$1000 Speaker Shootout

ahblaza

ahblaza

Audioholic Field Marshall
Has anyone been following the 7 $1000 a pair shoot out @ HTS? I hope it's OK to post this here @ AH, well the winner is the ARX5, how about that, pretty stiff compitition to come out on top, yes I own them LCR ;)
Cheers Jeff
 
its phillip

its phillip

Audioholic Ninja
I voted for them to win :) I would like to check em out some day.
 
ImcLoud

ImcLoud

Audioholic Ninja
I tried the arx in my HT when I was demoing speakers, but the ascend 340's murdered them in SQ, I tried the entire 5.1 with a3 in surround duty and in front and the a5 in the front both with the same center {I think they only offered one but I wanted to try both towers}... I really wanted to like the a5's since it was before my bookshelf/subwoofer epiphany and I didn't like the idea of the 340s being on a {base}, but the proof was in the puddin, my ears preferred the ascend, and every one that heard them agreed.. They were a close 3rd though, second being diamond 10.4 with 10cm center {I demoed all of the diamond 10 centers, big surprise the most expensive sounded best...
 
gtpsuper24

gtpsuper24

Full Audioholic
Every review I've read on AVS has the Ascend and Arx coming neck and neck with neither one getting murdered, Arx usually has the larger soundstage, while the Ascend was more pinpoint, Ascend seemed more lively while the Arx was more of a studio monitor sound, Arx had a deeper bass while the Ascend seemed more punchy in the midrange. Its all personal preference though, i've always thought the Ascends was the most over rated over hyped speakers around.
 
ahblaza

ahblaza

Audioholic Field Marshall
I don't know how you can say they murdered the ARX5, I've owned a 7.0 Ascends setup, 5 340s and two 170s, I thought they were excellent speakers, I now have ARX5s LCR and 4 A1bs and never looked back, murdered :rolleyes:. I think the ARX models are more versatile and can handle anything thrown at them, very musical speakers as well as all the output (clean) for a large HT setup as well. To each his own, you think the 340s completely opened up with more power by driving them with 200 watt amp, I heard no difference driving the 340s with a 100 watt receiver and a three channel 200 watt amp, you say it was like night and day with an external amp, the 340s are an extremely easy load to drive. I think you should have spent more time with them.
 
afterlife2

afterlife2

Audioholic Warlord
I voted for the A5's after hearing great things about their speakers, especially since Jman liked them. He knows his stuff. I would love to hear them one day.


 
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fuzz092888

fuzz092888

Audioholic Warlord
I wonder how much an Arx A5 kit would cost or if they would be open to it. The finish on them is something that would hold me back.
 
J

jcl

Senior Audioholic
I had heard the ML Motion series at Best Buy and the Klipsch's at Fry's and didn't like the sound of either. I was excited to hear the new ML tweeter but was disappointed with what I heard. The bookshelves sounded the best of the series. Perhaps I was too quick to judge them when listening in less than ideal conditions. I suspect why I liked the bookshelves the best was due to their placement. If I recall correctly Klipsch's did well in a speaker faceoff here at Audioholics but I can't seem to get to the whole article. It was a blind test and I remember talk that the grill fabric used to hide the speakers may have skewed the results by reducing high frequencies.

I did find it a little odd that they paired the $2k tube integrated with the speakers, but I guess if I was getting loaner gear for a faceoff I'd have some fun too. I also thought it strange they would decide a winner before listening with a sub. I think I'd want to hear how the speakers sounded as they were going to be used before picking a winner. Anyhow, congrats to ARX. Perhaps we'll see a review here in the future....
 
fuzz092888

fuzz092888

Audioholic Warlord
I wonder how much an Arx A5 kit would cost or if they would be open to it. The finish on them is something that would hold me back.
Nope, no different finishes for the Arx and no ability to get a kit. That's a deal breaker for me.
 
gtpsuper24

gtpsuper24

Full Audioholic
I wonder how much an Arx A5 kit would cost or if they would be open to it. The finish on them is something that would hold me back.
I would love to see the Arx woofers as separate diy drivers. They are pretty much a 5.3" version of the Exodus Anarchy woofer with a paper cone instead of aluminum and with better upper midrange. I think the plan is for the beginning of the new year to try and offer real wood veneers for the Arx line up and would be made in Nevada but of course the price would be much higher for each model. And the entire idea of Arx is to offer the best performing speaker as they can as budget prices, so looks have to go and replaced with quality parts and stout cabinets. Even thought the vinyl is bland its very well done and typical of Axioms and Boston Acoustics black ash vinyl.
 
fuzz092888

fuzz092888

Audioholic Warlord
I would love to see the Arx woofers as separate diy drivers. They are pretty much a 5.3" version of the Exodus Anarchy woofer with a paper cone instead of aluminum and with better upper midrange. I think the plan is for the beginning of the new year to try and offer real wood veneers for the Arx line up and would be made in Nevada but of course the price would be much higher for each model. And the entire idea of Arx is to offer the best performing speaker as they can as budget prices, so looks have to go and replaced with quality parts and stout cabinets. Even thought the vinyl is bland its very well done and typical of Axioms and Boston Acoustics black ash vinyl.
Which is why a kit would be great. I understand, to some degree, why they wouldn't sell a kit, but the only other option is to buy the speakers outright and strip the drivers and other parts and attempt to reconstruct the cab or strip the vinyl off.

I'm sure the vinyl is fine, just not if I'm going to own it :D. There are too many other good speakers out there around that price that don't have to look like that (if you can DIY that is).
 
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