Detail, clarity, nice soundstage for their size, overall tonality

I'm still searching very hard too find one.

As you can see from above I've listened to a very wide range of speakers before I decided on Acoustic Research. Out of the group I have to say that the B&W Nautilus Series were quite impressive but I feel they are suited more for Hi-Fi use than for a home theater environment. The Klipsch Reference Series also have a very nice sound. They are extremely efficient and would be a good fit for home theater use but not 2-channel stereo because they lack in the one area that brings the excitement to home theater and that is bass. But enough about those other guys on the review.

I ended up with all AR speakers. I use the AR 7's for my mains, I use the AR2C for my center channel, and I use the AR15's as my rears. After reading all the reviews here I find it very hard to believe that anyone could find these speakers to be anything but exceptional especially at $200.00. These speakers have a MSRP of $600.00 and to me sound better than bookshelf speakers costing twice that. I really have to wonder about the electronics driving them because some of the comments listed below desribing the AR15's I'm just not buying. To fully appreciate the sound I think you need at least a mid-level 100 watt receiver. I use the Yamaha RX-V2095 and my AR15's excel. As soon as I plugged them in, I found the sound to be very comparable to my mains but lacked in the deep bass because they have only a 6 1/2 inch woofer. I didn't expect them to have the bass of my tower speakers because they are a BOOKSHELF SPEAKER. My AR 7's are rated down to 28hz while my AR 15's are rated down to 45hz that's more than a full octave higher. So DEEP BASS was ruled out right away.

To get that deep bass feeling most of are craving you need a really big enclosure to move a lot of air and when you look at it from that perspective you shouldn't expect deep bass from the AR 15's or any other bookshelf speakers for that matter. You shouldn't expect a big tower sound from a such compact package because it's not going happen. I got exactly what I expected anyway. Which is a beauitful blend of mid's and hi's with a nice hint of mid to semi low level bass, but not the room shaking bass that most of the people on this sight is expecting to hear.

Now on to the sound......

When I first got them I unplugged my AR 7's and placed my AR15's on top of them to start breaking them in. I plugged in my cables and began listening. I played jazz, rap, heavy metal, punk, and easy listening through them and I couldn't believe the sound. I don't know if it's my set-up or what. All I know is that I have studio quality sound in my home. Simply amazing! The fidelity and tonality displayed by these speakers is breathe taking. They also have a nice soundstage for their size. I don't have a complaint at all. The wife even approved of the sound. She couldn't believe I was getting all that sound from such a compact speaker. On that basis alone I have to give them five stars. The build quality is first rate and they very pleasing to look. I don't get fatigued by them at all because I've let them play all day long several times. Okay, enough ranting go get yourself a pair and see for yourself. You won't be sorry unless you have a cheap system and there are no speakes in the world that can make a crappy set-up sound good.

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Demoed the Polk Audio Rt55i, Infinity Interlude IL10, JBL S26 and S38, B&W 600 and Nautilus Series, Klipsch Reference Series

Imaging, soundstage, timbre, transcient response, musicality, price.

they need a very long breakin period

I have had these speakers for a year, and the longer I own them the better they sound. They are being used in a second system in my work area. I wanted to build a system for less than $1500.00. I have an Onkyo TX-8511 (100w) reciever, an Onkyo DX-C340 CD player and Sanus 28" speaker stands. Also I spent considerable money on interconnects and speaker cable. The CD player is connected to the reciever with Kimber Silver Streak interconnects. The Subwoofers (I am using two of them) are connected to the reciever with Kimber Kable 8TC speaker wire. The subs are AR300's with the crossovers set at 100hz, phase set at "0". The subs are connected to the AR15 in a biwire configuration, Kimber 4TC running to the tweeter and 8TC running to the woofer. This is whats called a speaker level connection since my reciever does not have LFE or sub outputs. The two subwoofers are therefor in stereo rather than mono(one sub) which greatly improves the soundstage! The subs are back along the wall and the stand mounted AR15's are 4' out into the room for greater soundstage and image. I have read many reviews on these speakers and most have one thing in common, they were written within one month of purchasing the speakers. Of course they sound muddied, the spiders, surrounds, and electronics take time to burn in. I cranked mine with Bela Fleck "Flight of the Cosmic Hippo" for 40hrs under Igloo coolers and they opened right up. I highly recommend these speakers but you've got to break them in!!!

