Good sound cheap price

none apparent

I purchased one single 318PS at Sears today for a price of only $29.97. An old unmatched floor model. Well I took it home and hooked it up in my basement which has a "pair" of unmatched speakers. Sounded like it should, that is just like the other ARs I have tried and the above listed which I own. Takes a lot of power, plays loud, sounds good. Now if I could only get that set of AR Edge surround speakers they have had sitting there in a beat up box all this time I would have some darn nice systems.

Similar Products Used:

AR 226PS, AR S112PS

Good bass
Great highs and mids

none

I just upgraded to a Yamamha RSX-V595 reciever and I needed some new speakers to go along with it and I ended up buying a pair of 318PS's for a little less than $200 a pair. They sound great compared to my old Sony 100watt speakers. Even at only 70watts they sound great with good bass. I picked these speakers up at Sears in Spartanburg, SC in which they had 2 sets left after I got mine. Now all I need is a pair of Acoustic Research AR-17's for my rears and an AR2C center channel. Two thumbs up to Acoustic Research!

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Cheap 100watt Sony speakers

can get loud as hell without much distortion, good solid construction.

No feet so they can kinda wobble. Cat likes to climb up fabric covering the speakers. Two roommates

After shopping for months for my first home theater setup, I was about to get some Infinity RS-4s for fronts, and RS-2s for the rears. I was at Sears with my girlfriend and decided to play in the electronics department. Until then I never would have thought I could find some decent speakers at Sears, and Acoustic Research was a brand I never listened to. So I turned the receiver to a radio station and cranked the volume (the salesmen don't really seem to care). I was suprised at how they put the Infinity speakers to shame. When checked the price of the speakers, and saw that they were on sale for $99 a piece, I got online on a computer in the store and came to audioreview.com to see what others thought about them. To my suprise, most seemed to really like them. So got them, and the AR-216s they had on sale for $49 a piece, and the Sony DE-935 they had on sale for $399.

With this equipment, the only other things I will need to get is a good DVD player, a center channel (probably an AR-225ps because I like the brand so much), and a Velodyne Sub to so can live in DD 5.1 heaven. As awesome as my system already sounds without the sub and center channel, I can't even begin to imagine how much better it can get.

My 2 roommates both have the best Philips-Maganavox shelf systems they make (they have about 320watts of total power). There is just no comparison. When turned to a resonable level, the clarity and warmth of my speakers were apparent, and when cranked, I could only laugh at the pops and crackles the Philips-Magnavox systems were producing while the AR's were just singing and asking for more.

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch, sony, aiwa, paradigm, sansui, jbl

Appearance, build, pricing, bass and mids

paid $369 a year ago when i could have found them at Sears for $99? What's up with that?

Decided to go with AR because I had a pair of bookshelf speakers when I graduated from college. I decided to build my entire home theater set up with AR's performance series including 4 rears(PS216) and center (C225PS).
These speakers are able to handle some amazing 5.1 applications and I think that they are best suited for that purpose. I would suggest to tweak your system's bass crossover frequencies in order to get the best sound out of these puppies. I have Klipsh 10inch sub to handle all the lower frequencies even though the 318's are able to carry some very impressive bass response...
Overall, these are an amazing product for it's price range. I would have to give it 6 stars for the value rating. If you find them at Sears (can't get over that) for $99, get them...

Look more expensive than they are, great acoustics, so much for so little...

Could have better imaging...music does'nt surround you....bass a little boomy if placement is off

Well I owe this freekin bargin to all you guys and gals here. I actually found two pair in my area, the only two pair might I add. At the same Sears store as well! These speakers for $99. each is just a fantastic deal. They are by far and away the best pair of tower speakers I have ever owned. I'm so happy I can't stand it.

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood, Boston Acoustic

Fantastic bass, smooth highs and midranges, absolute best speaker in its price range

Crappy packaging

I was astounded at the sound quality when I bought these. Reading the reviews here, I went to Sears and picked up a pair at $99 apiece; a real steal. The bass that the 8" driver kicks out is absolutely incredible, and the smooth midranges and highs can compete with those of much higher priced speakers. I use speakers primarily for home theater applications, but listen to a lot of industrial techno on the side, so high-quality bass is very important, and when I brought up the lobby shooting spree in The Matrix I was blown away. I would highly recommend this model to anyone wanting a high quality set of speakers but not wanting to spend an ungodly amount of money; they beat anything else in their price range hands down. The only downside is the crappy packaging, which is why I would discourage someone from buying them online; there are too many horror stories about these speakers arriving trashed by UPS (they're cheaper at Sears anyway).

