Anyone have experience with this brand?

[darrinps]

Acoustic Audio.

They LOOK nice for as cheap as they are and I thought they might work fine as garage speakers, but I'd like to know if anyone is familiar with them.

Are they OK?

BTW, here is some information on them:

[jrhymeammo]

DONT DO IT.

Just go to a local thrift store and pick up a pair of $10 floorstander made by Sony or Yamaha. Or go to Craigslist and pick up some vintage Rockers.
If you are looking to spend $50, then grab a pair of $50 speakers from some places I've listed above.

Or you can get these. I think they will satsify what you are looking in your garage.

http://www.overstock.com/Electronics...duct.html?ak=1

I have no experience with a pair listed on the link. But if I was to acquire speakers for a garage, then I would go with those.

[filecat13]

My advice is to avoid them. They may look nice now, but once you pay your money and take them home you'll find:

a) They don't look nearly as pretty in the cold light of morning;
b) The sound of their cheap voices and the smell of their cheap bodies will gnaw at your aching senses;
c) They'll leave you with a host of unexpected problems and complications that you're neither prepared to deal with nor able to explain;
d) Even after you find a way to get rid of them, they'll haunt you for years with memories of your foolish indiscretion.



We're talking about cheap speakers, right?

[darrinps]

Well, I see that you can bid on them and get them for around $30-$40 shipped so I'm going to go ahead and take a gamble. At that price my expectations will be really low so if they sound like crap no big deal.

I'll report my findings back here. Who knows, maybe they will be OK! I mean, the specs look almost too good to be true and the materials looks nice...they surely couldn't lie THAT much could they?

[SlumpBuster]

I reserved judgment for a moment, but my radar was going off when I first saw this post a couple days ago. Shill.

Inwall garage speakers? Two unequivocal "no" answers, and "Well, I'm gonna try them anyway, because they look so good." At least shill is better than spam.

Anyone wanna bet what the verdict is going to be when he "reports back" his findings?

At least this guy's at customer service.

[darrinps]

I reserved judgment for a moment, but my radar was going off when I first saw this post a couple days ago. Shill.

Inwall garage speakers? Two unequivocal "no" answers, and "Well, I'm gonna try them anyway, because they look so good." At least shill is better than spam.

Anyone wanna bet what the verdict is going to be when he "reports back" his findings?

At least this guy's at customer service.

Well, it's a good thing you reserved judement, because I am in no way affiliated with Acoustic Audio or the seller. I've been a member here for many years...I just had to sign back up because I took a year or so off.

For example, here I am back in 2002 reviewing a set of AR 2062s I used in a home theater setup: http://www.audioreview.com/cat/speak...0_4290crx.aspx


And here in 2001 talking about my (then) sub $4000 HT setup: http://archive.audioreview.com/07/0EE99D36.php

As far as what the other two "reviewers" said, if you would read closely, you would see that neither one had experience with these speakers. One was thinking that it would be better to look elsewhere at the $50 price range (again, I think I can get these 10-20 less than that) and the other was just kidding.

If they sound like crap then that is what I will report. If they sound fine then I'll report that too, but in either case I'll give an HONEST opinion...just like I did years ago.

Maybe next time you won't be so quick to judge.

[hydroman]

So when my wife asks me; 'which shoes should i wear' and then slects the other ones...

I have to say to myself - 'why did you ask' if it wasn't for input to the decision.

So i ask you - 'why did you ask - if you were going to do it anyway'?

Help us understand.

Or just wear the d4mn black pumps for pete's sake!

[GTucker]

Naivete and gullibility sometimes go hand in hand. You were computer literate enough to make it to this forum, so I will assume basic computer skills. When you see something that is too good to be true, unless you have money to burn, assume it is as it seems. Take any number of search engines and search the name. When they all lead back to the ebay site, you should start to notice the smell. When you go to the vendor's ebay store and there are several too good to be true items and similar searches all lead you in the same circle, you should be smart enough to know you have a problem.
The responses you received are neither cynical or harsh. The folks responding were just applying a little common sense.
When your searches generate no reviews at any of the numerous review sites, there is most likely a good reason.

[darrinps]

...When you see something that is too good to be true, unless you have money to burn, assume it is as it seems.

Normally I think that is good advice...that's why I asked here first to see if anyone had EXPERIENCE with these.

Take any number of search engines and search the name. When they all lead back to the ebay site, you should start to notice the smell. When you go to the vendor's ebay store and there are several too good to be true items and similar searches all lead you in the same circle, you should be smart enough to know you have a problem.

Again, I would tend to agree...but you don't get anywhere by always assuming that...that's why I hoped someone here would already have tried these out.

The responses you received are neither cynical or harsh. The folks responding were just applying a little common sense.

Now we disagree. All I asked was if anyone had experience with these things....I just wanted some feedback based on that...not assumption, and I certainly didn't appreciate being called a shill!

Anyway...my review of these should be up this evening...just finishing the hosting of the images, etc.

[darrinps]

OK, it took a while but here it is.

I took several pictures of the Acoustic Audio speakers which can be seen here:






By darrinps


By darrinps



By darrinps








I've seen better cross-overs and the tape holding the foam to the grill is a bit iffy, but the quality of the construction and the speakers themselves sure looks the part for a budget speaker.

I needed something to compare against, and since I was hunting for some reasonably priced budget in-walls anyway, I picked up a pair of BIC M60s. These are very inexpensive and can be had in the sub $100/pair range...perfect to compare against IMHO and also fairly respected for their price/performance ratio.

