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These speakers were originally marketed for a tiny niche - people who wanted a high fidelity portable system. If you want a system that sounds good, buy these; if you want something that is loud and thumps, go elsewhere. The sound is excellent and well balanced. The aluminum enclosures are great for use around monitors and other electronic devices. That proved impractical, but man these speakers sounded great. They got rave reviews in the audio magazines of the day, and deserved them. I bought the first version of these, the Acoustic Research Powered Partners, around 1985 when I was in college. They are about excellent sounding drivers matched to a nicer-than-average sounding amplifier in each enclosure.
I'm not sure if you can still buy the stands from Advent, but you could easily make a pair of stands from pvc pipe to get these speakers up to ear level. These are not about raw power or the ability to bust your eardrums. There is a sort of clamping piece on the back where you can insert a pole or pipe of the correct size. They have served that purpose ever since. My idea was to put together the "ultimate boombox" so I bought the speakers, the optional battery pack (lead acid batteries that weighed a ton), the optional, expensive soft carrying case, plus a walkman. They have line-level inputs that you can plug into an ipod, a computer, a cd or dvd player, or any number of other systems.
When I finally got a computer with a sound card in the 90s, it dawned on me that I should be using these with it. Recently one of them has started to sound bad, and I plan to retire my set and buy the new Advent versions. You can't really use these as guitar amps without some kind of preamplifier - it would be a shame to waste such great speakers on an electric guitar anyway. In all, a very versatile systemRegarding the "thump" the speakers make then they are turned on - mine have done this since new and it has not caused a problem in over 15 years of service.
I have 3 pair 1 pair from 1987, still working perfect, the little thump is not annoying as someone wrote, the sound and volume is 1000 times better then anything Bose could ever build in the best day, the 570 are priced right considering they quality and power, Advent and AR are the same speaker, remember Bose is overrated and over priced. these are stereo speakers as someone complained, of course you have to have 2 you dummy, you set the controls to your ears not by some dumb markings, thats why then knobs hav no markings, I have been in sound businness 40 yrs
Yes, they cost a bit, but to me they are worth every penny. I just ordered a new computer with a very fancy sound card.
They are supposed to go down to 40 hz and sound like it. I bought these babies about three years ago as replacements for my computer and still love them.
Great clean non-distorted sound. I am an audiophile with good ears and a big bucks system in the living room.
These of course, don't sound quite as nice, but they are remarkable for their price. I can't wait for it to arrive so I can plug the Advents in.
I don't hesitate to recommend them to everybody.
you won't be carrying them around in your backpack. I have had AR570s for a decade. One star off for non-detented dials and a way to match output on each unit. They are still going strong and sound great. These are heavy chunks of metal. Can't believe they are still being sold. That says something right there.
These are not plug and play, and they are called "powered" for a reason (no external amp needed). They still sit on my desktop 18 years later, now connected to my Macbook Pro. I bought my one and only pair of AR 570 speaker in 1991 for my amateur recording studio. Which makes them very versatile because you can plug them into anything and hear great sound. In my opinion, these speakers have the best sound quality for the price. I hope they still make them to the same standard.I understand the caveats from other reviewers. These are strictly analog, no digital inputs, only RCA. But these are the only speakers where I can tell the difference between an mp3 and a lossless digital file.
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