Occasionally I encounter an audio product that really excites me. Occasionally. The ARX A3 towers from The Audio Insider are one of these products.

Through some instances of Serendipity, I came in touch with Jon Lane, of The Audio Insider. Jon has an abundance of experience in the design and manufacture of speaker drivers, crossovers, and complete speaker packages . He also has a passion for the capacity of music to create a true emotional impact like no other medium. He realizes, as do I, that sound has an amazing (and unquantifiable) ability to cause humans to feel emotion more than pictures, and more than video. Having a background in live audio myself, I quickly found a kindred spirit in Jon. After all, I’ve had my paycheck depended on people wanting to come watch the national, regional, and local acts for whom I mixed. Jon and I had many conversations covering the gambit of speaker design, loudspeaker philosophy, and crossover theory.

These conversations came to a point; Jon and I began discussing a new line he had designed, ARX. After experiencing a recent ” end of life” with a lesser brand tower loudspeaker (name brand with-held), I asked Jon if a bigger loudspeaker than the A3 tower was in the works. Jon said not right now. Then he said “maybe.” The “maybe” will be addressed at a later date.

In the mean time, I described my 22′ x 20′ x 11′ open-floor-plan living room where my listening/theater area resides. If you divide the room into four quadrants, and then split it horizontally with an actual partial-height divider wall, my listening area would be in the lower left quadrant, with my couch in the lower left corner of the room and my speakers facing the bottom from the interior wall. Not good. My main L+R speakers sit against the interior dividing wall that is built like, well, an interior dividing wall. I get nearly zero bass reinforcement. The position is actually very good for midrange and treble imaging, but it’s an absolute nightmare for accurate bass reproduction and it desperately requires some boundary-step compensation built into the cabinet to keep from having the lower mid-bass sounding like it’s being played through a bullhorn. I have a buddy who still earns his living in live and studio audio and he let me borrow his handheld RTA machine. The results were depressing and caused me to vacuum at least one bottle of Dos Equis completely empty. I can’t move the wall because the other side is occupied by a fully functional fireplace. To call the position a “black hole for deep bass” would be awfully polite. From about 300hz and up, it’s not too bad at all, as far as rooms go. I told Jon that it would be an up-hill battle that any speaker would have to fight in order to not sound ‘undersized’ in my room.

Now for my setup. I run an Arcam AVR300 Silver, fed signal by an LG BD590 (coaxial digital). I have an Elemental Designs A7s-450 18″ sealed 1300 watt RMS subwoofer that I think is fantastic. I’m sure some of you, upon hearing this, will ask me why I don’t just turn the subwoofer up to compensate for the lack of adequate bass. Well, I don’t like to do this because I use EQ to create a gentle roll off of the A7s above about 70hz. Above that frequency, and the sub doesn’t sound as accurate and tight in my room. I also use the sub to listen to music occasionally and I find that using a crossover frequency above that causes things to get muddy for music playback. Please take note that my wife does not notice the difference….go figure.

Fast forward to Jon insisting to me that I needed to listen to the ARX A3 in order to be able to give him accurate input on the development of the A5 tower. I inform Jon that the A3′s are going to be too small for my room. Jon admits I’m right and still insists that I listen to them in my room. I inform him that this may cause me to have an unflattering opinion of them. Jon says, “Okay, I still want you to hear them.”

Being surprised and taken-aback by Jon’s confidence, I had him send the A3′s to me. Now for the meat and potatoes.

Upon getting the boxes in, I was pretty surprised at how heavy they were. The boxes are easily over 50 lbs each. I expected much less after viewing the pictures on the TAI website. Dense would be the word I use to describe them.

Despite FedEx doing their best to aerate the boxes (at least two fist-sized holes in each box), the A3′s arrived in pristine condition. Packed with huge corner spacers, there was between 2 and 3 inches of free airspace between the cabinet and the box.

Getting the towers out required considerably more strength than I anticipated. Being a 230lb weight-lifting cop, I expected to have no issues with this. Instead, I had to unbox them horizontally along the floor, telescoping the speaker out of the box. It was at this point that I heard a distinct “thunk”. That was the also-heavier-than-I-thought plinth baseplate hitting the carpet. The plinth alone is between 8 and 10 pounds.

