soundstaging, fequency response, tweeter quality, bi-amping capability

none so far

I currently own a pair of Acoustic Research S40 tower speakers. I couldn't be more impressed. Well worth thousands over list price, these speakers are overall the best performers I have ever heard. And I have heard many, many speakers. Some for thousands of dollers that don't even compare. From Metalica to Mozart and everything in between, these speakers push the limits of natural, true-to-life sound, as well as soundstaging. I know this is starting to soung like a Bose advertisment, but there is no comparison here. The power and intense sound that these speakers produce in unmatched by competitors. The incredible clarity of the silk-dome tweeter is unbelievable, and the bass response of 26Hz is almost unheard of with 6 1/2 inch woofers. If you don't want such intense bass, the speakers come with foam baffels to plug up the ports for less, but tighter bass. Even without the baffels, the bass is tight, and not boomy. These towers completely eliminate the boxy sound that most other speakers produce and create an open, free sound that will ingulf the listener if turned up. The bass is even strong at low volumes. The soundstaging is another great aspect of these speakers. When I close my eyes, I really think there is a band in the house. The sound doesn't sound like it is comming out of a wooden box, but rather it sounds like it is actually comming from the instuments. It doesn't get any better. The clear, clean, acurate highs, natural midrange, and punchy, tight bass, as well as it's gold plated bi-amping connectors that allow you use one amp for bass, and one for treble, make these the best, well made speakers on the market today. I used to dislike AR, but these speakers completely turned me. I don't think I will ever buy anything else.

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Acoustic Research S50

good sound staging, great sound quality

doesnt have strong bass, but a sub fixes that.

great sound for a 249.00 speaker. I just about got a set of psb bronze ($1,000), but
I ended up going with AR.
I got my whole setup for under $2,000 reciever and all at hh gregg.
check these speakers out!!!

the gesell man

Similar Products Used:

b&w, and psb

see below

NONE!!!!! CAN'T FIND ANY!

I have to say once more PLEASE DO NOT SLEEP ON THESE SPEAKERS!!! I just can not express how inpressive these speakers perform! AR is back in the game, showing nothing but skills from over the years. The reason for 2nd posting is I bought some new dvds for collection,when i played them the
soundstage was so breathtaking I just can't stop thinking about it & how other friends of mine who have some top notch home theater gear themselves were very inpressed w/ the S50's. When I said that I was going with the AR's over the other brand names that everyone has heard of, also like the ones I listed below. They thought I was going to be upset w/ them & return them back to the store. If you look at the ratings on this sight for the majorityof all AR products you will notice that there rank pretty high. That is saying alot to me about the products. I even contacted people on this site to get their input on the S50's before buying. All I'm saying is do your homework, you don't have to follow the masses because you are thinking it must be the best. If you could only have seen their faces after turning the AR's, & the comments about their disbelief of how great they sound. Yep the old audiophiles were inpressed, well I should'nt say old. They not that old, but theyhave been around & know their stuff. The bottem line is you know what sounds good to you, & in the end just be true to yourself & your ears!! Enjoy movies & music!!

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see below

I just got these about 3 months ago. These are the Stature S-50's. Best thing i ever bought, beat other speakers i auditioned, even my uncles Mirage M-5si's with the same amplifier used. the mirages weren't that clear due to the bipolar design, but the soundstage was huge. These babies go way deep, deeper than my sub. And another plus is that you don't even need a sub for music, but for movies it would depend on taste.

Hope i don't find any in the future.

Best purchase i evermade. I see these at www.crutchfield.com for $799 us, even though that's retail price, they can be had for $445 at www.wholesaleproducts.com. Go and buy these, even if you already have good speakers. These things will most likely blow speakers away in the $1000-1500 price range. And these these look sweet, just a little under 4 feet tall and very thin.

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Too many to list

I just got these about 3 months ago. These are the Stature S-50's. Best thing i ever bought, beat other speakers i auditioned, even my uncles Mirage M-5si's with the same amplifier used. the mirages weren't that clear due to the bipolar design, but the soundstage was huge. These babies go way deep, deeper than my sub. And another plus is that you don't even need a sub for music, but for movies it would depend on taste.

Hope i don't find any in the future.

Best purchase i evermade. I see these at www.crutchfield.com for $799 us, even though that's retail price, they can be had for $445 at www.wholesaleproducts.com. Go and buy these, even if you already have good speakers. These things will most likely blow speakers away in the $1000-1500 price range. And these these look sweet, just a little under 4 feet tall and very thin.

