 500 watts of Carver Sunfire Power

Big

I have fallen in love with this sub! I bought it a little over a month ago. I've had some pretty good subs in the past to compare with. My original sub was an Energy then moved up to a Velodyne. We also have an Athena for the bedroom. The Athena sounds great and looks even better. But none of them compare to the low end this ARS500 produces. One of my favorite DVD's to compare subs is in the subway scene in the Jackel. I've heard and felt it before, but have never been literally scared like I was with the ARS500! Before you buy a sub, listen to this one.

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Energy, Athena, and Velodyne

Bass hits HARD

?

Other subs I listened to hit hard then faded off slowly. This sub Hits really HARD then cuts off quickly giving you fast and tight bass. I was very suprised at the tightness of this sub considering it's a 15 incher. Power to spare too. I have it turned up about 1/4 of the way and that's all the bass I can handle. Any more and the dishes in the kitchen start to rattle. A very good sub that appears to be well constructed. It passes the pleasing to eye test that wives have too.

POWER, Design, Hookup Options.

None worth mentioning

I've bought and sold audio equipment for the last 10 years. I have one of these subs for my own setup and have found it is more then most anybody would need at an incredibly low price. About the only thing I could mention that is on the negative side is some additional internal bracing would be nice due to the amount of bass produced. Being a down fire design, there is a lot of energy being "bounced" back into the cabinet. Much of this is extruded through the 2 large port holes however. This beast is just so powerful and musical at the same time. I'm sure most users will find themselves with the volume up 1/2 way or more at first, just because that's where you would set up most subs.. This model produces enough air movement at 1/4 volume that moving the volume slider higher may actually be counterproductive. Bass waves have a tendency to counteract themselves. Keep the volume at respectable levels and you'll be more then happy with this sub. 5 stars all the way.

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Just about all other subs made

OH MY GOD BASS

?

I have my ARS500 placed next to my couch. My wife commented the other day that we ought to install seat belts. This thing absolutely HAMMERS!