Test of ARSLAB Classic AC3/AC Center/AC1/AC SUB speakers

ARSLAB set deserves our recommendation, this dynamic and not deprived of accurate sounding acoustics is a real find for the lovers of DC and energetic music.

Acoustic systems

TEST RESULTS

CONSTRUCTION: ARSLAB Audio Technology, a company registered in the United States, appeared on the speaker market several years ago. The set we came to test represents the Classic series, which includes four speakers: floor-standing speakers AC3, shelf speakers AC1, “center” AC Center and an active subwoofer AC SUB. We already told our readers about the AC1 bookshelf models in the last issue of the magazine, noting their creators’ “reasonable conservatism” – the speakers are designed without any designer frills, but they are durable: the cabinets are made of 15 mm thick MDF sheets and the front panels are even thicker – about 30 mm. Although the appearance of the speakers was also taken care of – strict, classic look is ennobled by veneer with a natural veneer of four varieties to choose from: black ash, cherry, wenge or mahogany. Such quality of finish in this price group is pleasant nonsense.

Even the speakers in Classic are not someone else’s, but native speakers, made to ARSLAB specifications, they can even be purchased separately from the speakers. The speakers use the same tweeters, inserted in a shallow acoustic lens and equipped with a 25-millimeter fabric dome with a special transparent coating. The MF/HF driver with a diameter of 130 mm is equipped with a diaphragm with a bullet-shaped metal center cap, which equalizes the phase response of the driver and at the same time removes heat from the motor system. This driver in the AC1 and AC Center speakers operates as a midrange driver and in the top models of the line – as a midrange driver, while the AC3 floor-standing models are additionally equipped with a pair of 130 mm bass drivers equipped with compressed cellulose diaphragms.

Note also that the cabinet of the AC3 floorstanding speakers is divided into compartments: the midrange driver works in a closed box, and a pair of bass drivers is loaded on the rear slot reflex port. The AC1 subwoofer is made in a reflex port case with a round port on the back panel. Center loudspeaker Center loudspeaker stood out with a closed cabinet design. The Classic speakers each have a pair of jacks on the terminal boards. The speaker fronts are covered by removable grills, wrapped in dark cloth. Floor-standing models are installed on a decorative wooden pedestal, which is provided with built-in sockets for metal studs.

The ARSLAB subwoofer is made in a rectangular MDF enclosure and, like the other Classic line speakers, is veneered. The woofer has a 250mm diameter paper cone front cone loaded on the enclosure. The lion’s share of the rear dashboard is occupied by a big radiator, taking the extra heat away from the built-in 150 watt amplifier. Control elements on the panel are few, but nothing important the creators of AC SUB did not forget: there are knobs volume and cut-off frequency 50-100 Hz , toggle switches phase 0/180 hd . and turning off the low pass filter. There is also a full range of jacks: line and high level inputs and outputs.

SOUND

Earlier, listening to the AC1 bookshelves, we noticed that the tonal balance of the sound shifts towards the high frequencies, and to even out the frequency response, the speakers should be placed in parallel. Similar recommendations for speaker placement can be extended to AC3. Anyway, accentuation and abrupt high frequencies not always appropriate for music, does not bother the action in the movie at all, on the contrary, it makes the sound brighter, and thus more effective. How sharp and sharp the set voices the colliding in a fierce confrontation of warriors swords, the sound has a clear steel ringing. No less vividly reproduced are other discourses, when something bangs, squeals, ricochets. “The center works clearly, intonating dialogue and a very good bass, just as well on the details work the rear speakers, which have a perfectly dense upper bass. Front speakers take the bass very deeply, not too losing in this parameter to the set’s subwoofer, and the low bass of this trio has both decent control and intelligibility. So close bursts are reproduced tightly with a good attack, you can feel the relief in the low-frequency sound waves. By the way, there is no annoying loudness in the voice of the closed subwoofer and the device is not prone to overloading at all, though the bass in the lower octave lacks some fundamentalism. In addition, the set likes to sound loud, without noticeable speaker compression, which is especially important when voicing action movies, as it allows the acoustics in the DC to approach believable sound pressure levels.

Another plus of ARSLAB set is a large-scale panorama of surrounding sound, the set skilfully localizes the events around the listener, keeping the scene contrast not only in the frontal, but also in the background. The near field is particularly assertive, rolling in on the viewer, but the far field is shown very well, too.

In stereo, the front speakers AC3 can easily do without the help of a subwoofer. Their lower register is very dynamic and articulate, the upper bass is fast, the middle bass is slower, but even here the sound structure is still traceable. In the MF/HF range, there is the same commendable clarity of sound, percussive attack. However, quite accurately processing the basic timbres, the speakers do not pry into the nuances of the timbre palette, somewhat simplifying the sound. The treble is served in much the same way – the main parts are clear and distinct, the loops with some roughness. Nevertheless, the speakers play very well the compositions, in which the proverbial naturalness of sound up to the last overtones is not needed. For example, rock concert of AC/DC, where we felt both mighty drive and realistic scale of the stage. The speakers behave themselves as thoroughbred “Americans” in scenic construction, they work with breadth: a wide, slightly forward sound field, large prominent images.

102 960 Dollars.