ACOUSTIC RESEARCH Home Theater 2-Way Bookshelf Loudspeaker ARXP52
By: Acoustic Research Average Rating: 3.5 Total Reviews: 3
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 On: 2008-01-20
Few people can afford to own the finest audio equipment money can buy. For the rest of us, we cant have it all - but should at least have a music system that is enjoyable... even if it isnt perfect.
These speakers fall in that area. They are an excellent value for the money, and happen to sound really pleasing as well. I bought 2 pair of these for surround use (where the built-in ball swivel mounts are GREAT) yet connected them as mains first - ALONE. You read right - only 2 speakers, no subwoofer. Imagine my suprise to hear the overpowering booming bass that came from these small loudspeakers!
With some placement adjustments, these speakers honestly provide a very impressive and pleasing sound. Treble is nice and airy where acoustic cymbals sound like acoustic cymbals and not a digital sequence. The midrange is "laid back" (more on that below) and the bass is full and nicely extended, with a hint of boom and punch - these handle hip-hop and rap baselines surpingly well. For most people, a pair of these is all they need for music. Now thats saying a LOT for a 5" two-way system!
The only real shortcoming falls in the midrange, where these speakers are (no doubt intentionally) politely laid-back to provide that overall very wide range sound. The unfortunate result is bit of bass boom and and noticeable tweeter output in vocals. This is the only real fault I can state about these, and I suspect most people wont even notice.
Then I think about it - I paid $70 per pair of these. I can think of just a couple other similar sized and priced speakers that rival these - and I cant say they are truly better. I cant possibly count the number of speakers at this price that cant touch these.
Overall I recommend these speakers. They provide a lot of sound for the money and are one of the best bargains in affordable audio. That says a lot!
On: 2008-01-19
Few people can afford to own the finest audio equipment money can buy. For the rest of us, we cant have it all - but should at least have a music system that is enjoyable... even if it isnt perfect.
These speakers fall in that area. They are an excellent value for the money, and happen to sound really pleasing as well. I bought 2 pair of these for surround use (where the built-in ball swivel mounts are GREAT) yet connected them as mains first - ALONE. You read right - only 2 speakers, no subwoofer. Imagine my suprise to hear the overpowering booming bass that came from these small loudspeakers!
With some placement adjustments, these speakers honestly provide a very impressive and pleasing sound. Treble is nice and airy where acoustic cymbals sound like acoustic cymbals and not a digital sequence. The midrange is "laid back" (more on that below) and the bass is full and nicely extended, with a hint of boom and punch - these handle hip-hop and rap baselines surpingly well. For most people, a pair of these is all they need for music. Now thats saying a LOT for a 5" two-way system!
The only real shortcoming falls in the midrange, where these speakers are (no doubt intentionally) politely laid-back to provide that overall very wide range sound. The unfortunate result is bit of bass boom and and noticeable tweeter output in vocals. This is the only real fault I can state about these, and I suspect most people wont even notice.
Then I think about it - I paid $70 per pair of these. I can think of just a couple other similar sized and priced speakers that rival these - and I cant say they are truly better. I cant possibly count the number of speakers at this price that cant touch these.
Overall I recommend these speakers. They provide a lot of sound for the money and are one of the best bargains in affordable audio. That says a lot!
 On: 2007-12-04
Im glad I purchased these speakers before reading "HBs" unnecessarily harsh review, or Im sure I wouldve passed. Instead of being crap, as "HBs" 1-star review suggests, the ARXP52 is in fact a beautiful sounding loudspeaker and a fantastic audio bargain. I am now the happy owner of a $60.00 pair of speakers that sound like they cost about $395.00 (their suggested retail price).
I replaced my last pair of $60.00 speakers (Sony) with these, and soundwise there is just no comparison. The ARXP52 delivers a rich, detailed sound that is distortion-free, distortion-free, and distortion free. This was readily apparent when I cranked the volume. What I got was not just a clean amplification of each individual instrument in the soundfield, I got an increase in the size of the soundfield itself.
The more I increased the volume, the more space/air I got around each individual instrument as the whole soundfield expanded. This resulted in a sound I would call "natural," for two reasons. It was big and airy like a real stage in a club, and there was absolutely no glare to be heard... only a silent space between each instrument.
