Anyone ever heard the Acoustic Research TSW 210 speakers?

Infomation:
http://www.audiocircuit.com/A-HTML/A...&Model=TSW-210

refoam kit:
http://cgi.*********/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...ype=osi_widget

nice solid wood cabinets, classic acoustic suspension design.....may take a reasonable amount of power to drive them, but should be nice speakers

well, eBay post URL did not work, go to ********* and search for item # 190081320819

these sound like white van speakers...speakers sold by guys in a white van who have extra speakers left over from a home theater job, or they just happen to have these speakers at a bargain, whatever...

even for $100 the quality is not very good...

anyone else can chime in on these?

AR is not a white van brand, they make decent products, some of which have even been reviewed by members here.

Rosa, if you think AR are white van speakers you need to read a bit more about speakers. :-)
They have been around for quite a while and in fact used to have some very nice products.

Wasn't AR at one time part of Jensen and Phase Linear? Or, am I thinking of something else?

Hello Rosa,
I have been using AR Speakers from a long time. AR210, 510 and AR18J. Most of the speakers from AR are very good. Good detailing, No excess trebel, good bass and excellent midrange. Yes i do agree that they take time to get used to. Once you spend time listening to AR's You are HOOKED. No wonder people anre searching their attics in case their father or grandfather have forgotten a pair of AR's.

Regards
Durga Prasad

I have a pair of AR TSW 215a's that I bought like 10 years ago for $200. I may have gotten ripped off, but that's a question for another day

What I'm wondering is if these are good speakers? I have a Harman Kardon AVR 20II receiver (which I think is not really that great) and honestly I don't think these speakers are that great. I bought a pair of Yamaha 225's (bah, can't post URLs, search YAMAHA NS225F 2-Way Bass-Reflex Tower Speaker Single on newegg, selling for $300 each) from a friend and they sound much much better. But after reading this thread I'm not that sure, maybe I need to check it out more. Is there some trick to these speakers?

I was planning on selling the AR's but I could keep them as mains and make the yamaha's the rear channel. Or the other way around. The AR's are handy as baby coffee tables or places to put plants.

But those AR's sure are big and I regret buying them every time I move. They're freakin heavy.

I've had them refoamed, that cost me about $100 (had a local speaker shop do it). So I'm $300 in to these speakers and don't really want to get rid of them for that reason, but I'm not feelin real attached to them either.

Those AR's are an acoustic suspension design, meaning that the trapped volume of air in the cabinet provides the force to return the woofer cone to it's "home" position. Without a completely sealed cabinet the speakers will not function as they were designed.

sterankoman is absolutely correct....the speakers will need to be refoamed or replaced. Do a google search on speaker repair. You may be able to seal it temporarily with some rubberized caulk, but once the foam surround starts to break down and crumble, it will only get worse until the cone completely separates from the speaker frame.

someone who has already done the repair
http://www.jimmyneutron.org/AR%20speaker.htm

http://simplyspeakers.com/15refoaming.htm

HELLO,
SAD TO SEE THE LACK OF PEOPLE HERE WITH VINTAGE AUDIO KNOWLEDGE. I OWN A PAIR OF 210'S. THEY WERE MY FIRST PAIR OF
QUALITY LOUDSPEAKERS. AR HAS A VERY STORIED & WELL RESPECTED HISTORY. ESSENTIALLY BRINGING THE PROFESSIONAL LOUDSPEAKER
DESIGN TO THE PUBLIC. THE COMMENT THAT THESE UNITS WILL NEED SOME POWER TO DRIVE THEM IS WAY OFF. THEY ARE VERY
EFFICIENT IN DESIGN AND PERFORM FLAWLESSY . THEY ARE COMPARABLE TO SPEAKERS AT TWICE THE COST IN THEIR DAY. MY 210'S
ARE STILL PERFORMING LIKE NEW. I USE THESE WITH THE AR SAT660 SUB-WOOFER SYSTEM THAT INCLUDES 2 REAR
CHANNEL CABINETS WITH 4" DRIVERS AND THE SAME NITROGEN FIRED TITANIUM TWEETERS IN MATCHING CABINET DESIGN OF
THE TSW 210. YOU GOT A GOOD DEAL AND IF YOU FEEL UNEASY ABOUT THE RE-FOAM HAVE IT DONE PROFESSIONALLY. THESE
SPEAKERS ARE WORTH THE INVESTMENT AND SHOULD CONTINUE TO PROVIDE PREMIUM REPRODUCTION FOR MANY YEARS
TO COME. I HAVE A PAIR OF AR 4AX AS WELL THAT I PICKED AT A FLEA MARKET FOR 35 BUCKS. NEAR MINT!!! THESE ARE FROM 1965 - 66
USING 8'" DRIVERS. THE SIZE IS ALMOST IDENTICAL TO THE 210'S ... AFTER 20 YEARS SINCE THE 4AX THE 210'S REPRODUCE THE
LEGENDARY 4AX SOUND WITH NEAR MIRROR SOUND. DO SOME RESEARCH ON AR...YOU WILL BE A BELIEVER!!! KEEP THE AR
HISTORY ALIVE ... IF THESE WERE TO HAVE COME FROM A WHITE VAN I WOULD HAVE BOUGHT THE ENTIRE VAN LOAD...