When planning my home theater, one of the single largest costs involved will be the selection of speakers. In my specific theater, I have chosen to re-use speakers I already own. In 2003, I purchased a set of Acoustic Research AR1 Hi-Res series main speakers. I had done a large amount of research into the company, and after comparing a large number of speakers, the AR1 sounded the best to me. AR had a long reputation of building some of the best speakers available, and despite their rocky financials, I made the decision anyways. Towards the end of 2004, Acoustic Research went bankrupt and ended up selling their speaker division to Jensen. This certainly would have tarnished the reputation of the solid Hi-Res series speakers, however the product line was discontinued and not picked up by Jensen.

I continue to stand by my choice, as these speakers have looked and sounded absolutely fabulous for the years I have owned them. I feel proud to be one of the few select owners of the AR Hi-Res series, their flagship product just before their demise.

Over the past few years, I have managed to acquire many other AR speakers in the Hi-Res series to complete my setup. In 2005 I acquired an AR2c center channel new in the box from a retailer that happened to have 1 left sitting on a shelf after the bankruptcy. I acquired it at a significant discount, knowing that the manufacturer was no longer in business.

In 2006, I was able to locate another retailer that had a new set of AR17 surrounds from the Acoustic Research Hi-Res series, however what I really wanted was their bigger brother, the AR15. I decided at the time to buy the AR17s and continue searching for AR15s.

This month, May 2008, my 4-leaf clover apparently worked, as I was able to locate a set of nearly perfect used AR15 surround speakers. The cost was good, and the speakers are in excellent condition, so I now have a complete set, aside from the Sub.

Since I have kids, one of the things that worries me always is damage to the speakers. How could I repair them if they become damaged? Well, my daughter tested this theory by pushing in one of my tweeters on the AR1 mains. I was slightly dissappointed. After some searching, I found a vendor ABTech Systems that sells replacement speakers to repair the Acoustic Research speakers, from the original manufacturer. (Acoustic Research assembled the speaker units from speakers mfg by other manufacturers). A special thanks to ABTech Systems for their commitment to the Acoustic Research owners of the world.

So, after several years of searching and waiting, I finally have the speakers that will serve as the primary system for my home theater, which will be a 7.1 Surround system. The setup is as follows:

• Acoustic Research AR1 Mains, with 15″ Side-firing woofer powered by 500W Carver Sunfire amp
• Acoustic Research AR2C Center channel
• Acoustic Research AR17 Mid-Surrounds
• Acoustic Research AR15 Rear-Surrounds

While I still haven’t entirely decided whether the better AR15 surrounds should go in the middle or the rear, I’m sure a little trial and error will help present the answer to this.
Also, you will notice that I do not have a dedicated subwoofer for the system, but am utilizing the 15″ side-firing woofers on the AR1 mains as my LFE. These sound great, however I do intend to eventually add a dedicated sub to go in the rear of the theater. I am currently actively seeking an Acoustic Research ARS500 (or ARS300) subwoofer in Black Ash. If you have or no someone that has one of these, please let me know. I may opt to use an alternate dedicated sub until I can find an ARS500 someday.