bluesound

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Price Paid:  $0.00 from used

Summary:
I purchased this great speak based on the reviews on this site. I am very happy with it. I had been using Energy speaker for along time and the model I used is smaller (in power) when I moved into my current bigger house. I tried to update the main speakers and have been searching for a while. I have been to audiophile stores to try different brands. I am only impressed by highend over 10k range which I am reluctant to spend that much. When I saw a pair of P315HO on local classified and I bought it right away based on my trial listening for a few songs. It is just very impressive and I love its 96db sensitivity, which is very easy to drive (compared to Energy, which requires more power). For music, it is as good as my Energy, but more loud due to its size, but much better when watching DVD movies. Due to the lack of space to adjust its base, I am not using its two 15 inch subs. I have tried, and it is really good as reviewed by people here. I use my Boston Acoustics PV600 as sub, and it is a very good match. All of my music and DVDs have a new difinition since I introduced this wonderful speaker. AR has done a great job to manufacture this product. For the money I spent under 1000, it is the best I can get. Well, you do not to compare it to the speakers over 10k. Here is my system: Yamaha Rx-V800 Receiver (100w per channel) Carver TFM-35 amplifier (250 w per channel) Boston Acoustics VRS Pro THX Surround as rear speakers. Pineer Progressive DVD player Nakimichi CD player

Strengths:
Beautiful and pure sound for music and movies. Very balanced in high/mid. Very good sensitivity to make it easy to drive

Weaknesses:
too heavy

Similar Products Used:
Energy, Klipche, Cambridge Soundworks, Polk Audio, Boston Acoustics

Price Paid:  $1200.00 from shop4

Summary:
I originally posted a review in April of 1999 when I first got them.Since then, I managed to blow out the subwoofers. I contacted AR service to check on buying replacements and much to my surprise!!!! They sent me 2 new subs at NO CHARGE!! Not even shipping. I am overwhelmed by their customer service. They were over 2 years old! The new woofers are from the AR1's which are much better quality. I have changed electronics. (Musical Fidelity HT Processor and 5 channel Amp) These have really helped with the shrillness. They are performing well and I recommend them and their service protection. Enjoy!!

Strengths:
Bass,clarity of mids

Weaknesses:
subs blow easliy...can have shrill high end

Similar Products Used:
many

Price Paid:  $1100.00 from Smile

Summary:
Yes this review is about 2 years late. But I had to voice my oppinion on these awsome speakers. I actually had these speakers two years ago, and finally broke them out the box April 2001. reason being they where bought in anticipation of me moving in 1999. The move fell through and the speakers stayed in boxes with a slew of audio and home theater gear all brand new in small room.that resembled a wharehouse. I bought them after researching,reading reviews and literature. The two years I went through were total hell. looking at pictures and reading literature on the speakers while I listened to the crapy bose I had,dreaming how p315ho's would sound. I actually sold some of the components I had to upgrade to newer and better gear. I finally moved and got these speakers out of the boxes. When I bought them from smile photo they didn't come through a delivery service. since the shop was near I got a van and picked them up myself, so I avoided any damage to the boxes or the speakers. These speakers rock, the build quality on mine is excellent I have them running off the subwoofer out with a y-adapter from my reciever with the reciever amp handling the mids and highs.after a short break in period these speakers sound beautiful.the bass was awsome at around 20hz the walls and floor shake and the window paynes rattle although it took some time to get it right with that gain control on the back of the speakers. There are no indicators/dashes or marks as to the level you have the gain control set. Mine is about a quarter of the way from the off position. also out of 8 spikes for the pair of speakers only 1 spike screwed in easy. The rest were a battle to put on. DVD's sound phenominal bass heavy movies like Jurrasic Park, lethal weapon 4 will probably get me evicted.Music is also excellent and it also depends on your software, certain recordings I get a cool blend of highs,mids and bass on others some time the vocals and mids sound to recessed and to far in the background. I have a lot of cdr's with mp3's on them and they sound better than some of my older store bought cd's. I also have been looking at the reviews for the ar1's and it seems the AR1's are essentialy the same speaker with different mid drivers. These speakers are not audiophile speakers. They are speakers that are better than your average Wiz, circuit city, bestbuy,J&R chain store speaker. lets face it if you can afford to buy Krell and Linn components you shouldn't be buying anything from AR. The p315ho's are excellent speakers that offer good clear clean sound with the addition of slam for your dollar. If by chance you could find them and you have the money don't hesitate get them.

