Imaging, liveliness, dynamics, accuracy, cost. Quality of drivers. Superior Crossover design and components. Can't say enough good things about this speaker.

Not enough people know abou them

This will be my second review of the AR.COM (Ed Frias DIY) speaker. Since the construction of my first pair two years ago, I have built 6 more pair by request for friends and family. Everyone who listens to them is absolutely stunned by their sound--their first question after listening is "how can I get a pair?" I still am amazed at this simple two-way bookshelf speaker, I have yet to find aything in its class to rival it. Paradigm reference couldn't touch it, neither B&W, neither M&K. Granted all three of these manufacturers make excellent sounding speakers, they just do not have the imaging, the accuracy, the detail, the airiness, the liveliness, of the AR.COM DIY speaker. Ed Frias (designer of this speaker) has been more than helpful in answering my questions regarding these speakers and other audio questions over the years. He deserves some sort of award. For anyone considering this project I absolutely recommend it. I would be more than happy to answer questions regarding the AR.COM speaker--and depending on what I have going on at the time, I would be more than willing to construct a pair for someone if they are not comfortable building it themselves. However, if you do have the time, skills, and tools this project is a must--there is nothing more gratifying to sit down and listen to the finished product. tverner@hotmail.com if you have any questions or need help.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm Reference, B&W, M&K.

Airy highs, rich mids, really great bass for this size speaker, and I mean really great, as in I wouldn't want more, assuming music playback and not home theatre. And the price, I could not have moved into entry level high-end audio without a product like this. Ease of assmebly is another plus. A terrific first DIY experience. I haven't even mentioned the many modifications available for these because I haven't needed them, but they are there.

If you need the old Tyranasaurous Rex in you living room you may require a sub. Otherwise I don't understand the criticisms.

Okay, so these speakers were my first foray into DIY audio, and let me tell you I could not be happier. I had them together the day they arrived and hooked into my crappy $600.00 Technics system. Immediate improvement. Now they are in my better system, which they were purchased for but didn't exist at the time, and forget about it, they are exquisite. Rega Planet 2000 to a Transcenant Sound Grounded Grid preamp (my second DIY project) to a 2 watt 300B tube amp to these speakers. I can't imagine a better low cost alternative. The initial low bass response was easily handled through break in, better stands, and other tweaks, including a DIY extension cord. Now I can't imagine anyone complaining about a lack of bass. Maybe for home theatre you'd need a sub, but for music I don't think so. Simply amazing. If you desire great sound, need a speaker with a smallish footprint, are interested in DIY, need some satellite speaks, or want a low cost alternative high-end speaker I would highly recommend this product to you.

Similar Products Used:

None.

Amazing bass for their size; nice clear, true sound. They are very forgiving as to placement: I have had them 24 inches off the ground, and 5 feet off the ground, and both work very well.

My wife thinks they are a bit too large to hide in the living room (as they are not as small as the Bose-type satellite speakers that you can hide behind a plant), but I think they are a good compromise at about 9 by 12 inches in size.

There is not much I can say that has not already been said about these amazing speakers. I have 5 of EFE's much more expensive speakers, as well as an SVS sub, in my home theater. But when I needed some much smaller and more unobtrusive speakers for my living room, Ed Frias sold me a pair of his DIY speakers that he did not want to take with him in a move. Contrary to what some others have said, I find the DIY speakers to have amazing bass; so much so that I have cancelled my plans to buy a sub for my living room. They work equally well for music and movies and I am very happy with them. I don't know if this has anything to do with the fact that they were actually built by Ed Frias rather than by me. By the way, if anyone needs to reach Ed Frias, he has moved to Arizona. His new email address is efespeakers@commspeed.net

Similar Products Used:

I have heard many speakers in this size range, mostly the regular brands you see at The Good Guys and Circuit City (Klipsh, Infinity, Bose, Sony, etc., etc.), but none come close for accuracy and bass.

