Received the A2c and A3c's Thursday - First impressions

[marksman]

We deployed the A3c's as rears to replace two monitors on stands. They're overkill for rears in our current setup but we got them with the exception of moving to a larger place in the future.

The A2c was an instant improvement as a center channel. We replaced a much larger center channel (JBL). I was a bit worried when we unpacked the A2c due to it's smaller size, and whether or not it would be up to the task of the previous center channel for HT.

Immediately we noticed a significant improvement in midrange and treble clarity, which is what we hoped based upon our experience with the A5's. The SO commented immediately "now we don't have to turn the center-channel up so loudly to understand dialogue clearly".

The A3/A2c's aren't broken in yet, but already the additional clarity and frequency response in our HT setup is impressive.

After playing around with a variety of inexpensive to mid-range studio monitors and HT speaker components - decided I really missed speakers with magnetic planar or electrostatic tweeters which I'd owned in the 90's. Most of the low to midrange speakers in the Arx-like pricerange we've had the last 10 years sound like they have a sock pulled over them compared to a good planar or stat. I don't have $15k for a pair of Logans, and the closest thing like the Arx line I could fine was the Golden Ear Tritons 3 Towers. After having the A5's for a year I believe they are equal to the Tritons, if not have superior midrange.

For reference our setup is:

A5 - F/R
A2c - CC
A3c - Rears
Subs - Yamaha SW315's (next to be replaced)
Onkyo TX-NR818 AVR
Onkyo C-7030 CD Player
Panny BDT-210 BluRay
Xbox 360
Apple TV pulling music off of an iTunes server running on a Synology Diskstation
Panny 50" Plasma

[D'Argo]

Congratulations, Marksman. Thank you for posting your impressions. I was curious about how the Arx compares to the Golden Ears... I'm glad to hear that the A5s can hold their own. Craig also has the SS.18.2 on sale for $600 (only a handful left). I guess more options for subs will also open up due to Chane Home Cinema.

[marksman]

The GE Tritons are nice, and reach deeper than the A5's. They are originally what got me back into looking for a planar-hybrid. As far as music SQ goes - I really like the mid to upper end Paradigms, and B&Ws, but they aren't as fast and clear on the high end, and I don't like them for home theater. On the planar side, I love Magnepans for some music, but they fall down pretty quickly for HT and other types of music. Once you get over $3-5k/speaker your options open up more (Martin Logan, etc.) but when it starts getting into "new car for the SO vs. pair of Logans" that decision gets made pretty quickly. :)

The Arx is simply fantastic performance for the value. I couldn't be happier.

Unfortunately, we can now tell the differences between DACs in our various devices, due to the clear differences in imaging, from the same source-media!

For example we don't like the Wolfson DAC in the Onkyo C-7030 - it images broadly, but poorly. Voices and instruments sound like they are coming from the L/R speakers. Flip over to the Burr-Brown DAC in the NR818 - wow. The SO thought I was turning on the center channel due to the perfect placement of voices and instruments in the middle of the soundstage. She said so repeatedly to the point I had to walk over and stand in front of it, to make sure I hadn't picked a DSP mode using it.

Previously I would have doubted a $1k/pr of speakers would have these nuances.

Next project: Subwoofers. I'm leaning heavily towards PSA. I really liked the Rythmik I heard, but couldn't get them to call me back after several calls, where Tom at PSA provided very detailed answers to my questions (late on a Sunday night). I was worried about 15's being too slow, but Tom thinks drivers have come a long way and his 15's are just as fast as 10's used to be.

[GFOviedo]

My wife and I have been listening to the A3 and A2 for the last two hours. They are phenomenal. How long do you guys recommend to break them in for?

i need another pair of A3, and I'm waiting for the PSA-XV15 to get here.

[HTGuy]

I received my new a2rx-c yesterday. It replaced an older Atlantic Tech Channel that was about half the size. Only used for 3 hours so it's not broken in yet but two things were immediately apparent: 1) That tweeter is amazing with respect to sound clarity and range, and 2) This speaker blends perfectly with my a5's. I had no idea how mismatched they were with the atlantic tech. The 3 fronts are now totally in sync and they sound great together.

I recently upgraded my surrounds with two side surrounds (Niles IW770FX) and two rears (Niles Pro770FX). Which I found new at a local dealer on closeout because they had been discontinued. These surrounds really fill the room with dispersed sound and they are built amazingly well. All in all, I'm probably good for a few years now in my home theater.

thanks!

steve

[HTGuy]

Next project: Subwoofers. I'm leaning heavily towards PSA. I really liked the Rythmik I heard, but couldn't get them to call me back after several calls, where Tom at PSA provided very detailed answers to my questions (late on a Sunday night). I was worried about 15's being too slow, but Tom thinks drivers have come a long way and his 15's are just as fast as 10's used to be.

