Chane A Series setup picture thread

[aarons915]

Hey all haven't posted here yet but long time follower of the ARX brand and these forums and just picked up 3 A1bs for my front soundstage. Just thought it'd be cool to post pics of our various ARX setups.

[Miwo]

Your planar tweeters are oriented wrong. You need to rotate them 90 degrees. The horizontal dispersion will be poor.

???
All of my tweeters are vertical like they are supposed to be. It might be hard to tell from the angle of the picture
The manual on both Arx/Acculine say they should be "so that its longaxis is reoriented vertically" and "that the tweeter is always aligned vertically, regardless of speaker orientation"

[newspeakers]

???
All of my tweeters are vertical like they are supposed to be. It might be hard to tell from the angle of the picture
The manual on both Arx/Acculine say they should be "so that its longaxis is reoriented vertically" and "that the tweeter is always aligned vertically, regardless of speaker orientation"

Sorry, from the pic it looks like the tweeters on the left are horizontal. My bad.

[D'Argo]

Nice and interesting setup, Miwo.

Just curious, were you originally considering using the Acculines for surround duty, (7.2) configuration and having an A3 or A5 as fronts? I recall you had the early comparison (and pictures) of the Acculines and Arx A2 and were using them as nearfield monitors.

[Miwo]

Nice and interesting setup, Miwo.

Just curious, were you originally considering using the Acculines for surround duty, (7.2) configuration and having an A3 or A5 as fronts? I recall you had the early comparison (and pictures) of the Acculines and Arx A2 and were using them as nearfield monitors.

I was using the Arx/Acculines as my main computer desktop speakers awhile back, but switched them out in favor of some Tannoy Nearfield Monitors I picked up for cheap on Ebay. The Arx/Acculines were never meant for nearfield but it was pretty interesting. I think they sound better from a distance and they were intended in that manner. They also took up a ton of deskpace :(

I actually tried to sell the Acculine A2s, but after shipping costs and whatnot it doesn't seem that worth it. Sadly, I can get almost the same amount selling just the BGC Neo3 Planars inside of them , vs the entire speaker after shipping/packing. So I just kept them and added them to my collection of hoarded audio.

With what I have, I suppose I could do a 6.1 setup with the Arx A2s serving as L/R and Acculines as C/SR/SL/SB. The only problem is wiring/space. My living room area is not very big and right now I don't want to run the wiring/setup stands in the back. From where I sit, the surround right would be awkwardly close to a staircase and there is no wall to mount it on. The cleanest option for me would be to install In-Ceiling speakers on the surround channels. I think BGC RT series would be a good match, since they use the Neo3 PDR or Neo1 tweeters on their ceiling lineups.. it would probably be the closest thing to matching

With my current stacked 3.1 setup, I am sure there are some serious drawbacks like crazy lobing/interference with the stacked setup. The Acculines are not a true D'Apollito as I recall Jon saying (many MTMs in the price range are not), so Im sure that compounds that issue. From my seating position, it sounds fine and coherent, and the soundstage is enormous... But standing right in front of the center of my screen things are too seperated and not that coherent. I definitely prefer the Arx A2s over Acculine A2s on center channel duty, which is another reason I did this. Right now it seems to be the best option to use the most of the extra stuff I have without spending additional monies for another Arx A2/A5s

[ppfp76]

I was going to post pictures of mine, but for whatever reason, I can't add the pictures. Sorry!

[mstraudio]

I also just ordered some A5's and an A1B for a center until the A2C is available. (Great trade back program that Jon and TAI are offering!) Very excited to get them in and try them out to see what all the hype is about. Will post some pics and impressions once they're in and all setup...

Hi Jon and fellow forum members,

I owe you review after I spend some time with my ARX gears. I surely will in the next few days. I got my shipments about 4 weeks ago but I moved to a new home (meaning...new construction) around the same time and I have got a 6-months old baby, who keeps me very busy. Plus, settling down in a new home is a very time consuming process as I need to get window treatments, lawn, furniture, appliances etc etc etc placed in their rightful place in working condition to get back to the normal life (from living out of boxes).....apart from unpacking lot of the boxes and putting the things where they are supposed to. I made a wrong judgment thinking this process would be lot quicker so I ordered Arx speakers as well. Commute to work from the new home is also much longer now so not much time to spend with speakers. I can try different settings and different loudness only when the baby is away with her mom on shopping or walking; not when the baby is home.