"HBs" comment about excessive, poorly controlled bass is laughable. I have never heard a more tightly controlled bass from any speaker in my life. The bass is tight and punchy and delivers what we all love about good bass, "impact" without sounding bloated. I also tested his claim about "a very obvious lack of midrange response." A real torture test for midrange response is whether or not you can hear the acoustic guitar in a bluegrass band, given how the guitar frequencies are drowned out by fiddles, mandolins, bass and banjos. So I put on Ricky Scaggs recent release, "Instrumentals," and sure enough there was the acoustic guitar... no problem. Human voice? No problem... very natural sounding.
I give this speaker my highest recommendation, and I cant imagine where HB is coming from with his 1-star review. He comes across as an electrical engineer, or perhaps a disgruntled ex-employee of Acoustic Research. He appears to know alot about the specs of the speaker, but nowhere does he say that he actually listened to them. The owners manual states the impedance is 8 ohms, as does the speaker itself (clearly stamped on the back). If his contention is Acoustic Research is so out to lunch that they dont even know their own speaker is 4 ohms, then Ill need to see some real evidence for such an outrageous claim.
Bottom line: this speaker is all about VALUE. Treat yourself... it sounds beautiful.
On: 2007-12-03
Im glad I purchased these speakers before reading "HBs" unnecessarily harsh review, or Im sure I wouldve passed. Instead of being crap, as "HBs" 1-star review suggests, the ARXP52 is in fact a beautiful sounding loudspeaker and a fantastic audio bargain. I am now the happy owner of a $60.00 pair of speakers that sound like they cost about $395.00 (their suggested retail price).
I replaced my last pair of $60.00 speakers (Sony) with these, and soundwise there is just no comparison. The ARXP52 delivers a rich, detailed sound that is distortion-free, distortion-free, and distortion free. This was readily apparent when I cranked the volume. What I got was not just a clean amplification of each individual instrument in the soundfield, I got an increase in the size of the soundfield itself.
The more I increased the volume, the more space/air I got around each individual instrument as the whole soundfield expanded. This resulted in a sound I would call "natural," for two reasons. It was big and airy like a real stage in a club, and there was absolutely no glare to be heard... only a silent space between each instrument.
"HBs" comment about excessive, poorly controlled bass is laughable. I have never heard a more tightly controlled bass from any speaker in my life. The bass is tight and punchy and delivers what we all love about good bass, "impact" without sounding bloated. I also tested his claim about "a very obvious lack of midrange response." A real torture test for midrange response is whether or not you can hear the acoustic guitar in a bluegrass band, given how the guitar frequencies are drowned out by fiddles, mandolins, bass and banjos. So I put on Ricky Scaggs recent release, "Instrumentals," and sure enough there was the acoustic guitar... no problem. Human voice? No problem... very natural sounding.
I give this speaker my highest recommendation, and I cant imagine where HB is coming from with his 1-star review. He comes across as an electrical engineer, or perhaps a disgruntled ex-employee of Acoustic Research. He appears to know alot about the specs of the speaker, but nowhere does he say that he actually listened to them. The owners manual states the impedance is 8 ohms, as does the speaker itself (clearly stamped on the back). If his contention is Acoustic Research is so out to lunch that they dont even know their own speaker is 4 ohms, then Ill need to see some real evidence for such an outrageous claim.
Bottom line: this speaker is all about VALUE. Treat yourself... it sounds beautiful.
 On: 2007-09-28
Impedance is 4 ohms, not 8 ohms as advertised (DC resistance is 3 ohms).
Tweeter has a 3/4" voice coil (it is advertised as a 1" tweeter).
Crossover shorts the output of the amplifier through a 0.3uF capacitor. This could cause some amplifiers to oscillate, overheat, and even be damaged.
There is a large gap between the low-pass and high-pass (woofer and tweeter) cutoff frequencies, resulting in a very obvious lack of midrange response. Bass response is excessive, and poorly controlled.
On: 2007-09-27
Impedance is 4 ohms, not 8 ohms as advertised (DC resistance is 3 ohms).
Tweeter has a 3/4" voice coil (it is advertised as a 1" tweeter).
Crossover shorts the output of the amplifier through a 0.3uF capacitor. This could cause some amplifiers to oscillate, overheat, and even be damaged.
There is a large gap between the low-pass and high-pass (woofer and tweeter) cutoff frequencies, resulting in a very obvious lack of midrange response. Bass response is excessive, and poorly controlled.
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