Acoustic Research AR9LS owners? Just for thought

140wpc is getting there, not underpowered, but not realizing their full abilities either. that said there should be nothing to prevent you from enjoying them as is.

for $300 you are not likely to find anything significantly more substantial than the A-1000, so i'd recommend putting something aside on a regular basis towards a future purchase, though you might get lucky and find a big amp that fits within your current budget. you might also consider looking for a pair of mono-blocks (that can handle a <4ohm load).

Hey guys I really want you to know how much I appreciate your time and input thus far. As a "newbie" it can be tough for me to feel like a am a part of the community and I know that I have A LOT to learn. Is there any way I can get in touch with a few of you via email for easy conversation and questions? It seems to me that out of the 3 threads(which i am not familiar with doing) I have attempted, that this is the only one that shows on my list of threads. ????? Anyway, so be it, I still want to say thank you to you guys and glad I am a member of the community here.

Sorry to say this but you will never realize the full potential of your speakers when placed out from the wall. Go to Classic Speakers site and read about the design of the AR-9 series. I think 3-4" is max. Most folks have the opposite problem, they cannot place their speakers (other models) far enough out into the room for best performance.

I assume your AR9LS are rated at 4 ohms. How is your Yamaha amp rated? Is the 140 wpc at 8 ohms? What at 4 ohms? A good quality amp should come close to if not actually doubling output into 4 ohms. From my limited experience with AR speakers (none of the 9 series), amplifier choice can be critical to optimize them.

Good luck.

So, why is it so important to have these up againtst the wall? Is this just simply by design? Are my other speakers suffering due to being out from the wall about 16inches.... I dont know much about the yamaha amp... I just cant find any info on it. A-1000 integrated amp... it wasnt super high dollar, but was no cheapie either... I can only assume its pushing more power at 4 ohms. Please give me advice as to placement. I could move them into a bedroom that is 17x13.5 feet ***can you please tell me how a pioneer elite vsx-54tx would fare against the yamaha? It is rated at 100w per channel but might be more in stereo mode and may be a cleaner 200watts at 4 ohms??? Just a thought for you guys to ponder.

FWIW, I believe when the AR's came out 'depth of imaging' was something hi-fi enthusiasts didn't have in their sights yet. That came a few years later with Harry Pearsons focus of 'sound staging' including things like depth of image and air, etc. Designing the speakers system's bass to sound best when the speaker wall was backed up to the wall was no more that designing it to work as most folks were positioning their speakers then. Consider Allisons, Snells, etc. So it follows that if you pull these speakers out into the room to a locus where the speaker is about 25% or more of the room's length from the wall behind it you may loose a lot of bass, but you might, just might, greatly improve the speakers sound stage, i.e. width, height, and depth. And in practice you could add a sub woofer to compensate. Could. Maybe. :-) FWIW.