I followed the simple instructions from the excellent ARX manual (downloadable for free on any ARX product page). Plinth went on without a hitch. I got the cabinets upright and attached the plastic carpet spikes. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda, BAM….the speakers are in place.

Having previously listened to some Boehlender Graebner Z-series towers, and having heard the Martin Logan Preface series on several occasions, I expected to have to undergo considerable amounts of fiddling to get the tweeters to image properly at the center of my couch. Wrong again. Even when the cabinets were visibly wonky and mis-aligned, they still sounded great. These ARX tweeters do not act exactly like soft dome tweeters, but they are MUCH more toward that end of the spectrum than any other planar tweeter/ribbon driver I’ve heard. Horizontal dispersion is surprisingly wide. In fact, I found myself getting lazy with regard to sitting my my sweet spot. I kept getting distracted (I had The Rolling Stones ‘Forty Licks’ playing….hardly reference material, but some damn good music) and sitting down and just listening forgetting that I’m trying to get the boxes perfectly aligned for my OCD.

After getting the speakers aligned, the listening test began. I personally prefer to listen straight from the CD for critical evaluation using my LG BD590 as a digital transport. I also spend plenty of time listening to MP3s (320k) and some Apple lossless rips as well. If a speaker sounds great with the reference material, but sounds lousy on the ‘cheap stuff’…it’s of little utility (and will be of little enjoyment) in the real world. I find this even more relevant with the advent of Netflix and their 128k audio streams.

Listening Experience

Now for how they sound. Having a background in professional live audio, I have spent a LOT of time around real instruments (both acoustic and electric). I’m familiar with the way they sound in reality. This has given me a different way of looking at evaluating loudspeakers.

I consider the loudspeaker to be an image that one is observing through a pair of eyeglasses. The actual item being observed, let’s say a painting or other work of art as an example, speaks for itself in terms of appearance. Res Ipsa Loquitor is the latin phrase that would apply (the thing speaks for itself, loosely translated). If you want to be certain of how that item appears, simply walk up to it and take your glasses off to observe it in all its finest detail.

Sonically, speakers are the lens in your eyeglasses. It’s not the speakers job to add color, or to otherwise change the image, as that would be distortion by nature. It’s the speakers’ job to get out of the way and portray the music as accurately as possible. Period. If the music is of high fidelity, the speakers will project pleasing noises. If the music isn’t of good quality, the speakers should portray that as well. The speakers shouldn’t alter an original signal any more than they should be asked to inject additional talent into a recording.

Alright, enough with theory. In reality, all speakers add their own ‘filter’ to the sound they are attempting to reproduce. I don’t care if you’re talking about some esoteric $80,000 a pair speaker…it colors the sound…even a simple sound like a snare drum head being struck. Yadda yadda yadda, why does this matter to you?

Well, I’ve listened to quite a few sets of speakers in my less-than-optimal listening room in the $1,000-and-under class, and none have provided so little coloring as the A3 towers. I went from listening to my favorite recordings, to listening INTO my favorites. I haven’t had this experience before in such an inexpensive speaker. I’ve listened to the Martin Logan Preface series, and I can tell you that they pale in comparison to the A3′s. Treble clarity, air (which is usually due to a relatively flat response above 8k), and dynamic bass were all there.

Listening to the new Black Keys album, ‘Brothers’, you really get a sense of the dynamics of the kick drum. You hear the layers of sound, like the old AM radio playing in the background during the first few seconds of the 2nd track, Next Girl. This would fall into the category of ‘sounds you don’t normally hear revealed through a $500 pair of speakers’. Listening to the rest of the album was quite enjoyable.

Moving on to Diana Krall’s ‘Live in Paris’ CD, you really get a sense of the room and the front image of the instruments is very good. The soundstage is wide, but still providing good separation between the instruments, which are panned individually across the front. I heard the simple things like the gentle brush against a drum head during quiet passages and people coughing in the audience during the show. The midrange is relaxed in my view…just the thing I need in order to not have my face ripped off during extended listening sessions. With ‘Deed I Do’ being one of my favorite tracks, you can hear the hammers in the piano and the room. It’s truly enjoyable. Revealing with no fatigue. I’ve never experienced this level of detail and this lack of harshness in a planar tweeter before.

