AR speakers for $99 w/Excels?

[polkymon]

I can't find any info on these but it appears to have Seas woofers. J&R is blowing them out at $99 delivered, were $449.

Bought a pair for kicks and/or parts. If they suck I'll give them away.

The other offers seem great too. Was going for the center channel at $39 but sold out this am.

http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4029539

[tommak]

From the pictures in this review

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=773485

I would say they are probably not Excel drivers.

[polkymon]

Thanks for the pics. The enlarged J&R pic with the grills on make them look exactly like Excels. It appears to be a lookalike. We'll see how they sound.

[polkymon]

I owned a pair of AR speakers back in the 80's. The quality was excellent and are still in use today.

These are now made by Audiovox and are probably a step up from "white van" speakers. I will probably salvage the cabinet and modify it or give them to my nephew for pc speakers.

[sdclc126]

It doesn't look like they were ever $449 - nearly all of the speakers on that page have the J&R price and the "List Price" - which means nothing as J&R is the only vendor for these. There is no indication of a "sale" or "blowout."

You might like to read this (mostly subjective) review:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=773485

[polkymon]

I started out seeing the AR name and figured it was the same AR I knew of years ago. So I went to what I thought was their website http://www.araccessories.com and saw no speakers , figured they had gotten out of the business.

I recently purchased a Boston Acoustics AVR7120 receiver (superb by the way) for $999 on a closeout from Onecall which was a legitimate $2999 list. They had been bought out and were discontinuing the receiver line.

I'll keep an open mind until I hear them but I think they'll end up in some strange array with my Insignia drivers.

[imjatse]

well, I ordered a pair of these and they got here today. I needed some surround speakers for HT and I figured wth. Like shinobiwan said in one of his threads - it was nice to just open a box and hook up some speakers. For the $100 price tag these are actually a little better then I was expecting. I agree with just about everything that the reviewer said in the linked review above. I have never heard a pair of DM601 so I can't really comment on that. If anyone has any questions fire away and I'll answer as best as I can.

The short of it: I am happy with the purchase. I intend to use them for surrounds, but I would think they would be nice as primary stereo speakers in a low cost setup. Throw in an ebay cd player and amp and for <$200 you could have a very respectable sounding setup.

[polkymon]

Just got mine about an hour ago. Kind of what I expected after doing more research (after I had ordered them ).

They sound above average and I agree would be fine in a low cost HT setup. I payed $99.99 delivered. These are NOT $449 speakers by any stretch. If they would have just marketed them like Best Buy does w/Insignias it wouldn't be as disappointing But then it wouldn't have looked like a clearance and I probably wouldn't have jumped. I broke my own rule which was not to buy anything from NY, NJ, Fl or Canada. Sorry peeps from these places but that's my experience.

And they are not Excel woofers. Boy do I wish I could edit that out of the thread or better yet never posted. AR used to be a great brand and I based my assumptions on that being plausible. I am probably going to put a different finish on the outside, add some damping to the inside, replace the metal grill .....then take them out back and burn them. (j.k.)

But they could use a better finish than the black after which I will give them to a relative. Maybe even someone I like.

[prerunnerv6]

Originally posted by polkymon
They sound above average and I agree would be fine in a low cost HT setup. I payed $99.99 delivered. These are NOT $449 speakers by any stretch. If they would have just marketed them like Best Buy does w/Insignias it wouldn't be as disappointing But then it wouldn't have looked like a clearance and I probably wouldn't have jumped. I broke my own rule which was not to buy anything from NY, NJ, Fl or Canada. Sorry peeps from these places but that's my experience.

polkymon, I'm not sure what other speakers you've heard so that you can compare. The most recent speaker I purchased was the Insignia's. I also have some Dayton projects I'm working on. A Pioneer fullrange set. As well as some older Acoustic Research speakers.

Have you heard the Insignia's? How would you compare these new AR's to the Insignia's overall?

These AR's look good and I'm tempted. But I could also put that $100 into finishing my current projects.

[polkymon]

Originally posted by prerunnerv6



polkymon, I'm not sure what other speakers you've heard so that you can compare. The most recent speaker I purchased was the Insignia's. I also have some Dayton projects I'm working on. A Pioneer fullrange set. As well as some older Acoustic Research speakers.

Have you heard the Insignia's? How would you compare these new AR's to the Insignia's overall?

These AR's look good and I'm tempted. But I could also put that $100 into finishing my current projects.

These sound better than they have a right to like a lot of the low cost Chinese speakers. Most people would be perfectly happy with these.

They have substantial bass that needs to be tightened up. I suspect minimal damping judging by the way the walls vibrate.

I prefer them over the Insignias from what I can recall (I only heard those for a couple hours before I tore them up.) Larger enclosure than Insignias for bigger sound also.

Right now I'm looking at adding some damping and contact paper and that's it.

Postscript; Here are the AR floorstanders shown for $109. Unbelievable how that can even cover shipping from China and everyone still makes money . NOT recommending them only mentioned for shock value.