Comparing the BICs to the Acoustic Audios you see that the BICs are a bit better packaged, give better instructions, provide a cutout template, and a different mounting mechanism. Actually, I kind of prefer the AAs with respect to the mounting mechanism, although the BIC's way has advantages in some respects (it uses a frame made of metal, while the AAs use built in clamps made of plastic...easier to work with but maybe not as sturdy depending on the install).

Listening to the speakers I think the BICs sound almost as nice as the AR bookshelfs I have in place. The AAs are fine on the low end, but the mid range isn't there...they just don't sound as "full" as either the BICs or the ARs..not even close really. Maybe they just need to break in (kevlar and titanium take longer right?). Even so, I kind of wonder if this is more a function of their crossover than it is the actual speakers, but at this price I don't have the inclimation to tinker with them much. If anyone wants to volunteer..shot me a message.

Anyway, I hooked up my ARs, the BICs and the AAs and made a sound track which I uploaded to YouTube. Here is the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DjQdkzQ21A

Hopefully the quality will be such that you can hear what I did...you can probably guess which speaker is which!

In conclusion, for the price I paid (under $30) I can't complain about these I guess. I wouldn't want them in my house, especially when the BICs are cheap and sound quite good, but they'll be fine for mounting in my garage to listen to while lifting.

Questions?

[JohnMichael]

I have wondered about this thread for awhile. Anyone else besides me like it deleted?

[darrinps]

Well...provided that I spent quite a bit of time compiling a review...why would you want to delete the thing?

[audio_dude]

Yes, please make it go away.

edit:

why make it go away? because nobody needs to hear a review of white-van **** when we're interested in actual true audio equipment.

[darrinps]

...why make it go away? because nobody needs to hear a review of white-van **** when we're interested in actual true audio equipment.

Actually, these are sold on eBay (maybe in vans too...don't know)...so some folks, like I was, may be interested in knowing about their quality as compared to similar priced speakers. So, what is so terrible about helping people who might be interested in the low end?

Besides, the BICs aren't a whole lot more and are also sold on eBay yet they sound very nice...for the money. That would be of value to some people IMHO.

Are only certain brands allowed to be talked about here?

Do you have to spend a certain amount on speakers to be worthy of posting here or something?


Sounds like a lot of acoustic snobery to me folks.

[johnny p]

I for one appreciate the review.... I would have personnally never bought them, nor reviewed them myself, and I wouldn't purchase them for my garage either b/c I'm sure I can find something laying around (even old shelf system speakers etc) but It looks like Darrinps gave an honest review.... I also think if nothing else, anyone considering purchasing such speakers would certainly decide not to if they checked out this thread.... Keep the thread alive! I like it!

P.S. the "300 Watts!" c'mon AA if you had 2 more exclamation points.... you would have had me!!!! ha!!!

[sn0skier]

You should definitely not delete this thread. I am a moron, but thanks to this thread I avoided paying $150 for some **** speakers. Instead I bought some klipsch speakers and an ADCOM amp and the other **** listed in my equipment on my profile from a guy on craigslist, and it sounds pretty damn good. I actually registered for this site because of the time and money this thread saved me.
You'd think people couldn't lie that much on a specs sheet, but I guess they can. By the way, I totally laughed my ass off when someone posted that jackass customer service guy's pic, because I thought that picture was way weird the first time I saw it, too.
Oh, where does the term shill come from? I figured out what it meant, but it is a strange term.

[Worf101]

You should definitely not delete this thread. I am a moron, but thanks to this thread I avoided paying $150 for some **** speakers. Instead I bought some klipsch speakers and an ADCOM amp and the other **** listed in my equipment on my profile from a guy on craigslist, and it sounds pretty damn good. I actually registered for this site because of the time and money this thread saved me.
You'd think people couldn't lie that much on a specs sheet, but I guess they can. By the way, I totally laughed my ass off when someone posted that jackass customer service guy's pic, because I thought that picture was way weird the first time I saw it, too.
Oh, where does the term shill come from? I figured out what it meant, but it is a strange term.

Posts like yours make us all, and the mods in particular, feel great. We joke around ALOT here but there are several members here (Wooch, Kex, Terrance, Tex, Bobsticks, Pixel and others) who love to drop the knowledge and help folks out. They're glad they could help as am I.

Da Worfster

[02audionoob]

Next week, I'll post the results of my Clash of the Titans....I'll be comparing Dahlton to Dahlquist. Watch this space...

[cmjohnson17]

i found this review helpful and decided to make an account to say so. maybe he is affiliated, maybe not, either way i decided to go ahead to try the acoustic audio 300watt 2.1 system and got them for $31 after shipping and im not impressed. for that price i'd say its the best speaker you can get but if your looking for a good 2.1 system and think these are gonna cut it then you're mistaken. i don't think its actually 300watts either, i own a lot of other speakers and subs(complete audio nut here) and compared them to my logitech z 506's and the logitech blew them away but in all fairness those are 5.1. the sub on the acoustic audio was nice on the low end, terrible on mids and high end. some songs it gets a little choppy. in the end id guess they are pumping out about 50watt rms so for $30 its a steal. if you wanna spend less than $50 for speakers that'll last at least a year then go with these otherwise save your money for some klipsch's or higher end frisby's

[Bigjonroberts]

I found this thread helpful as well as I saw this brand of speakers on the Newegg marketplace. One of the few reviews I could find.