My biggest reservation, if I could name one, was that the planar magnetic tweeters would sound just as harsh as so many had before. I envisioned having to accept some level of grittiness and harshness in order to get the detail I was searching for. This turned out to be a non-issue. These tweeters are the real deal and they sound amazing. They have all the positive properties of the best aluminum dome 25mm tweeters with none of the harshness (sometimes politely called “sizzle”). I expected the tweeters to be the weakpoint regarding output, but I never heard them breakup even at uncomfortable listening levels. An interesting side note is that, after extended listening sessions at higher volumes, I could feel the faceplate of the tweeters being warm to the touch. This is encouraging, since thermal damage is the biggest long-term enemy of any tweeter driver. Pulling that heat away from the innards of the driver assembly and out to the ambient air is simply good engineering.

Now for the big question in my mind; how is the bass in my room? I mean, the A3′s are admittedly undersized and are not in the optimal location for adequate bass reproduction. So I played some pretty juvenile music on them. The Black Eyed Peas. Metallica. Jack Johnson. Various rap artists. I played them at both low and high volume levels and they shocked me. After a relatively short break-in period, the bass really filled out (I’d estimate the 15-20 hour mark). The bass was so incredible for four 5.25″ drivers, I wanted to see what they were capable of. So, with Jon’s blessing, I basically tortured them.

(See the end of the review for embeds of the videos from Vimeo)

I settled on the Kanye West song “Stronger” because it hit at and just below the tuning frequency of the drivers. The cabinets got loud at an even rate without the midwoofers outrunning the tweeters or vice versa. They just got louder and more dynamic. I played a lot of bass heavy R&B from Pandora for well over an hour. I played “Stronger” at well over 100dbA a couple times. I never actually reached the excursion limits of the midwoofers. I know I got close (because there are laws of physics in play), but I stopped short because I was afraid of frying the crossovers. I was amazed at the lack of power compression…and it unnerved me a little. Normally speakers that are driven hard exhibit some ‘bad behavior’ before they fail. Hearing little (if any) audible distortion, I was worried that I would be unable to identify a problem with the speaker in time to prevent permanent damage at these volume levels…there was no onset of distortion…no discoloration…just more volume. Well, no damage and the A3′s just keep on truckin’. These midwoofers appear to have around 8-10mm of clean one-way excursion. This is no doubt due to their beefy magnets structures and XBL2 motors. Just Google “XBL2″ for more info on the licensed technology. I dare you to find another $500 pair of tower speakers employing anything even remotely as advanced or refined as XBL2 motor designs or true planar tweeters in their setups. Again…you won’t. Not for $500.

To say that I’m impressed with the refinement that the A3′s put forth is an understatement. I’m very impressed. I mean, try and find a tower pair for $500 with properly implemented boundary-step compensation. You won’t. Try and find one with low loss inductors, high quality polypropylene capacitors, and an ‘organically designed’ (i.e. not fighting the natural frequency responses of the drivers), tuned-by-ear crossover network that is different for every model. Most ARX models only have about 6 crossover components. Fewer filters in the network = more undistorted signal getting to your ears.

As for integrating with my eD A7s-450, I found that using the A3′s without their port plugs worked best for me. I had little difficulty in finding an acceptable crossover frequency for the two as partners. In fact, I found that a relatively wide range of frequencies sounded very good. If you are limited in placement for the A3′s, you can alter the bass rolloff by inserting the foam plugs to give them more of a sealed-alignment’s sound. It’s easy to fiddle with and you’ll know pretty quick which setup you prefer.

With a simple and smooth 8-ohm nominal impedance rating (and little deviation from that figure), these speakers are an easy load to drive for just about any receiver or amplifier. As with most speakers, they respond very favorably to high current amplification. The bass gets deeper, more controlled, and the midrange and treble see added clarity from high current amplifiers,

The cabinets are much more sturdy than they appear. I promise this will strike you when you take them out of the box. We’re talking the opposite of B**e; these cabinets are solid, properly braced, and adequately damped. Are they plain looking? Absolutely. Are they ugly? Not to me. The cabinets are finished in a simple but well-executed black ash PVC laminate. After hearing them, I found it difficult to focus on how they looked. It’s a non issue. If you want to buy furniture-grade cabinets, you’re looking at the wrong line of speakers.