Strengths:
small slim foot print,bi-wireable,subwoofer input jacks on back,15inch sub built in 500w sunfire amps

Weaknesses:
gain control,tweaking,floor spikes(more on this later)

Similar Products Used:
Bose

Price Paid:  $1999.00 from Crutchfield

Summary:
I just read the reviews posted here, and I feel kind of stupid paying full retail ($1999)(10/13/00) for these drivers, when most everybody else paid less.

But then again, these are AR P315HO...

Are they worth it?

Yep.

Let's see. How do you like saying: "Why yes, I CAN produce a bandwith of 20-20KHZ(+/-3db) at, uh, about 130db in my house. Can't everyone?"

I'm driving mine with a Crown CE-1000 (275W RMS) amplifier, a Pioneer DJB-500 Mixing Bord, and a couple of garden variety digital sources (MD, DAT & CD) . Everything written about these drivers picking out the nuances of your ststem are true ( I recommend Line Conditioning here...)

I managed to blow the Sunfire amp out in the right driver in about two hours of hard driving. (since when do AR Drivers fail so easily?) (HINT: BE CAREFUL with that gain control. It's like dynamite. 3? okay. 4? watch out. 5? Run for cover. 6? check the circut breakers. 8? don't worry. You'll be deaf by then)

Oh, and while I'm at it. Who was the moron who designed that gain control in the first place? That little ugly, plastic shaft sticking out of the amp is going to get broken, quick. and besides, it's not calibrated for easy use (there are no markings on the back of the driver to line up with the shaft itself). (I recommend finding a knob(with Pointer!) with an internal diamater the same size as the shaft, and then painting markings on the back of the driver itself. There MUST be some way to precicely set the gain on this driver!!)

I've been using nothing but AR Products for the past 15 years (AR11, AR18, Spirit 132, now the P315HO).

These guys are hard to beat, sound great, and are surely worth the money.

Case closed.

BUT: AR needs to fix the Quality Control. They used to be one of the best. I'm not so sure I can say that anymore.

Despite this one flaw, though, there is still no arguing with the sound. In my humble opinion, it can't be beat for the price (or, even for thousands more..)

And that is why I buy AR again, and again...

Strengths:
Why, of course, they are AR products....

Weaknesses:
That they are no longer in production (uh..quality control needs a little work too. Are you listening, AR?)

Similar Products Used:
Trio KL-10000Z, AR11

Summary:
I bought these from www.Accessories4less.com in an auction on ebay. I paid $1000 including shipping. While that is a lot of money for my budget, I don't miss it at all. I don't know how these compare to the other comparativly priced speakers out there, but I do know these sound very good.

The resolution on these is incredible. I can listen to any CD I own and hear things that I never knew were there.

The dynamic range is another strong point. I haven't found the ceiling on it yet. My amp has 110 watts RMS per channel and it will max out before the speakers show any sign of straining. While I wasn't much of a Classical music fan before,(except live music)I can now close my eyes and see the individual instruments in the orchestra.

The bass is clean, tight, and very low. With the 500 watt amp and 15" woofer, it will play low enough that, even though there is no apparent sound coming out, there will be object buzzing and rattling throughout the house. The music has that extra octave of lowend that was missing before.

To all the people who gave bad reviews. Yes, I'm certain there are many speakers with better sound. For the total package that these provide, I don't think you could find a more versatile package. I will keep them for a long time.

Strengths:
Effortless dynamic range, great resolution, smooth sound, deeeep lowend.

Weaknesses:
cost, weight

Similar Products Used:
Polk 2000P, Infinity Overture 3, Infinity RS10