Soundstage and imaging quite good

none in my opinion

Picked these up used and have been enjoying them a lot for past few weeks. These have the original crossover design. As mentioned in prior reviews these have a terrific soundstage and in my system they completely disappear. Using with stereo subs crossed over with a Marchand X9 and this setup delivers the bass that may otherwise be lacking. Ran without the subs for a while and they still sounded quite satisfactory. Though they don't quite have the imaging of my Bohlender 520dx or 420dx speakers, those list at $3,000+ and this DIY performs well compared to them. I like this DIY speaker so much I have not bothered to put the Bohlender Greabener speakers back in yet. These are being driven with a high end SS amp (Reference Line Audio ... no I do not want to sell it!!!) and passive preamps. At used price they are a screaming deal as they would likewise be at the $300 build cost IMO. Would be interesting to see how these performed in a home theater setup.

Similar Products Used:

Bohlender 520dx, 420dx, x3. Michaura, several models of Wharfedale.

Great value, nice balanced sound.

Bass isn't very deep, but a subwoofer would fill it in nicely.

Previously my review was of these speakers with the tweeters accidentally connected with the wrong polarity. Once I corrected my mistake, I found these to be right up there with other top DIY speakers in the $600 range.

Similar Products Used:

Dennis Murphy's MB-1

Cannot possibly be matched for the price IMO.

None for the price. Bass, but not considering their size.

I recently upgraded these with the .3mH coil and adding the compensating 1ohm resistor (Mills) to the woofer circuit and a 2ohm attenuator resistor to the tweeter. As good as these are with the original crossover, the revisions really open up the midrange by eliminating the "BBC dip". I have chiefly used high end Dynaudio drivers in DIY speakers I've built and these Frias speakers are the best "inexpensive" speakers available. Then again, by using a very good solid, braced MDF enclosure such as was built for me by Brian King and using the best crossover components: Solens bypassed by with film caps and Perfect Lay aircoils and Mills resistors: no retail speaker shy of a very expensive "audiophile" offering stands a chance. The Peerless drivers have a LOT to offer and these are just a "nick" behind some of the Dynaudio stuff I've built (Geminis, etc.) Thanks, Ed Frias!

Similar Products Used:

Dynaudio Gemini, MDY-4, BESL DIY speaks

very crisp sound. Detailed, dynamic. Good depth and width of image. Authoritive bass for size. The experience of making these, and then listening to music through these things that you made is extremely satisfying. The price for these is something that you will just smile dumbly to yourself about after they're made, thinking that you have stumbled upon some secret that the rest of the audio world is completely oblivious to. Can be made quickly, If you dedicate some solid chunks of time to the project.

Doesn't like small rooms much, which is to be expected really. Unfortunately a necessary evil at my place! Can take ages, if you don't have any solid time to dedicate, like myself... May become an addictive introduction to DIY audio.

These speakers were an excellent project, and a worthwhile investment of time and money. I started considering whether to make some speakers or not about a year ago now, when I decided that my system (Crappy K-mart job - the horror.) definitely needed upgrading! I picked up a sherwood CD player up cheaply from a friend, and went and purchased the NAD 320bee integrated amplifier. As you can see from equipment choice, I was after quality on a budget (I hate being a poor uni student!!!). I was going through audio review pages looking at my speaker options, when I saw the DIY link. That was the start of a great project!! I did my research and determined that it had to be done. A year later I have some awesome speakers. These are not exactly built to Ed's specs. In the course of a year I buried myself in speaker design theory and modified the design a bit to add some characteristics I was after. I kept the crossover design, (using a 4.7 ohm resistor for the tweeter circuit), Used the recommended drivers, but designed the boxes myself and built them, with good results. The speakers are very nice to listen to. Nice airy highs, though never piercing, clear and natural mids and authoritive lows. Not authoritive like a sub, but come on! They're bookshelves! The soundstage is wide open and deep. The tweeters are very nice, especially when it comes to reproducing reverb, which gives music dpeth and a sense of space. After listening to one ambient track, i kept hearing this annoying noise coming from beyond the wall of my lounge room. It sounded like some animal was doing something outside, and it was ruining my listening experince. But it wasn't. It was just a noise in the music. At the time though, I could have sworn it came from about 5 meters outside the wall...! All I could do was laugh with giddy glee, thinking of the pitance I payed for this enjoyment! I have a deep love of many very diverse musical genres. Everything from obscure classical to jazz to underground electronic to pounding drum'n'bass to techno to rock'n'roll to heavy metal etc. etc. Just good quality music basically. And the speakers reproduce them all very well. And that's the only real test that matters isn't it? If you can kick back and enjoy listening to some music of and afternoon, through your pride and joys, and they sound really good, then all the specs in the world and other petty quibbles with sound quality ("...but they're not as good in the semi-mid range as my friends $6000 blah blah blahs") just float out the window. P.S - If you have any trouble making these at all, the DIY audio comunity is one of the most helpful and friendly I've ever seen. Go to www.diyaudio.com with all your speaker - buliding woes, and they'll be cleared up in a flash. There is no such thing as a dumb question there. P.P.S - Major thanks to Ed Frias!! There is still goodness in the world...