To conclude, I’m amazed at how well these A3′s handled my room. Shocked. I’m pretty confident that anybody shopping for a pair of refined towers for $900 per pair should definitely consider these. I haven’t heard from Jon of one customer who has gotten the A3′s in their home and still taken advantage of the 30-day in home satisfaction guarantee. And I’m not surprised one bit.

I’ve included below embeds of my two ARX A3 excursion demonstration videos:

What do you do for a extreme value?  Ask Don Lindich about what to do with only $1250:

Sold exclusively by The Audio Insider, for the money you simply can’t do better than an Arx system. Even if you are willing to spend more I would say quite a large segment of the population would be thrilled with the sound to the point where spending more wouldn’t make sense.  If you are a hardcore or budding A/V enthusiast with cash to spend, a serious movie and music buff, or want your speakers to have a finish like fine furniture you may be best served shopping upmarket, but most people will listen to these, say “wow!” and sit back and smile, satisfied.  Arx brings exotic driver technology to an unheard-of price point and it is well implemented, at that.  The wrapper is plain but the guts are amazing!

Drop by and let Don know how your system turned out.

Writing in the September issue of Affordable Audio, Mark Marcantonio compared The Audio Insider’s exclusive D2.1se “Custom” to the original Swan D2.1se.  Mark sums up:

“One of the secret joys of any reviewer is getting a hold of a piece of equipment or speakers that intrigue you enough that you can’t wait for the next listening session. The Swan 2.1 SE Customs fall squarely into that category. Hearing what improvements can be made when the financial rulebook is thrown out the window, and the designer focuses on the best sound possible, is thoroughly satisfying. The Customs offer up the trifecta of detail, musicality, and nonfatiguing listenability.”

A PDF file of this issue is here.

The new high-performance Arx A3 is earning a solid reputation for itself.  Dual SplitGap woofers and the excellent Arx planar magnetic tweeter make a formidable loudspeaker for under $500 the pair.   Excerpts from Tom Shope’s report on the Arx A3 from the August 2010 issue of Affordable$$Audio:

So if your budget is a mere $500 and you are seeking a floorstanding full-range speaker that delivers the natural, clean, open sound associated with high-end models, your options are extremely limited. On the other hand, what if you could buy a $1000 pair of speakers for only $500?

It would seem that Jon Lane and The Audio Insider have targeted a very unusual market. By controlling costs on the parts of the speaker that have little impact on sound (like the cabinet veneer), and focusing entirely on high value, high performing drivers and crossover, they are attempting to deliver high-end sound for low-end dollars.

What you get for your small outlay is an unexpectedly sophisticated sound. Yep… sophistication for $500 bucks! The ribbon tweeter provides just what you’d expect, that is, if it wasn’t attached to such a bargain speaker. Detail in spades, with a clean, open, and vivid presentation.

The A3s really delivered on the bottom end. “Tight, clean and powerful” is how I would describe the bass. I would not expect a music listener to need or want the support of a subwoofer with these speakers unless the room was quite large. The bass performance is actually quite impressive considering the size of the drivers. While it is true my listening room is on the small side, the room was nicely pressurized by these small drivers and a very satisfying bass line was pumped out and just improved as liberal power was applied.

The A3s deliver a knock-out sound and one listen will leave you staring in disbelief at your receipt. If you are constrained to a tight speaker budget, but you appreciate the (typically) sophisticated sound of more expensive speakers, then you would be very hard pressed to find anything that betters the high-quality Arx A3.

For the complete review, visit Affordable$$Audio and open the August 2010 issue (PDF file).

New Arx speaker models are entering the market and are making a very strong impression.  Excerpts follow and run the gamut of all Arx models, the A1 bookshelf, the A2 LCR speaker, and the amazing A3 tower.  This is what superior components, low distortion, and good design sound like:

Based on my initial listening impressions (less than 8 hours), I can safely say that the Arx A2 is a vast improvement over the Original Acculine A2 (non-r version). The Arx A2 addresses my major criticisms of the Acculines, such as weak bass, and the unforgiving nature of the Neo3 tweeter on bright tracks such as mainstream pop music. If you were impressed by the original Acculines, you’ll be thrilled to hear the improvement of the Arx line.

