Acoustic Research?

[HudMaster23]

Anyone heard of these speakers?
They are towers and look pretty nice for the price on amazon.
I am getting a pair for a gift,that a friend is starting out for home theater.
They are Acoustic Research ARXP408R 3-Way. if i can fine a matching center he'll be set.but,i want to make sure i'm not buying white van special.
here is the link http://www.amazon.com/Acoustic-Research-ARXP408R-3-Way-Speaker/dp/B0008E4I1U/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=audio-video&qid=1226967435&sr=1-7

 

[Gimpy Ric]

They are not "White Van" speakers, but I have not heard of AR since the '80's. They used to make some nice stuff.

Ric

 

[TLS Guy]

Anyone heard of these speakers?
They are towers and look pretty nice for the price on amazon.
I am getting a pair for a gift,that a friend is starting out for home theater.
They are Acoustic Research ARXP408R 3-Way. if i can fine a matching center he'll be set.but,i want to make sure i'm not buying white van special.
here is the link http://www.amazon.com/Acoustic-Research-ARXP408R-3-Way-Speaker/dp/B0008E4I1U/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=audio-video&qid=1226967435&sr=1-7

Not "white van" but close. Acoustic Research is one of the greatest names in audio. Founded in 1952 by Edgar Villchur. He pioneered sealed (acoustic suspension speakers, as he called them) and produced some truly revolutionary speakers. His AR3 are still famous and a pair in good condition will still sound good.

Tragically, as is often the case with fine audio companies, they went into liquidation in 2004 and were bought by the junk artists, Audiovox. Now they are extreme junk. If you want a good AR speaker, then you need a vintage one. What is on offer now is sub 1952. No wonder the world is going broke, leveraged to the hilt buying Far Eastern junk. This needs to stop, otherwise we be the third world and damn soon!

 

[jamie2112]

I agree with the Doctor on this and he knows.... TLS guy should be listened to...

 

[HudMaster23]

Thanks for the information.
So,should i fine some thing A little bit better for my friend?
I am kinda on tight budget this year,that is why i was looking at these speakers.

 

[EJ1]

Sounds too much like Audio Research.

 

[TLS Guy]

Thanks for the information.
So,should i fine some thing A little bit better for my friend?
I am kinda on tight budget this year,that is why i was looking at these speakers.

Now lets get sensible. How are you going to build a set of tower speakers for that money, ship them to the US and make a profit, unless the enclosure rings like a barrel and each driver costs about 50 cents to produce?

I would get some decent budget bookshelves, you can then use the same speaker for the center, and he can add a sub later.

Something like this, or these.

A decent set of towers is going to cost you some money.

If you must have an inexpensive tower Infinity is probably your best bet, but I would go with the bookshelves for the money you are looking to spend.

 

[fmw]

No wonder the world is going broke, leveraged to the hilt buying Far Eastern junk. This needs to stop, otherwise we be the third world and damn soon!

It is not the world going broke. It is just us. The Chinese are doing fine. I bought my pair of AR3's in 1959. Inefficient, to be sure, but they sounded fine in what was a very small enclosure for its day.

 

[HudMaster23]

Thanks for the replys.
I'll check out the links.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Thanks for the information.
So,should i fine some thing A little bit better for my friend?
I am kinda on tight budget this year,that is why i was looking at these speakers.

The original KEF iQ series is heavily discounted at Vanns right now (on closeout to make room for the new "version 2" series.) Catch them before they are gone, and you can score a fantastic deal on some truly excellent speakers.

 

[MatthewB.]

I am running some 2001 AR Phantom 8.2 (mains and side surrounds) and AR Phantom 6.1 center and back surrounds in my master bedroom setup and they sound incredible. They are 3 way flat speakers and for smaller rooms (like my bedroom) they are incredible. Although I got my 7.1 set-up for a grand total 200.00 (Mains, Center and rear surrounds at pawn shop for 200.00) and side surrounds (and extra center not being used) for free from a buddy over at Sound & Vision Forums.

They do sound incredible though.