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Joseph Audio

detail and resolution, driver and connection quality are exceptional for price.

very slighly bright, but that's only at really loud volumes.

These speakers are incredible value for the qualty of sound and construction that they offer. let them break in and they will be so ear pleasing to listen to that you will never want to stop listening to music. highly recomended.

Very nice build quality

High frequencies

The first thing I noticed when I pulled these out of the box was the quality of the enclosures. The finish is not the most extravagant but the boxes are very hefty and the connectors on the back are very sturdy. The tweeters have a protective screen over them as well which is very nice. The only gripe about the enclosures, is that the grills are a little hard to remove, but that doesn't matter much.

When I first hooked them up, I was disgusted. The high frequencies where muffled and these speakers really did sound like they had a bag over them. However, after some break in time and bi-wiring them, they really came alive. I could not believe the difference in the sound after they were broken in. The low end came out a little more once they were broken in too, but placement really makes the biggest difference in bass response. For this size speaker, bass is good, but you are still going to want a sub. These speakers are not the best sounding bookshelves out there, but for $200, you are not going to find a better speaker.

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B&W 601

All we can say is, this speaker is one of the best for the $$$$, quality & sound are excellent!!!!

I have listened to the AR15 for several times before I walk away from them. For what they are selling for, $399 in Crutchfield and $345 mail ordered, they are not justify the high price. The new tech sounds good such as Mag-alloy woofers and Ti tweeters. But the improvement of sound is very little. It doesn't matter the speakers can play higher than 23KHz, nobody can hear that high. Bass has no improvement no matter what the new woofer called. It sounds not much different from the now discontinued AR206HO ($150 /pr). Overall, they still sounds good but not for that price. For the sound: 4 stars, price: 1 star

I got the AR15 from Netmarket for $259.00 in my hands. The connectors are sweet, the weight is perfect, and the sound is very impressive. They are 175 wpc, and I am driving them with a NaturalSound system consisting of Yamaha M-70 200 watt amp, CX-830 preamp, GE-60 EQ, and t-1020 receiver. These speakers, in my office, kick serious ass. They grind out the White Zombie with great bass, and while listening to classical, I noticed many instruments I never heard before! Very sensitive reproduction. For a bookshelf monitor of it's size and power handling, neither the mini's or the Zero's can compete. 5 stars.

High definition tweeters, well tuned woofers! Excellent size for this much sound. Well manufactured also! I got them for $265 and love em. I'm using them as my home theatre surrounds, and they are great. I did connect them as main stereo speakers to test and was really impressed. Not boomy, boxy sounding. Not shrill either. If you can find them for a good price, I recommend you get them.

I think they are veneered, and not real wood... Also, the speaker grills are hard to remove. Im gonna add a little ribbon pull on the bottoms to correct this, but I think AR should have included this....no big fuss though. I did have to turn up the rear suurround level up a bit, because these little AR15's can handle ALOT of power.

Love em. They make for a great surround speaker because of the high definition and low freq response. I would have no problem using as main bookshelve speakers though (what they were designed for.)
A couple of little changes could improve the looks and grill, but the sound is high fidelity.
If you find em cheap (under $350 US) get them!

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These are coupled with Optimus 8" w/ Lienum tweeters in the front, and work well as my surrounds.

People, what is wrong with you? Let's not forget that these are Small Bookshelf Average Consumer speakers.For their price and their targeted audience they are absolutely awesome! Rick from Ann Arbor gives a star and claims to have used B&W,Klipsch,etc. Sorry to say that,Rick, but you are lying, otherwise there is no logical explanation of how you got from those brands to a poor AR. By the way, NHT and AR have the same parent company, RECOTON , so saying that NHTs are much better than ARs is like saying that one's left hand is nicer than the right one... it's only subjectivity...But anyway, to make a long story short, these are great speakers, just use them with proper equipment and you shall not be dissaponted. ( By proper equipment I mean NOT some Sony DE series receiver with wires taken from the Christmas tree, and the similar other combinations....)

nice looking

poor sound

all music sounded poor on these speakers. bass was muddled, midrange dull, and tweeters non existent. AR just doens't put together a good product these days. Too much company turmoil to spend energy on product development.

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