The Planar tweeter and SplitGap woofers work exceptionally well together…I think that Jon Lane and the folks at TAI have a definite winner on their hands. A big kudos to you at releasing this speaker at this price point. The Arx are a definite win for the value-oriented audio enthusiasts.

-”Miwo”, writing at the AVS forum.

I’ve been listening to the Arx A3 for the past 24 hours using a Rotel receiver and my Neuhaus Laboratories T-2 amplifier, using vinyl records, CDs and iTunes music as my sources.  A full review will have to wait until they are completely broken in but for now I would like to report that the Arx speakers are noticeably better than the Acculines and the difference was apparent pretty much from the moment I hooked them up…The sound was detailed, rich and sweet in a way that just makes you want to stand up and cheer.  Stereo imaging is excellent and the speakers have a big sound that really creates presence and impact…Even at 24 hours in, they are definitely keepers and I am looking forward to complete break-in and a full review.

-Don Lindich at The Sound Advice Blog.  Don continues at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Arx is noticeably better than Acculine in every way and rate in an entirely different league. I did not think it was possible, especially since the price stayed the same.

Arx’s clarity, detail and precise sound definition are stunning and unequaled for the money.

What I was not expecting is Arx’s warmth, richness and great sense of naturalness. Often when speakers go to extremes with clarity they sound harsh or bright and Arx has commendably avoided this.

The Arx A3 speakers also have a big, full sound that creates real presence in the listening room.

Writing in listener comments at our own forum, “daggerNC” notes:

And here is one my most important criteria when I judge speakers (and other components in the chain) – imaging and sound staging. I’ve got to be able to sonically “see” the musicians on the stage (real or studio): Steve dead center with his guitar, drums behind him, the sax to the left and back about 8′, cow bell on the left side of the drum set, backup vocalists either left and/or right of Steve, etc. And…….I can “see” the sound stage pretty well with these little bookshelves! Nice, but what really exceeded my expectations is something that is very special that only truely “good” speakers can do: portray all the different instruments and singers as unique sonic entities so that you can “see” the individual musicians with your ears. If you are present at a live performance (acoustic in a smaller venue is best) you hear all the musicians playing together, but you also can distinctly see and hear the bassist and the drummer and the lead guitar and the rhythm guitar and the keyboardest, etc. It’s not just hearing the instruments and vocals all mashed together, but hearing all the individual elements playing together to make one. It’s a very cool effect, and adds to the realism of the playback. Kudos to the Arx A1′s for doing a really decent job at this – not at the level my electrostatics could do, but d@mn, for these little inexpensive speakers???

So, bottom line…the A1′s are here to stay.  My initial impressions conclude with this: somebody’s stupid here. Either Jon is for offering such a great little speaker at such a low cost, or we (speaker buying public) are for not scooping these up at this price point!

Another AVS poster, “Tawaun da Bomb” has just started to get to know his Arx A3 and has this to say:

I just received my Arx 3′s and it will be a very tough speaker to beat for $499 a pair, very nice deep tight bass, very detailed mids and excellent topend extension…

Other comments related to The Audio Insider by phone and email are consistently enthusiastic: Arx make music.  They have the ability to look inside a recording and lay out in space the “flesh and blood” of the recording.  Arx are transparent, detailed, dimensional, and musically-satisfying. 

Thanks to all for validating our design goals and we look forward to posting more comments and reviews soon.

6Moons writer Glen WagenKnecht has penned a substantial listener review of the Swan M200MkIII active desktop monitor.  Some of Glen’s high points follow. 

The Swans M200 Mk III are a class act. They live up to expectations imposed by history and push pedigree yet further upscale.  As a computer monitor, they offer a phenomenal level of sound quality and have a visual aesthetic of decadent luxury.

The review is located here and the Swan M200MkIII is found here.  Thanks Glen!

The D1.1seC is in-house.  Here are two test shots intending to show the quality of the finish – this speaker sample has a 100% gloss over the Khaya Crotch veneer, which is also referred to as African “Rosewood” Mahogany.  Obviously, snapshots won’t do this superb finish justice as this is the finest look we’ve ever seen in a Swan product.  These are quite remarkable in person.

One of the perks of working on new models is approving a fun new speaker.  We’ve just unboxed a pair of brand new Swan D1.1 mini-monitors in Khaya Crotch (African “Rosewood” Mahogany) and have some snapshots to share.  They measure 11-1/2″ tall, 7-3/4″ wide, and 8-1/2″ deep.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we are.

