Acoustic Research HD510, Fantastic sounding speakers!

Overall Rating4.674.674.674.674.67

Fantastic sounding speakers!

I was very nervous about ordering speakers that I had never heard before, and also there were no other reviews that I could find. And, I ordered all the decor speaker covers so I was hoping everything would sound okay.

Well, to my relief, the speakers sound fantastic!! As a matter of fact, they sound MUCH clearer, cleaner, and warmer than the Klipsch bookshelf speakers they replaced! They also are much louder from the same amp, so I guess they are more efficient. By the way my amp is not that great so I was so glad these sound so good from even an average amp.

The subwoofer is plenty powerful, I live in a condo so I have not cranked it all the way up, but I have it at about 1/4 volume and it fills out the low end completely and booms when needed. It has a frequency control and also a volume control which is nice.

The satellites seem to be very high quality. They are made of metal and pretty heavy. I almost knew when I took the first one out of the box that it would sound good because it felt so solid. And luckily, it did. I really like how they are very clean in the high end, so I can now hear the dialogue in movies without having to turn up the stereo so high.

I have only watched movies so far, but anything from Star Wars to Drama to Music Videos sound awesome. I especially like the concerts on my satellite TV, they sound great in the 5.1 surround.

Very satisfied with this purchase, and my friends, especially women are really amazed at the decor covers and how they hide the surround system. Plus if I ever get robbed I don’t think they’ll even realize I have a stereo..

Update (2/6/2012): This item is currently on sale here for the lowest price I’ve seen.

The featured review for this product, Acoustic Research HD510 Surround Sound Home Theater System Electronics, was written by W. White.

The average rating for this item is 4.7 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.

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Reviews (3)

W. White

January 24th, 2010 at 1:56 am    


Overall Rating55555

Fantastic sounding speakers!
Rated 5 stars.


Dave C

March 5th, 2010 at 7:36 pm    


Overall Rating44444

Worth the money, but not the best.
The system comes in a nice sized box, and has all the mounts and hardware included to put speakers up on the walls, or sit on a surface like a table, or shelf. Also included are 2 90 degree rca plugs so that the cables don’t flex at the ground, which is nice. The speakers are decent to say the best, and there is a lot of white noise and very little clarity at higher volumes. They are nice to use as a satellite far away from your head. The sub shines though as it’s adequately powered (though still relatively weak) and has a pretty boomy 10″ woofer downward firing inside. The problem with it though, is the sub often goes into protect mode, unless you unplug the rca’s and put them back a couple times. This is remedied by using the “auto on” function on the switch. The sub will shake your house, but it’s not exactly clear. It’s well made and I’ve already taken it apart. The wires inside are covered in insulation, so they do not rattle inside the housing, and a majority of the sub is stuffed with insulation that was probably necessary to bring it down to 1 sq ft. inside the sub, or whatever they needed to tune it to because of the port that is also downward firing.

Aesthetics:
The speakers are covered in a brushed stainless steel and are beautiful, and the sub is painted gray and feels like smooth metal, though it is made of wood. There is a plate on the side of the sub that can be removed and it reveals the internal crossover controls (which should be all the way up, if you use the cross-over on your receiver) and a gain/volume knob, which will also need to be up fairly high if you ever want to hear anything come out of it. More power was definitly necessary for this subwoofer.

In conclusion, this is a great starter set, and works till you upgrade all the individual components to larger, nicer ones, like I’ve done. It’s definitly worth the asking price though.


Cga

March 8th, 2010 at 10:19 pm    


Overall Rating55555

Buy it for the satellites
The other reviewers have already described the physical characteristics of this set well, so I won’t dwell on that.

I’ve owned a lot of hi-fi equipment over the years. I bought this set from another source at basically the same price

The five identical satellites are absolutely outstanding and compete very well with anything of similar size, at any price. Their definition, clarity, and surprisingly “big” sound belie their tiny size.

They require a good deal of power because they are not very efficient. Also, a good receiver is necessary to drive the satellites to full potential, and with a good receiver these satellites can be driven to very loud levels without distortion. They produce amazingly detailed sound, are solid, well built, and very attractive.

The subwoofer is not very good, but it’s not very bad either. The operating manual rates it at 175w RMS and capable of 24hz at +/- 3dB. I strongly doubt that either of those spec’s is accurate. However, it gets the job done and is much better than no subwoofer at all. As someone joked in another forum, you can always use the sub as an ottoman.

The satellites alone are WELL worth the price. Consider the subwoofer a bonus.


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