Price Paid:  $400.00 from crutchfield

Summary:
I'm using my 308's as rears in a 6.1 setup with 312's for the fronts. The 308's blend exceptionally well with the 312's. They have a wide soundstage which is important for a surround speaker. The bass is excellent for a bookshelf, tight, accurate and never "boomy".
The tweeter is the real strong point in my opinion, there is some roll-off at the extreme high end, but that is a plus. The grilles must be taken off for the tweets to really shine, and overall imaging improves.
The AR HO series beats all the speakers in thier price range.

Strengths:
Sweet tweet, good bass, forward midrange.

Weaknesses:
Grill that cuts out the highs.

Similar Products Used:
Niles, Infinity

Price Paid:  $900.00 from Local Store

Summary:
Overall these speakers are quite a buy, I am currently running them off an old technics reciever that I known only produce half their potential. I have a friend that are running these with a Rotel system and they work great

They only come alive at higher volumes, the bass response is tight and clean.

Strengths:
Defenition in the high frequencies
Each note is perfectly defined
Strong bass response, especially at high volumes
bi-amp capability
three way speaker in a small cabinet

Weaknesses:
grill, they look elegant but the grill is a pain to remove

Similar Products Used:
bose 301's (terrible), PSB's, Mission 771e's, RBH

Price Paid:  $799.00 from Cructhfield

Summary:
I bought these speaker way back when. I am surprised at how much they have went down. I have an Onkyo receiver and a Onkyo M504 amp cross amplified to these speakers. They sound extremely good at high levels. I am planning on upgrading my system to a pair of AR 7 Tower fronts and put these speakers in the rear. The highs and mid are so clear. If these speakers are going for the prices as specified in the other reviews you would be a fool not to pick these up. However, I still do not regret buying these speakers at the price I paid.

Strengths:
Excellent seperation of the mid and highs
Deep Tight Non-Boomy Bass

Price Paid:  $155.00 from Crutchfield

Summary:
I've had this speaker for a while, but it's a little strange how I purchased them. My friend and I are big fans of Crutchfield; we live an hour and a half away and go there just to see and hear the new products and see what bargains they have in the return section (which I think is a great idea for a store). Crutchfield carries the same guarantee and warranties on the products in the return section. Walking through the return aisles we found these AR's for about $260, I think. We both needed a center channel so we decided to split the difference and each keep one. Where else are you going to find a center speaker of this quality for $130? That may cause some audiophiles to cringe at the thought of using a speaker unintended to be a center channel as such, but it worked. We had a sales guy hook them up to a receiver to make sure they weren't blown or anyting, and they sounded good; they sounded better than any of the other speakers that were set up to audition except for some Infinity Overture 2. It replaced a cheap Fisher center channel that I got when I bought my receiver, and it sounded much better. In fact, it sounded better than any other center speaker I had ever heard in a store with the exception of an Infinity Overture 1. I have a big entertainment center, so that's how I fit it in as a center speaker...otherwise you would have to have a projection TV to set it on (which I plan to buy soon...a Pioneer 53" HDTV-ready). But now I am going to get the other AR speaker from my friend (for $25) so that I can use them as my main speakers in my new home. I had currently been using Infinity SS 2001 bookshelf speaker on stands in my current room along with an Optimus 12" dual-voice-coil passive subwoofer. Some may not believe this, but that setup actually sounded pretty good. Recently though I hooked the AR up as the left channel and an Infinity as the right channel (with no help from the sub). I switched back and forth trying to determine which sounded better, and to be honest, I still haven't made up my mind. After several CD's I have determined that the highs are slightly better on the AR, perhaps because of the sensitivity, and yes you could really tell a difference in the loudness when switching back and forth. The bass of course was better on the AR (8" vs 5.25"). But what I'm still stumped on is the voices between the two speakers. Perhaps when I get both AR's hooked up in my home I will be able to tell better how they sound for everyday use. I plan on buying some smaller AR bookshelf speakers for surround use and maybe the AR2C center speaker, which I have heard and was pleased with. Just to throw my 2 cents worth in on bi-wiring...I took my left channel and hooked it to the Highs/Mids of the AR and ran the right channel to the woofer on the AR, so supposedly 120 watts was going to the Highs/Mids and 120 to the woofer, and to be honest I couldn't tell an audible difference with them, in a way, bi-amped. I don't know how much of a help this review might be to someone since you can't go out and purchase them at the price I did and from the sound of this review I didn't really give it a glowing review. But the speaker does sound good; if it didn't I'd scrap it (not exactly) and get something else for my home- theater-to-be in my new house. For what I payed it's done an excellent job, and that's why I want to build around them. For movies it has done great as a center channel, so I'm sure the 2 of them will do great, as well, as mains. For music they may be rated slightly lower (a 3.5 if I could give separate ratings). I'd give the AR a 4 for movies. I've heard Overture 2 and Overture 3 from Infinity and they've kept me from giving anything else a 5.

Strengths:
High sensitivity, good power handling, bi-wiring, good sound, sturdy build, low price

Weaknesses:
May be big for some people

Similar Products Used:
Infinity SS 2001

Price Paid:  $99.00 from Accessories4less

Summary:
Picked up two pairs of these speakers to use as surrounds in a 6.1 music system. Their efficiency and clarity make them an excellent choice for reproducing the effects channels delivered by a Yamaha DSP1 through a Yamaha MVS-35 4 channel amp. Along with the A/R 310HO front channel speakers the system produces clean crisp sound and excellent imaging in an 18'x20' room.

Strengths:
Price, high efficiency level, and clarity of reproduction.

Weaknesses:
Size (as bookshelf)

Similar Products Used:
A multitude of cheap alternatives (under $100 / pair)