definition, tight bass, great imaging

not made anymore

AR216 speakers are wonderful. Acoustic suspension design which is much different than AR215S (I own a pair of them too) I have my 216's hooked up to a classic Onkyo receiver and can't beat the sound! I prefer to high end HK with Celestion speakers for music only system. If you can find a pair grab em! Classic AR's

Similar Products Used:

AR 215ps, Celestion f2's, Infinity R2's Optimus 600's.

Good bass and med range compare with Sony SAV-815ED

Non fo r this price

Actually, I own AR215PS, however, I find there are not much different between 2 modle. 1st, I have to say for $50 a pair, it is a very good speaker. The sound is great. But there are some problem with the soundstage, I think it is the placement problem ~ I use it as computer speaker. It is better than my Sony SAV-815ED

Similar Products Used:

Sony SAV-815ED

Low price, Great mid and Hi

not too deep bass, assembly

I'm not an audiophile but however I've researched quite much before purchased these units. At the first time I saw these speakers, I felt a little bit disappointed about the finishing and quality of assembly. The edges of speakers don't sharp, some of them were bend. Not because of shipping problem but obviously lacking in focus on this process. Never mind. It's not a big problem. The reason I speak this out because I bought 4 units of these. All of them have some minor problem about this.

Musical, again, I'm not an audiophile but I can feel that this speaker provide not much bass. Anyway, it's 2-way speaker. What do we want from it? So, I don't think this is the big problem because I'm gonna add sub anyway.

Clear Hi and Mid. I'm so happy with its sound. I tested with variety of music. Dance, Pop, Heavy. etc.....No doubt. It provides great clear that I've not ever heard from other brands at the same-price product. This speaker is the most optimal solution for me.

I can't give it 4 however, I can't give it 5 b/c there's nothing perfect in the world. I would rather give it 4.5 for this excellent and cheap speaker.

Similar Products Used:

none

Nice looking in black ash finish, great binding posts, excellent frequency response. 5 year waranty.

None that I have found.

I purchased these speakers without knowing anything about the Acoustic Research company. I read the reviews here and went in to Visions Electronics to give them a listen. They were connected to a Yamaha 795a receiver. I was amazed at the bass response these little speakers had. They handle power very well (20 - 120Watts) and sounded very clear even at high listening levels. They have very good midrange for a 2-way speaker and the highs are very smooth and not harsh sounding. They sounded extremely well with any type of music I could throw at them. I was so impressed with their sound, I purchased the matching centre channel speaker to go with it. Currently I have them matched to a set of Yamaha 3 way tower speakers in a home theatre environment. They match them very well with little adjustment. These speakers perform very well as a surround or as a main speaker. Let your ears decide for you - not the price. They sound just as good, if not better, than many other higher priced speakers I've listened to. I've listened to Polk's, Mirage's, B&w's and NHT's. Granted these are more expensive, but they do not have any advantage over the AR's. Pick one up - you'll know by their weight that they are a quality-built piece of equipment. I am extremely happy with my purchase and plan on replacing my Yamaha 3-way towers with a set of the AR328's to complete the package. Check the reviews - this many people can't be wrong. Also, I recommend purchasing these speaker from an electronics store rather than online. The packaging to these speakers is poor and chances are will sustain some damage while shipping. The money you save by purchasing these speakers can be placed in to other areas - like a really good quality receiver - but don't just take my word for it...Go listen to them for yourself. You won't be disappointed.

Looks great, good bass for size

I just wanted these speakers for my rear surrounds, i was going to get the comparable bose speakers at around 200. The salesperson showed me these at a very reduced price of 119.99 of the original 239.99. He said he was jealouse of me when i bought them new in the box for that price.

They look and sound very nice for the price I paid for them. The full price of 239 would make them not quite as nice to me. However they have a very natural sound to them, the highs are sort of laid back, but believe me its to the better. The base is tight and musical, works well as front or rear speakers through my Onkyo 575X receiver.

Don't pay over 180 for them though, but they definetely sound great. The four stars below for value is refering to my price. Id only give them 2 stars for the 239 to 299 list price.

Similar Products Used:

KLH 912 - floor speakers

Preformance to cost ratio --
Atractive design -- Choice of finish

Shipping Carton

First I must say everyones ear is
different and ones Lexus is anothers
Volkswagon, so use this information
for simply what it is, one persons
view and opion of this product!
Speakers probley have the most widely
varied opion of any product in home
audo. Ok- after a 2 week burn in
on the speakers, for those who dont
know what this means, burn-in is
letting your speakers play at med to
moderate levels for a good period of
time. A min of 10 hours, this allows
the cones and coils to heat, strech
and flex and will provide you with the best sound your going to get from your speakers! After the burn-in you can
sit down for some serious listening of your music and get your best results.
I found this speaker to perform
extremley well, even with-out the
cost issue involved. I perfer a soft
sounding tweeter to a bright one and
though this speaker is a horn loaded
design, well half way anyway, it
proves to be, to me quite smooth and
soft. Bass is better than most,
most defenitly in this price range.
Found it to be well controlled, tight
an quite deep for this size design.
Even the bass head may find this
little guy a good performer. Solid
upper 50hz region is produced at good
audiable SPL levels. This is a two way design and must be noted, thus no
dedicated midrange and this is an
area that challanges all two way
designs. So here it is, mids are
produced nicely but found them to be
lacking, well how do i describe this,
well, for a better term UMPH! Some EQ
work, and not much i must say, dose do wonders but you cant cant totaly fix
whats not there to begin with. Serious audiofiles would defintley go another
way, simpley because, if you got
25000.00 in a system you shouldnt even be considering a speaker in the mid
end anyway! Shame on you!
Imageing is quit good and sound stage exceptionly large thanks to horn
array. Over all this little guy can
keep up with stuff costing two to
three times as much. AR has done
another excellent job bringing us a
remarkable produt at an incredable
price. If your in the market for
bookshelf speakers and your pockets
are not lined with gold you really
should give a listen to a pair of
these. Speaker value to cost ratio is
impressive in this little guy. It will not be for every one for sure, but if
you prefer a softer tweeter and solid
upper to mid bass you must give them a listen for sure! -- ( Dont
mis-understand mid to upper bass this
IS NOT going to shake the house ,,,,
if your looking for this buy yourself
a well designed powered sub.) -- It
dose do an exceptional job in the
upper low end region! Exceptional
value and remarkable sound, Thanks AR
To AudioReview -- Kudos to you guys
for giving us Audio Video nuts a
placeto grab tons of info and converse thanks again!!!

Similar Products Used:

Many -- Boston - Infinity - Kef -
Sound Dynamics - Polk - NHT -

Smooth, warm sound, Low price

None

Thanks to the recommendations on this site and the price I recently purchased these speakers. I am amazed at the sound that comes from these small speakers. I have a pair of Klipsch KG 4.5s and wanted bookshelf surrounds. The 216s were an incredible deal at only $114/Pair at SimplyCheap.com. I ordered them on 1/4/00 and received them on 1/7/00. I thought the horns would sound overly bright like my Klipschs but I was wrong. The highs are very warm and smooth sounding, but still clear and detailed. I am not going to compare the bass to my Klipschs with 2 10 inch woofers as that would not be fair. I hooked the ARs up to my old Onkyo 100wpc receiver and compared them to my old EPI T/E 70 speakers of almost the same physical size and 6.5 inch woofer. I used to think the EPIs sounded great until switching back and forth with the ARs. The EPIs have a harsh sounding treble in comparison, the opposite of what I expected as they have soft dome tweeters and the ARs have their version of horns. The bass was much more powerful and deeper than the EPIs also. Imaging is great on these little ARs. With the EPIs, I have to sit right in the middle of them to get the best sound, whereas with the ARs I can be almost anywhere in the room and they almost disappear. The only bookshelf sized speaker I have auditioned that sounded better (only slightly) was the Paradigm Reference Studio 20 at $700/pair. To be honest, I'm not sure that the Paradigms sounded better at all. I highly recommend purchasing a pair of the ARs, you will be pleased you did.

Similar Products Used:

Polk, Klipsch, Mission, Paradigm

Great sound for a 2 way, wide sweet spot, deep taut bass, solid build, real heavy duty binding posts

It's a 2 way so mids are a bit veiled

Got these for around $150. Although they aren't set up well in the room they're in, the sound is still impressive. The tweeter is very nice, a bit on the soft side (I prefer brighter sounding speakers) but are great nonetheless. Very enjoyable to listen to, never harsh or fatiguing. It's horn loaded-like design gives these speakers a wider listening area than most. The 6.5 inch woofer is surprisingly capable of relatively deep bass, considering it's size (enclosure and driver wise). Mids lack a bit because it's a 2 way design, but the 2 drivers still manage to do pretty well for vocals. The overall sound is very clear and distinct, with no boxy sound or funny resonances. Build is quite nice, the enclosure very solid feeling with quality parts and a elegant look. If you need a good modest sized pair of speakers, I would recommend these.

Excellent Bass. Great Value

Highs could be a little clearer.

I recently purchased these AR 216PS speakers to replace my
old Infinity Reference 2 bookshelf speakers. I initially auditioned these speakers at The Wiz, and compared them to
the new Infinity Reference bookshelf's and The Polk RT 25's.
The Polk and Infinity speakers had, IMHO, a clearer midrange, and brighter highs. The bass, however, was lacking. The AR 216's put out a natural bass that I have not
encountered in speakers in this price range (

Similar Products Used:

Infinity Reference Series. Polk RT 25

pretty good bass for its size...

I listen to a lot of vocal jazz and I find the "s" sounds a bit hissy... not as controlled as my other speakers (Boston Acoustics CR8))

Overall I like these speakers... I listen to vocal and instrumental jazz as well as classical and choral and the reproduction of voices and instruments is good. For their size they have hefty but tight bass. Good sound for the money.

Similar Products Used:

Acoustic Research PS 215 and Boston Acoustics CR8