Very wide, accurate soundstage. Very pleasant mid-range and upper range notes. Value for the price cannot be beat!

Lower-range is slightly weak, but thats a stretch.

Before I began my search to replace my Infinity speakers, I was fairly certain that I was going to purchase another pair of name brand speakers such as B & W or Klipsch. To my delight, an audiophile friend of mine recommended the AR DIYs instead and my ears are so glad I purchased them. I had the luxury of testing on a high-end system where the speakers would likely be the weakest link. The system we tested on consisted of a Theta Jade CD player with a DS pro logic converter, a Balanced Audio Technology VK3 preamplifier, and a DBX bxi power amplifier. We then did a side by side test comparing the DIYs to a pair of Apogee Divas. The speakers were compared with tracks from Diana Krall "Lovescenes" and Patricia Barber "Cafe Blue". The first thing that struck me was the amazing soundstage of the DIYs, all from a bookshelf-size. Only in certain songs on Krall's CD could we really find significant diffence in this area between the DIYs and Divas. The high notes on the DIY were a little sharp for my liking, however I was using the 2 ohm resistors on the tweeter terminal and I believe that this should be fixed when I switch in a 4-5 ohm resistor. I really liked the midrange and upper-range on the DIYs! The bass was a little weak compared to the Apogees as revealed by the bassist's notes in Barber's song "Too Rich for My Blood", but that may be attributed to the speakers being too far away from the back wall (5 ft due to equipment positioning) and lack of proper speaker stands. Overall, we felt that the DIYs were quite pleasant to listen to and at $320, its a great deal! And to be competitive with the DIVA Apogees is a real accomplishment on the part of Ed Frias, espescially considering the Apogees are 6 ft tall and cost about $16000 per pair. This is a really generous contribution from a generous guy and I highly recommend anyone who is debating to try the DIYs to take the plunge. Job well done!

Similar Products Used:

Apogee Divas Infinity RS3s

"aftermarket" changes can be made, improving on weak points. Very natural and clean sounding. Inexpensive.

Nothing obvious, all bookshelves have weak bass response though these seem to do fairly well.

I deliberated a lot before buying these speakers. My friends prefer names like klipsch and yamaha when it comes to audio... and they tried hard to sway me from the diy path. I can say that my expereinces with high end speakers is limited, though i am well aware of what a good setup sounds like. With $600 ready to spend on speakers i set out to find something enjoyable with a natural sound, nothing too bright up top or too heavy on the low end. I read some reviews on these speakers and i must say i was impressed. Having listened to them now for nearly a year i can say i'm pleased with the purchase. There are some types of music which seem to trip them up, usually violins seem off a bit. I'm using a pioneer unit to power them at around 105W each, i'm not sure if it's the best reciever to be using with them. Overall i'd say these speakers sound very natural and have a really wide soundstage which really pulls me in. They sure are a good value for the money, and from what i can see people are still developing the crossovers and coming up with tweaks for them, i find that very encouraging... i don't think many retail speakers have such a following.

Similar Products Used:

Various units by klipsch and yamaha.

cheap

the sound isn't very good, when compared to other DIY projects in the same price range.

I built these last year and they sounded fine. I attended a DIY convention and listened to other similarly priced DIY speakers and found that the AR design is very weak in the bass, the soundstage is terribly recessed, and the high-end is simply ragged (this is all in comparison to other DIY projects I heard). I tried the updated crossover (which is a slight improvement), but it still didn't meet the performance of other speakers in the price range.

Similar Products Used:

Dennis Murphy's MB-1