Though I got my speakers on time, my replacement receiver, amplifier and 12-gauge cables took longer time to arrive. I ordered an Emotiva XPA-3 to powerup my front three speakers; and the rest 4 speakers are powered thru my Yamaha receiver (RX-V773). During auditioning, I felt that surround and rear speakers are not getting enough juice (it is just MY feeling). So, I'm switching XPA-3 amplifier for another 7-channel power amplifier from Sherbourn (Emotiva's upscale brand - "merger sale" is going on now if anyone is interested). Once I get that, I will be able to do more auditioning with some movies and some bollywood music (not much American though - forgive me).

The A1Bs as surround - I placed them on ice end tables (will eventually switch to their own stands (priorities...priorities...priorities). But the A1Bs as rear surround - the only place my new family room would allow to place them is on the wall-shelf, which I'm yet to fix it.

Note that I'm using one of the five A1Bs as my center for now, which does a great job by itself. But, I already discussed with Jon Lane about switching it with A2C, when they become available.

For now, I’m using my old subwoofer, which is Mirage’s 10” Omni subwoofer model. Though it’s got the matching veneer to my Arx speakers, I plan to replace it. As I mentioned to Jon, I'm not very fond of loud bass when watching movies (like explosions) but precise sounds from fast moving cars or flying bullets are great.

But so far, the speakers do sound great. No distortion. Clean and precise vocal, which is what I was very specific about. So far, I have tried watching blu-ray movies in DTS-HD and Dolby HD formats in 7.1 set-up, listening to Jazz music & Celine Dion’s in stereo modes on the Arx A5s. No fatigue yet and I could keep watching/listening if the baby is not up.

Pictures and my review notes will come out soon.

[smiji]

Good looking setup! How have you found the a2 so far?

[D'Argo]

I'm using a towel at the moment until I get something else for the center channel to prevent it from moving around.

You can use these instead of the towel. These were suggested by Buford in another post. It also helps with the vibrations and should help improve the SQ of the A2s (a bit). Although the towel is probably helping with those already.

http://www.coolerguys.com/acoustifeet.html

i use the Auralex Monitor isolation pads for my A2 and I noticed an improvement. Same principle as the one Buford suggested (and more economical).

[newspeakers]

You can use these instead of the towel. These were suggested by Buford in another post. It also helps with the vibrations and should help improve the SQ of the A2s (a bit). Although the towel is probably helping with those already.

http://www.coolerguys.com/acoustifeet.html

i use the Auralex Monitor isolation pads for my A2 and I noticed an improvement. Same principle as the one Buford suggested (and more economical).

The Acoustifeet cost $6.49. The Auralex Monitor isolation pads cost $23-$99. Buford's suggestion seems much cheaper. Am I missing something?

BTW, the Acoustifeet seem like a great idea under a microwave. I used felt furniture leg pads to damp the vibration, but these look like they would work better.

[D'Argo]

Yes, Buford's solution is cheaper. Wish I heard of it before I bought the isolation pads. ($24). But I needed the angle provided by the pads (after moving the A2 from the CSB above the TV). Yoga blocks could've worked too.

[GFOviedo]

You can use these instead of the towel. These were suggested by Buford in another post. It also helps with the vibrations and should help improve the SQ of the A2s (a bit). Although the towel is probably helping with those already.

http://www.coolerguys.com/acoustifeet.html

i use the Auralex Monitor isolation pads for my A2 and I noticed an improvement. Same principle as the one Buford suggested (and more economical).

Thanks. I will look into it. I was thinking of buying the Auralex too. I don't need an angle for my center. So, I'm just wondering if the speaker is going to move around if I use it flat?

[D'Argo]

Thanks. I will look into it. I was thinking of buying the Auralex too. I don't need an angle for my center. So, I'm just wondering if the speaker is going to move around if I use it flat?

The Auralex will provide additional height and angle down/up options. If you are okay with the A2s height, I suggest going with the AcoustiFeet. I believe TAI recommends having the A2 flat vs. at an angle (although at an angle seems to work fine). The AcoustiFeet are also very sticky/tacky. Buford reported that his A2 did not even move even after playing at/above reference levels (his A2 sits on a center stage bracket on top of his TV, angled down with an inch or so protruding forward). The AcoustiFeet holds them very well.

I'll look for Buford's video from another post so you can see the above. My setup with the Auralex is here too. It's the one with the Ip Man movie. The Auralex makes it seem that I have a huge center speaker (some of my friends thought it was a sub when they first saw it).

[D'Argo]

Here's a video (although it does not seem to work anymore -- paging Buford)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvpHqPcljKg&hd=1

[GFOviedo]

Using them in my college apartment for now. Can't wait to give them a larger room so they can breathe
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Nice set up.

UPDATE: I ended up buying the Auralex from ebay for $25 dollars shipped for my center channel :).