I've got a HSU Research ULS-15 Subwoofer that works great with the speakers I listed in the prior reply. It was a toss up between this one and the Rythmik but I couldn't find anyone who had a Rythmik to hear and the Rythmik business seemed a little too small to trust they would be around. When I called before I was about to order I was told the guy who makes them just went on vacation for two weeks. Hmmm. HSU shipped me one that got damaged by the shipper and after I refused acceptance and it was on it's way back they immediately shipped another. Never an issue for me at all, they took care of it and had another one in stock to send. Rythmik would have had to get me in the queue to make another one. They are probably great subwoofers though.

[marksman]

I have two friends with HSUs. They really love them. I like them too - they do great providing BOOM with little Sizzle speakers which my friends have. And given Dr. HSU's background - I'm sure they can be tuned well.

However - I really want to support the ID movement, and given my great experiences with SVS I want to give Tom/PSA a try. If they don't work out...no big deal. I'm out <$1k. And at least two other members on here got PSA's and blended them well with the A5's. So that's my Q1 project. I'll let you know how it plays out!

[GFOviedo]

I have two friends with HSUs. They really love them. I like them too - they do great providing BOOM with little Sizzle speakers which my friends have. And given Dr. HSU's background - I'm sure they can be tuned well.

However - I really want to support the ID movement, and given my great experiences with SVS I want to give Tom/PSA a try. If they don't work out...no big deal. I'm out <$1k. And at least two other members on here got PSA's and blended them well with the A5's. So that's my Q1 project. I'll let you know how it plays out!

I ordered a PSA-XV15. For the money and performance, I don't think there is a better sub. Unless you go DIY. I got an e-mail from Tom yesterday. He stated they are having issues with their 15" woofer supplier. Apparently they can't keep up with the demands.

I'll be lucky if mine ships late this week.

[TheLaw612]

Just throwing in my 2 cents... I've had a PSA XV15 for over a year now and absolutely love it. It is an impressive sub and the customer service that Tom and everyone at PSA provides before, during and after the sale is second to none.

[padgman1]

For Marksman, GFOviedo, and HTGuy..............any qualms using your A2rx-c as a HORIZONTAL center channel speaker? I do not have room to place either the A1b, A2rx-c, or A3/5 vertically, and I have read too many "opinions" about the deficiencies of a MTM speaker placed horizontally for a center channel speaker, so I am a little hesitant ( the A5's I have now as L/R are pretty good about dialogue intelligibility, even >45 degrees off-axis). Would like to hear more about your collective experience ( Jon or anyone else can pipe in as well.....).

[GFOviedo]

For Marksman, GFOviedo, and HTGuy..............any qualms using your A2rx-c as a HORIZONTAL center channel speaker? I do not have room to place either the A1b, A2rx-c, or A3/5 vertically, and I have read too many "opinions" about the deficiencies of a MTM speaker placed horizontally for a center channel speaker, so I am a little hesitant ( the A5's I have now as L/R are pretty good about dialogue intelligibility, even >45 degrees off-axis). Would like to hear more about your collective experience ( Jon or anyone else can pipe in as well.....).

Since I've got space for the the center to lay Horizontal, I haven't tried them vertically. However, I think you have to change the orientation of the tweeter if you are going to use them vertically for the A2rc-x, which is easy to do. Just unscrew the tweeter and align it to the corresponding level Horizontal / Vertical.

[GFOviedo]

I ended up buying a pair of A3 previous generation, and they sound good, but I can hear a difference in sound between my A3rx-c vs the A3.

However, I am not sure if this is due to the 3rd generation tweeter in the A3rx-c or because the A3rx-c are being powered by external amp, and the A3 are being powered by the AVR.

[Chane M&C]

...any qualms using your A2rx-c as a HORIZONTAL center channel speaker? I do not have room to place either the A1b, A2rx-c, or A3/5 vertically, and I have read too many "opinions" about the deficiencies of a MTM speaker placed horizontally for a center channel speaker, so I am a little hesitant...

The A2rx-c was designed for either rotation so go ahead and enjoy it either flat or standing. Much of the conventional wisdom about MTMs is wrong so as long as the A2rx-c's tweeter is vertical, use it as a center laid flat. It's off-axis response is significantly better than any asymmetrical array (a TM or MT) used on its side.

[Chane M&C]

I ended up buying a pair of A3 previous generation, and they sound good, but I can hear a difference in sound between my A3rx-c vs the A3.

However, I am not sure if this is due to the 3rd generation tweeter in the A3rx-c or because the A3rx-c are being powered by external amp, and the A3 are being powered by the AVR.

The A3rx-c's design takes full advantage of the 3rd gen tweeter's advantages for a more powerful (2-woofer) 2-way design. We can credit the tweeter's response profile, just not its inherent sound - it's really the design that benefits most.

[newspeakers]

I used an A1b on its side as a center for a year while waiting for the A2. I switched to the new A2 a couple of weeks ago. Both sounded fine off-axis. My wife always watches TV off-axis and she has had no problems with clarity with either speaker.