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Too many to list

Clean, clear, lifelike, strong sound. Incredible soundstaging and great low end for 6 1/2 inch woofers

Moderate sensitivity, but not a big deal

WOW! Acoustic Research used to be one of the most respected names in audio, but things seemed to go downhill when they got bought out a few years ago. Well at least thats what I thought, untill 3 months ago. I was looking to expand my home theater system and was looking for some main speakers. I tested many speakers: Acoustic Research, Infinity, Polk, Bose, JBL, Klipsh, Legacy Audio, B&W, and even Mirage, most of which are incredible speakers. I was suprised to find myself always comming back to listen to the Acoustic Research S40. The feeling I got with the other speakers was, "not bad, not bad". But I was amazed at the sonic depth and clarity of the Acoustic Research every time I listened to them. They completely eliminated the boxy sound retained by most of the other speakers. The sound from these speakers is huge and room-filling. It sounds like the band is in my house. They were the most realistic sounding speakers in the bunch. The others all sounded to "electronic" and not like the recording engineer intended. With an incredible bass response of 26Hz, which my testing confirmed, you can't go wrong with these speakers. The highs are crystal clear, not harsh, and they are definatly not lacking in mid-range like the Infinity speakers were. The Acoustic Research S40 speakers are definatly worth twice as much as I paid, you simply can't do better. I never though I would end up with AR speakers, but here I stand.

Similar Products Used:

AR S50, Infinity Reference 5

Great sound Great Price Great Look ,Magnetically Shielded

Nooo Way (yet)

I bought these as Ex-Demo stock and because of such got a GREAT DISCOUNT (only 2 scratches!) and I didn't know ANYTHING about them besides they were made by AR. I gave them a demo and they shined beautifuly ,Warm sound (a little bright) I got my moneys worth GREAT speakers don't doubt it.

I am Sure for an extra 1000-2000 dollars you can get better but who needs it?

The imaging is not as invisible as it could be ,(or not as much as Polk's)

Similar Products Used:

Polk RTA-12
Luxman L5

Slim cabnet,great sound,great build,bass, & soundstage is incredible. Also carpet spikes!

NONE SO FAR!

This review is for the AR S50's. Thx to the reviews on this speaker, help in my almost endless search for a great front mains for my home theater set up. I took a chance on buying them with out hearing 1st, best gamble I ever attempted. I am so blown away by these speakers performance that I would recomend them to anybody looking in this range for a speakers. Bass is tight, high's are crisp & the mids are right where there should be, thx to their high sensitivity of 91db you don't have push them at all to get the sound out like a lot of the speakers I tested. The AR's just blew away all of the others I listen to. All i'm saying is don't sleep on these babies. The look of these speakers are sweet, sometimes I just leave the grills off or leave them on either way is fine. I never exspected to find a speaker that the sound would match the looks. I was told it takes 150hrs of playing time to break them in, I'm well past that & they just seem to keep getting better. I listen to my cds more than ever now sence I've bought the S50's, so if you are thinking, or looking take chance like me, & you won't regreat it. Now I must say this the S50's really shine in home theater mode, The soundstage they emit put's you in the action. The loby sence in The Matrix, the bass comming out the S50's is out of control! JP,U571,Blade,THX,DTS,DD trailers sound so good I can't get enuff and yes! I have sub. A 12in. at that, S50's just add to it. Well I'm sure you get the point now, those of you out there who own a pair. ENJOY MUSIC & HOME THEATER!!!

Similar Products Used:

Polks,ifinity,klipsh, and other mid to hifi speakers.

Slim design, Carpet spikes, soft highs

despite the hyping, not so good bass

This is for the ARS-50's. I purcahsed these because I needed speakers in the $500 range in a short time frame. You can find these all over the internet for $400-900. These definately need to be bi-wired. Soundstaging is poor -- if anyone has suggestions, please let me know. I did not find the bass to be all that good, but as expected for speakers this size. I ran them with a sub and that definately helped the low end. The silk tweet is soft, but I get the feeling that I am missing some clarity in some highs, like symbols, etc. I am running these with a carver sunfire 250X5 and a Nakamichi CA1, and have yet to fine tune the set up. I have turned it up now and then without losing quality. I will repost in a month or two with a follow up. These are good speakers for the price, but you get what you pay for.

These speakers rock. I upgraded to them from some small infinitys which were good, but I had no idea the s-40s would be this much better. And to everyone who complained to UBID, it must have worked. I ordered my speakers on the 6th and got them (5 speakers total, including a new center channel) on the 9th, before they cleared my debit card! I have bought several things from ubid and recieved them all within 5 days of winning the auction. Ubid is the best, atleast now, and to me.

None really. well they may be the cause of me getting evicted from my apartment one day or my girlfriend breaking up with me one day, but until then they are great.

Fantastic.. hope they keep me happy. Ubid rocks.

Similar Products Used:

none.. all AR products on a sony str-de875 reciever.