Phantom 8.3 series
Written: May 14 '03 (Updated May 26 '03)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Durability: |
|
|
| Flatness: |
|
|
| Imaging: |
|
|
| Overall Sound: |
|
|
|
Pros: Awesome looks and sound quality.
Cons: Price.
The Bottom Line: If you have the money, go for it. These are eye-popping and jaw-dropping speakers.
|
|
|
| le71's Full Review: Acoustic Research Phantom 8.3 Main / Stereo Speake... |
Five months ago, I bought four AR Phantom 8.3 speakers w/ stands for surround sounds and one AR Phantom 525C center. For the two rears, I mounted them on the wall. I aimed the recessed lights onto them, and they look awesome. For the front ones, the center is resting on an audio rack beneath my Panasonic plasma TV while the other two are on the AR silver stands. Those speakers look awesome, and the flatness of the speakers are perfect match with the plasma TV.
At low volume, the bass sounds really reflective unlike those cheap speakers. When the volume is crank up, it still sounds really good, especially when I watch THX DVD movie using IXOS optical audio cable for digital sound. I listen to these speakers while watching movie without using subwoofer, especially at night. During the day, I'd turn on my subwoofer, especially when I listen to music. What is more impressive about these speakers is that they can handle up 275 watts. These are definitely my concert speakers.
These speakers are ideal choice for Dolby Digital or DTS. They look good on stand or on wall. There are Compensation Network switches from "stand to wall" on these speakers to reflect sounds in case they are hang on the wall. There are sound-damping gasket to make sound deadening between bracket and wall when they are mounted. Grilles are paintable in case you like to paint them. I didn't paint mine. They have FOUR binding posts, which are high-quality gold plated. I use four binding posts for bi-wiring system to reduce or eliminate the electrical interaction that can occur between speaker's woofer channel and speaker's tweeter. On the other hand, you can use four binding post for bi-amplifying your Phantom 8.3 speakers in case you receiver is weak and need more driving power. There is a 5-yr warranty on these speakers. I spent over $500 on IXOS audio and video cables. I could tell the difference.
The Martin Logan electromagnetic speakers are way over price. In addition, they have a big box at the bottom for base. Thus, I could never hang them on the wall to save space IF I could afford them. The same story goes w/ the Magnaplannar speakers. Personally, I think that this is the best speakers set w/ the most cost-efficient for the environment setting that I need.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 3500.00
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
le71
|
|
Reviews written: 8
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.