Compact but powerful: The new Swan D1.1se.

The D1.1se is also the perfect compliment to the D2.1se.

High-output drivers for a surprisingly authoritative sound.

Finished in Khaya Crotch, European Birdseye Maple, or Gloss Piano Black.

The D1.1se is designed by and built just for The Audio Insider.

The D1.1se includes a removable black knit grille.

It’s not often that a self-powered monitor of this quality costs less than the great majority of unpowered premium monitors. The SwanMkIII is one of this rare breed, and users are discovering that great sound, unexpected value, and user convenience can go hand in hand.

Jason Parker loves his M200MkIII and enthused about them at the AVS forum recently. His capsule review appears here as well:

“I just got my Swan M200MkIII. In short? They KICK A**!

“Plug them in, connect them together, and with the supplied cable hook up your iPhone/iPod, and YOWSA! These suckers are clean, and LOUD! They are so loud that the limitations of the recordings via the iPhone can cause quick ear fatigue, so be careful out there. I moved them into the living room next to my MacPro where all my music has been ripped Apple Lossless. I can quickly move the mini-plug back and forth between the M200MkIIIs and an Arcam 300 feeding my tremendous Swan 6.2s. And?

“Yeah. Swan and Jon know what they are doing. I have two favorite songs I jump right to when auditioning. Song one, is the Talking Head’s “Slippery People”. Song two is Brubeck’s “Blue Rondo A La Turk”. First up the M200MkIIIs. I’ve listened to my Arcam/Swan6.2 combo for a long time now. Press play (from my iPhone remote application — that is SO COOL!) and… I was at home immediately. If I had been led into the room blindfolded, I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference at first blush. To me that’s impressive! What great songs! So I switched to the Arcam combo. Now, to be fair, the Arcam/6.2 combo wins. It wins at every point. But, it IS a contest, a good one at that. Anyone thinking between the 6.2 and 6.1, even though I haven’t heard the 6.1, I would just say trust Jon and Swan. The 6.2 is an amazing speaker. Especially when paired with a top quality amp like an Arcam. That’s my $0.02.

“Comparing the M200MkIII, the Arcam/6.2 wins in every category, crystal clear, nuanced highs, smooth deep and satisfying bass, and a “you are there” immersive soundstage. But the thing is — the M200MkIIIs are only a half step, maybe only a big toe, behind in every case. Given that they are in a much smaller enclosure, with its own amp (that is not a $1500 Arcam) they are outstanding. The M200MkIIIs are clean and even with no coloration, just like the 6.2. They simply trounce a pair of Energy C-100s I have upstairs (which I consider a pretty good speaker for the money BTW). Now one big reason I could tell the difference between the M200MkIII and the 6.2s was the soundstage. But I can’t attribute that entirely to the smaller speakers. See my 6.2s are set quite wide, about 14 feet. Which brings me to my only knock on the M200MkIII package, the speaker connect cable. The cable itself is a high quality 4-pin cable. But it is only 6.5 feet in length. I couldn’t move the M200MkIIIs 14 feet wide for an even comparison, and I wasn’t going to haul the big 6.2s closer together in my room. Further, at 6.5 feet, even in a small office, you might find it hard to place the speakers with the cable out of the way. I’m already looking for a longer cable (Jon, any suggestions?). I mentioned fatigue earlier. I want to reassure you. First, I was using an iPod. Second, I was trying to see how loud they can go… which is VERY LOUD! When played at reasonable volumes in rooms like a good sized living room, or an office, the M200MkIII play astoundingly nice. For an active set of speakers you can just hook up the iPod or computer to, I can’t recommend them enough. If I was going to college, this and an iPod/laptop is what I’d want to bring to blow everyone else on the floor away. Look no further.

“I can’t wait for this years work X-mas party. I’m going to cause some major raucous!

Cheers!
-jason”

MacFeed offers some follow-up thoughts and FAQ’s to their review of the Swan M10.  Thanks again, guys!

To get to the point, we love the Swan M10s more then we did when we first plugged them in. Age has treated them well and the sound has become richer and deeper as the speakers have fully burned in. Crisp highs are accompanied by deep lows as beauty exits the black tweeters and gold woofers.