Price Paid:  $125.00 from bernie's

Summary:
got these baby's cheap, I was a salesman at the store, got them for employee discount, I've used them for about 3 years now, unfortunatly, I have a crappy reciever so I can't blow full potential on them Tecnics -ax7 rec. and decoder (both crap, plan to upgrade to onkyo soon AR 208's front AR 215ps rear ARsc2 center AR 108 sub Panasonic rp56 prog. dvd player tecnics 5 disc cd toshiba 32af42 flat tv

Strengths:
excellent midrange, distortion due only to crappy receiver, route the base to the sub it mixes perfect

Price Paid:  $149.00 from accessories4less.com

Summary:
I purchased these speakers becuase of the cheap price. Just try to find a pair of decent bookshelfs for under $300! I had them in storage & decided to try them with my new SET,Decware Zen amp. I hoped that the 92db sen, & 4ohm rating would go well with the Zen amp. These speakers produce "decent bass" when hooked up to a solid state amp with some decent wattage,(ie, Yamaha RXV2092,150wpc stereo) but had almost none with the Zen amp. IMHO these speakers are designed to work best with high wattages to bring out there bass, hence the high 200watt power rating. They do seam to have a "hole" in the midrange & sound a "little thin" as well. I have compared them with klipsch 1.5's & 2.5's which i am using as surrounds as well as Infinity reference 2000.3's & B&W DM601's. They are realy a decent speaker & there best strenths are probably there nice crisp highs & superb imaging although there soundstage is a little narrow. IMO they are not that well suited to rock, but have an airy sound best suited to intrumental or accoustic music. I am going to give these to my roomate who i dont think has ever owned a good stereo, so he will be in "hog heavin". I replaced them with a pair of Klipsch Reference RB-5II's, which also have 8" woofers & produce considerably more bass & have a nice high sensitivity rating of 96db, which go EXTREMELY WELL with the zen amp. I was quite impressed with the finish & heavy duty binding posts on the 208HO's & think Acoustic Research makes good products, but this speaker may be there lower line of products.

Strengths:
Nice finish (puchased the cherry),exellent imaging & crisp highs, "great price"

Weaknesses:
Very large for bookshelfs, lack bass, IMHO not well suited to all music, esp. rock

Similar Products Used:
Klipsch 1.5 & 2.5, B&W DM601, Infinity Reference 2000.3, Klipsch Reference RB-5II

Price Paid:  $150.00 from Local Dealer

Summary:
I purchased these my first year of college after I sold my older Kenwood "rack stereo" to a friend. I purchased these on sale for $150 because they are the cherry finish and for some reason they didn't sell as wel at my dealer. I purchased them a Denon AVR-1100 and Denon DCM-360 and an Energy EXL:S8 sub thinking I had a great setup. However, after about 9 months of this setup I got the urge to upgrade to bigger and better things so I sold my reciever and bought a Denon AVR-2700 which power these speakers a lot better and clearner. After that I upgraded to B&W 602S2 and put these things in the closet and forgot about them unit about a month ago when I needed speakers for my new appartment bedroom setup. They really don't match the B&W's or Paradigms in clarity, nutrality, imaging or dynamics. However they aren't that bad at all for the price. You can't even buy 1 602 for the price of the pair of 208's. They sound great at moderate volumes but, when pushed they get lost and shrill. Overall they are really a quality built speaker that benefits from nice stands, good cable to tame the highs and quality electronics. I can only imagine how they would sound on a Sony or Pioneer. But on my old Yamaha RX-V870 they sound very nice. If you can still find them for around $100 its a steal. To bad AR can't regain its image of upper mid-fi products because the build quality is definatly up there. Also if you considering bargain speakers from UBID such as Wharfedales or various JBL's I suggest you take a look at these bad boys. Just remember the sub and quality components up stream.

Strengths:
Price, Build Quality, fit and finish, and clarity

Weaknesses:
Bass, port noise, shrill highs at times and distortion in bass at high volumes

Similar Products Used:
B&W 602S2, Paradigm Studio 60 V.2, and Cerwin Vega E-310(Uck High School speakers)

Price Paid:  $137.00

Summary:
These speakers provide probably the best of what I could have hoped for at this price range. They are wonderful for use in a home theater setup. They provide excellent sound quality and go very loud if necessary. I'd recommend them to anyone on a budget. These are bookshelves so you most likely will desire a subwoofer to help out the bottom end.
5 stars all around for the value and performance they can provide compared to similarly priced speakers.

Strengths:
Value, looks, power efficiency.

Weaknesses:
None at this price point.

Price Paid:  $74.00 from Egghead.com (Onsale.com)

Summary:
These speakers sound really good and tight. I'm using them in my bedroom on an cheap old Sony Reciever I bought in highschool (1990). I will primarily use them to play soothing nature sounds (brooks, ocean waves, thunderstorms, etc...)

For realistic nature sounds they are a bit muddy in the bass department and are a little hollow in the mid areas. A subwoofer or 2nd pair of towers is highly recommended for anyone who likes bass.

I also tested with come celtic music, rock, rap, and jazz. At reasonable volumes, the sound quality was very nice. And for the $74.00 for the pair, you could do a heck of a lot worse. For their size, they really are rather amazing.

If I didn't spend so much time hanging out in listening rooms drooling of speakers I can't afford, I'd consider these near perfect. I'd recommend these for highschool students, people buying systems for their parents, and people who but all-in-one stereo systems from a store & are looking to upgrade the factory speakers. Would also be great rear channel speakers if you are on a budget.

Bottom line: Good speakers. Cheap Price. If you don't like them, you can sell them to a friend who thinks you are a stereo God.

Strengths:
Tight chrisp sound. Good highs. Better sounds at louder volumes. Rock and Jazz sound good.

Weaknesses:
These speakers favor highs over lows. Higher Pitched New Age Music sounds a little hollow.