I've owned these speakers since new and can not find a more suitable set of speakers. I have had many sets in the house (b&w 802, totem hawks, monitor audio rs6, and a few others that slip my mind) but none seem to compare to these older speakers.

If you can pickup a set for a reasonable amount, do so. You will not regret it. The highs are crisp but not edgy, the mids are to die for and the bass is splendid. They need to be bi-wired to really preform. Well made and have stood this mild test of time. Very little information on these AR7's. Seems like Acoustic Research reused the name.

5/5

Van zuiver hoog tot krachtig laag.

Geen èèn.

Wat een fantastisch geluid komt er uit die speakers, zo krachtig en warm om stil van te worden.

Similar Products Used:

5 maal overture-1 voor de surround weergave, dit al op m'n Denon 2802

Seemless audio, powerful

big

Update, a year later. These are part of our 7 channel HT system, consisting of the AR7s as the mains, AR17 for the surrounds and an AR4C center speaker. The system is centered on an Onkyo 787 receiver (100W/ch), with an Onkyo TX4500 (55W/ch)driving the rear surronds, and an Adcom 545 II driving the AR7''s woofers. No seperate sub. This system makes for an incredible HT setup. Friends have commented that they have never heard anything better. The AR HiRes speakers are voice matched for excellent balance in a HT system. Even our cat can localize a doorbell ringing in a Dolby or THX movie. The sound is powerful and even throughout the audio spectrum. It is too bad AR discontinued this model.

Similar Products Used:

classic AR9, AR91, AR91.5, Bose 901 IV

Mid's and High's are clear and precise. Bass response is excellent. Nice soundstage and imaging is dynamic.

excellent.

None as of yet

When I first plugged these speakers in, I was a little worried about the sound. The bass was flat and punchy. The mid's and high's were too crisp. Then after a few hours of constant playing, the AR7's began to open up. The bass smoothed out and started to become deep and responsive. The mid's and high's began to settle down and blend in with the woofer's forming a very awesome soundstage. My room began to be filled with music and I couldn't be more pleased. I can only imagine what they are going to sound like when they are fully broken in.
I only have the first two pieces of my home theater system, the receiver and main's. My receiver is the Yamaha RX-V2095 and the AR7's are my front's. The combination is stunning and very musical. I have yet to really turn up the volume and test these speakers because I don't want my neighbors to know I have nice stuff. Plus, when I begin to crank it, I only get one-fourth of my receiver's potential because it get's to loud in my apartment. The AR7's are very efficient and we all know about Yamaha's reputation.
I got a good deal on my AR7's speakers from Brandnamez.com. They priced matched them with another competitor's web-site and the end result was that I only paid $770.00 for them shipped. I'm using Kimber Kable 4VS as my speaker wire, nice cables. If you can find a good deal on these speakers, I feel it will be money well spent. I plan on purchasing the AR2C to use as my center channel and I will purchase the AR15's the be used as my surround's. I can't wait!!
I plan on using my set-up for both music and HT simply because these speakers perform effortlessly in both settings. These speakers offer greatly clairity and detail and I give the AR7's five stars all the way around.

Great bass response from the side firing woofers. Clear highs from the mid-range and tweeters. Excellent choice for HT if you have a large room.

In the product description they say it operates well with 2 inches clearance for the woofers. I had to move my Entertainment center and rearrange my room b/c the bass was really muddy sounding when close to the walls. They also require a decent amount of power to give them good response.

When I first set them upI was kind of disappointed with the sound. The base was muddy and the highs were overpowering the base. After a little reconfiguration (read heavy lifting) and running the woofers on the B channel, I couldn't be more pleased with the sound. The system is mainly used for HT but I also listen to Kid Rock etc... The AR-7's handle it all quite nicely. The full system is AR-7 fronts, AR-4C center, AR-15 rear and ARs500 subwoofer. I run this all of a Denon AVR-3200. I did have to turn up the rear surrounds to keep up with the rest of the system but hey, what can you do.

The sound is INCREDIBLE.

Big, VERY LARGE !! :)

Presently there are bi-amped using a vintage Onkyo TX-4500 receiver (55W/ch) for the mid and up, and an Adcom GFA545 Mk11 for the 12" woofers.

These speakers sound great, and even with the limited power will produce very loud levels.

Similar Products Used:

Bose 901, AR 92

none

ar7 is really great speakers ,but i got one problem with it my wife turn the power very high and the tweeter had dameged, i send it to fix the problem but after that the sound become not clear like before......i know it is very personal ....but i still love this big baby and i decieded to buy another one....believe me it is good mony spend.. if you like music or home cinema... do not lose your cash ...it is great bass and clean trible and mid.......it is one of the best speakers i onwed...

Similar Products Used:

ar 328,several jpl and bose

Very tight base, works wonderfully with AR4 center channel.

None that I've noticed.

I planned to buy the AR9's since they were more in my price range, but http://www.shop4.com had some weird deal where the AR7s were $150 cheaper than the AR9s, so I picked up a pair of the 7s for about $500 including shipping.

For the price, I've never heard better speakers. I've heard the AR9's and these are clearly better. Extremely efficient too: 93db, I think.

Similar Products Used:

Upgraded from AR 228s, which are now the surrounds.

extremely effiecent, great bass, excellent imaging

heavy

Amazing...Amazing...Amazing. I didn't get the deal the guy below me got but I think I did alright. I picked up the AR-7s at netmarket.com for $750 (well worth the price). These speakers have great imaging and warmth. They are extremely effiecent. I new nothing about effiency until I got these speakers. They take so load off my reciever that its just amazing. I bought the AR-2C along with these speakers to complete my HT setup. The movies sound incredable. I don't think I will ever go back to a theater again. They sound that good. The real place these speakers excel in is when used for music. I play CDs now that I would never listen to because the sound puts me in awe.

You can't go wrong with any of AR's High Res series speakers. The cherry woodgrain finish looks great too. Can't go wrong.

Similar Products Used:

Bose acoustimas 5 (suck)
JBL TXL-171 (pretty good)

midrange and tweeter are percise, warm and have a wide field
to enjoy.

Bass is strong after a 3db increase from the receiver.

The AR-7's came from Netmarket shortly after I ordered them, 10 days. The two packages came a little impacted from their travel from NY to UT, but everything was ok. The fit was a little less than I had expected for this price, corners did not fit without a ridge you could feel. Sound took about 100 hours of playing to open up. After that, these are a very musical, defined set of speakers. I can hear more of everything in both DVD and CD formats, however,
they also show all the falts of the sound source as well.
The perfect speaker in world, no, but for price/performance
in a non-amped style, they bring AR back to why they
built speakers in the first place.