ARX A5 wins Major $1,000 Speaker Shootout

[newspeakers]

Over at Home Theater Shack, Sonnie and crew did a massive evaluation of $1,000/pair tower speakers and the A5 won!

Speakers in the evaluation:

• Magnepan MG12,
• Tekton Model Lore,
• Vandersteen 2Ce,
• Focal Chorus 716v,
• HTD Level THREE,
• MartinLogan Motion 12,
• Klipsch RF-62 ll,
• Arx A5

The write-up is massive. I haven't read it all, but this was a major undertaking. See all the results at:

http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/two-channel-audio/69421-official-1-000-speaker-evaluation-home-audition-event-results.html

[D'Argo]

Congratulations Jon, Colin and the rest of the Arx community! Thank you for sharing and linking the results, newspeakers.

[Chris Ward]

Congrats! It's good to see that ARX is providing a quality product at such a pricepoint to impress others and go against other speakers in the same price point and be nearly irresistible to those listening. Can't wait to own some ARX myself...

[D'Argo]

Can't wait to own some ARX myself...

Give them a listen, you won't be disappointed...

[Chane M&C]

This was a nicely done analysis of comparable models, at least in terms of market price. Very nice to have placed well and thanks to the Arx community for their support. This is what makes it all worthwhile.

[Chris Ward]

Give them a listen, you won't be disappointed...

I plan on it! Pair of A2c for my PC setup once they announce the group buy. Hopefully after I get moved into my new house I'll have the opportunity to beg and plead with my wife to get a pair of A5 towers to start upgrading the home theater setup :-p

For an on topic comment - being a subjective and objective winner against the more well known brands just reinforces my desire to stick with an ID company that puts its money into the product and not the marketing. (reminds me a bit of how Costco operates - puts the money into the people and product, not so much the marketing and advertising - I heavily approve of this standard being a Costco employee myself :-p)

[ryansboston]

Congrats Jon! Well deserved win for the A5s. Can't wait to see (I should say hear) what's next :)

[BufordTJustice]

This was a nicely done analysis of comparable models, at least in terms of market price. Very nice to have placed well and thanks to the Arx community for their support. This is what makes it all worthwhile.

I will go out on a limb and speak for Jon in reference to the comments made in the conclusion....that there is TONS of detail without being harsh. It is validating for both of us that this is a common reflection for people who have heard the A5.

It truly does let you listen into the music. Jon simply did a world-class design job on driver selection, driver design, and the crossover within the price/performance constraints of the A5 (It's only $750 for pete's sake!).

And, to boot, the reviewer (Sonnie) BOUGHT a pair of A5's to own. He put his money where his mouth was.

[powerlifter405]

:cool:

When I saw the thread and poll I was a little dismayed at only 19 votes for the A5 BUT having a 5ch set up in my living room to include the A5 I was confident they'd perform.

I'm very pleased w/ my buy, which is rare. Jon made a great product and his follow up service is great.

Congrats to Jon I look forward to getting the new center for even better super-duper sound and I'd be tempted to throw some more Arx in the house as time goes on.

[Bandg]

Congrats to Jon and all those involved in the development of the A5's etc.! Those of us that own these and/or other Arx products are not surprised by the results. I am a very satisfied owner, and glad I refused to pay attention to some of the early "haters" that hadn't heard the A5's, but "know it all".:D Keep making great products at affordable prices. Best, Bradley

[jnordi]

I was one of the seven finalists for the $500 prize with gtsuper, needless to say I didn't win, well I guess I did, I have three A5s upfront. I don't understand the placement of the A5s, 7' 6" between speakers and 6' 2" to LP with no HFR loss when angled outward away from LP, unreal. The toe in was 18 o, John or Buford what do you think firing the A5s straight ahead with little to no toe in. Could you give me an example of 18 o toe in that even I could understand. Thanks.
Jeff

[newspeakers]

I noticed that the reviewers described the A5 the same way that we early buyers did in our initial reviews. From my review:

"...A5s sound like there are no speakers, just the music"

"Four words: clarity, transparency, effortlessness and value."

This is exactly what they found. Amazing consistency.

[D'Argo]

I was one of the seven finalists for the $500 prize with gtsuper, needless to say I didn't win, well I guess I did, I have three A5s upfront. I don't understand the placement of the A5s, 7' 6" between speakers and 6' 2" to LP with no HFR loss when angled outward away from LP, unreal. The toe in was 18 o, John or Buford what do you think firing the A5s straight ahead with little to no toe in. Could you give me an example of 18 o toe in that even I could understand. Thanks.
Jeff

Same here Jeff, I had one out of seven chance but was not chosen. I guess we're all winners since we have the A5s. Congrats to gorb on the cash prize.

[BufordTJustice]

I was one of the seven finalists for the $500 prize with gtsuper, needless to say I didn't win, well I guess I did, I have three A5s upfront. I don't understand the placement of the A5s, 7' 6" between speakers and 6' 2" to LP with no HFR loss when angled outward away from LP, unreal. The toe in was 18 o, John or Buford what do you think firing the A5s straight ahead with little to no toe in. Could you give me an example of 18 o toe in that even I could understand. Thanks.
Jeff

Hey Jeff,

They reference a strong toe-in angle. Jon and I also prefer this (I've used every thing from straight ahead to Dr. Hsu' cross-fire method)....it's basically where the cabs are toed-in so far that you can barely see a sliver of the interior surface of the cabinet wall. This has the strongest effect on soundstage width.

[jnordi]

Hey Jeff,

They reference a strong toe-in angle. Jon and I also prefer this (I've used every thing from straight ahead to Dr. Hsu' cross-fire method)....it's basically where the cabs are toed-in so far that you can barely see a sliver of the interior surface of the cabinet wall. This has the strongest effect on soundstage width.

So Colin, you're saying with DR HSU's cross fire, this is where the axis crosses in front of the LP, correct. I have mine about 8' apart toed in with tweeters firing right about either side of my head or at each shoulder and about 10-11' to LP, sounds real good to me. Thanks for the heads up, I misunderstood their comment as to mean very little toe in, I guess they were just referencing how little if any HFR loss there was with the A5s toed outward, quite a feat indeed.