Complete system:
Acoustic Research PS-318 Speakers
Technics SA-DX940 Receiver

Similar Products Used:

Infinity RS-4

GOOD BASS, CLEAR SOUND, SIGNALS TRAVEL FAR W/O LOSING STRENGTH. EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE (EVEN THOUGH MY AMP ,PIONEER VSX-504S IS JUST SO-SO). WELL BUILT. GOOD CABINET. MUCH BETTER THAN MANY OTHER IN THE SAME OR EVEN MORE EXPENSIVE PRICE RANGE. I PAID $200 FOR A PAIR (YES, A PAIR) AT SEARS. I CONSIDERED IT A STEAL. THEY ARE BRAND NEW IN THE BOX, UNTOUCHED EVEN THOUGH PACKAGING IS QUITE FRAGGILE. I ALMOST BOUGHT THE POLK 400 AT CIRCUIT CITY, BUT COULD NOT GET A GOOD DEAL, THE RT400 SOUNDS ALSO GOOD BUT LOOK CHEAP AND UGLY COMPARED WITH THE AR318PS. I HAVE LISTENED TO THE BOSE 301 WHICH COSTS $300 A PAIR AT SEVERAL STORES AND IT SOUNDS LIKE A JOKE COMPARING WITH THE AR318PS.
MY SYSTEM:
1. RECEIVER PIONEER VSX-504S
2. DVD SAMSUNG 611

VERY POOR PACKAGING.

EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE. VERY GOOD CABINET MATERIAL. A BESTBUY IN ITS PRICE RANGE $300-600$.

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BOSE 301 SERIES IV

A friend needed an inexpensive speaker for pop, she has two sons and a long string of blown drivers. After a little research settled on the 318PS from Sears for $275/pr. Great, got them to her place they sound great and I'm marvelling about how far speakers have come to offer this level of performance for so little. There has to be a catch - and there was. The front baffle of one of the 318's wasn't glued to the side walls adequately and the front baffle buzzed when aforementioned sons play faves. A trip back to Sears reveals that both the floor model 318's have exactly the same problem!

AR, you need to tell your cabnet factory to USE the glue!!!

strong bass, clear, crisp mid and highs, price

don't see any

The price is excellent. They are only 261.99 for the pair at www.theweb-shop.com. You can probably find them at Sears and price match that. I did. The bass is unexpectedly deep for an 8" woofer. Even better against a wall or in a corner. Good in home theater. They look pretty nice. I honestly think these are the best sounding front channel speakers with an 8" woofer you can find. Nothing I tested with these came even close. Great deal.

Similar Products Used:

AR-C225PS center channel

Amazing Bass, Smooth mids & Highs, really fill a room. Perfect if you need full range out of only two speakers. $235/pair shipped at netmarket.com

Bass extension can be a bit much. It would be nice if you could bi-wire them. Too loud for roomates :)

These are used as stereo speakers in a medium-sized bedroom, powered by an older technics reciever. I tested them with techno, jazz, classical, and guitar rock. For techno, might want to turn down the bass or move them away from the wall else the rear port could muddy the low end. (Easy to fix if you have a subwoofer) Make sure you use good cable. It makes an enormous difference.
The sound from these speakers very full- they penetrate an entire house at a volume you can hold a conversation over.
It's strange, but my old speakers would SOUND loud when you crank them. These don't. The highs may be a little bright in color, but they don't lead you to ear-fatigue. A subwoofer is desirable but not necessary. The high crossover is perfect but the lower one is confounded by the huge rear port when you push a lot of bass through it.
I chose these over the accoustic reasearch ps-
328. the ps-328 has a second 8" woofer- as a reult it goes to 35hz and 200watts as opposed to 40 and 175. Not necessary, and they look too bulky. Overall: clean, full sound, lots of low end, decent stereo imaging, accurate reproduction.

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compare to infinity