Price Paid:  $59.00 from j&r

Summary:
Bought these when money was low many years ago.These sounded good by themselves with a 100 watt pioneer receiver.I then added a sub from my ht system and they sounded even better.I upgraded to a 140 watt elite receiver and wow!I got a pair of mmg maggies and did a a-b comparision and ended up sending the mmg's back!Don't get me wrong, the mmg's are great sounding speakers, but 10x better?Maybe I did not let them break in,I even purchased a adcom 350 watt 4 ohm amp,thinking that would help and it did a little but I just dropped close to $2000 to get a better sounding system.The ar's definitely did not need the adcom so it went back also.Basically what I'm saying is that these speakers are a great value!

Strengths:
accurate,nonfatiqueing

Weaknesses:
Not much after 80 hz.What you would expect from a 5.25 woofer!

Similar Products Used:
Nothing with value like this!

Price Paid:  $60.00 from accessories4less.com

Summary:
I had read a very positive review about these speakers in Consumer Reports. (CR ranked them eighth out of thirty-some speakers tested, which ranged in price from $250.00 to $600.00.) And at the price, I couldn't pass them up!

I hooked the ARs up to my Marantz amp and tested them by playing various CD tracks such as Bernard Hermann's "Seventh Voyage of Sinbad" (the percussion in the piece jumps from speaker to speaker and the horns really test the tweeters); the Jupiter movement from "The Planets" (Steinberg/Boston Symphony), a great piece for soaring strings, horns that seem to be in the room with you, and very bright percussion; "So Easy" by the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band, a beautifully recorded big-band track; and many other jazz and classical selections. In each case, the highs were very clear, the bass sounded full, and the midrange natural. Overall, I felt the ARs had a very well-balanced sound. I also listen to a fair bit of lute and harpsichord music and the ARs did an admirable job handling this kind of music.

Although the ARs performed extremely well with the classical and jazz selections, what really astonished me was how they handled the Virgin remaster of "Sticky Fingers" by the Rolling Stones. The clarity and fullness of sound of this recording were, well, awesome!

I have now listened to these speakers for over a year and am still very impressed with their sound. I currently use the ARs as my main speakers because I have very little room for my equipment. I have moved them around my living room--putting them in bookshelves, on the floor, and on a pair of Ikea speaker stands, which tilt the speakers at about a 20-degree angle. They sound best on the speaker stands, about a foot or two from the wall. (They sounded awfully boomy in the bookshelves.)

At loud levels, the ARs do have a slightly "boxy" sound, but at the price they're hard to beat. If you can find a better product at the price, grab it!

Strengths:
Excellent clarity, midrange, and bass. Astonishing performance for the price.

Weaknesses:
Slightly "boxy" sound at loud levels.

Similar Products Used:
Yamaha 6390

Price Paid:  $75.00 from jandr.com

Summary:
These were being sold at jandr.com for $59 and shipping for months. Glad I got 'em. Now they're gone. Have to agree with every good thing I read here. I recommended them to people in home theater and audio forums as well as to friends and family members. What a bargain speaker!! Many years ago I paid $50 for a set of Boston Acoustics HD6's; thought this would be about the same value. What a surprise. These are on another level entirely. If they are powered right, they sound incredible. If not, they sound very good. I believe this is the best $75 investment I ever made.
Tim from Sears Brand Central didn't like them. Can't win them all I suppose, but the rest of us are satisfied.

Strengths:
Attractive, solid, performance way beyond their size would lead one to suspect, price.

Weaknesses:
Tim didn't like them. He worked at Sears and ought to know quality audio components when he hears them.

Similar Products Used:
Boston Acoustics HD6

Price Paid:  $130.00 from Audio Video Unlimite

Summary:
Bought these as a pair of 'cheap' home theatre speakers. They are impressive for the price. I was pleassantly surprised to see 5 way binding posts instead of spring loaded terminal strips.
The sound from these is excellent and I am truly happy with them. The bass can't compete with my PSB Stratus Golds but then again, the Golds are more than 20x in price!! They do beat out alot of my buddies' budget mini-monitors.Can't beat these AR's for the price. Excellent value and sound.

Strengths:
Excellent pricing. 5 way binding posts. Very acceptable sound!!

Weaknesses:
None. They beat anything in its class including some speakers at twice the price!!

Similar Products Used:
NHT Super Zero's
Boston Acoustics A40
Wharfdale Diamond IV
Radio Shack mini speakers (model unknown)

won't even list any large speakers as it would not be a fair comparison.....

Price Paid:  $58.00 from J & R Music World

Summary:
To preface, I am no audio technician, but I do know when I like the way something sounds or not.

I bought these a while back on a lark. I felt I needed a smaller speaker for the size of the room I had and saw an add for these in a newspaper. The price was right enough ($58 for the pair, free shipping) to give them a try I figured. When I first opened the box, I was not that impressed, although they had a neat enough look about them. I hooked them up and was a little astonished at the sound that came out of these small boxes. For a while I kept doing double takes to convince myself that the sound I was getting was really coming out of boxes as small as these.

To make a long story short, I am very satisfied with these little guys. Clean, clear sound - no distortion. I can get very loud with them and still don't detect any distortion. And the bass-- well, while its true they may lack some deeper octave of bass, I personally don't feel the lack that much. It could be that I am just used to their sound already, I don't know, but I don't find myself missing any bass at all that much. I guess they just satisfy me enough that I don't miss it.

I guess all this sound with lack of distortion has something to do with that Unicone design of the Woofer and the "secret" material they use for it. In my opinion, this is a revolutionary sound to come out of speakers this small with no noticeable distortion at all. Then again, it could be that I am not an audiophile when it comes to equipment, so maybe I just don't know any better. But I am pretty thrilled at what these little guys are capable of putting out.

Strengths:
For this price and size I doubt anything out there even comes close !!!!

Weaknesses:
Maybe bass- but personally I don't miss it that much.

Similar Products Used:
Little Yamahas- forgot the model #.