Acoustic Research AR-HA1 Planar Headphone

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by TheIceman93, Feb 9, 2017.

  1. TheIceman93

    TheIceman93 El pato-zorro

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    This was posted on HF earlier today: http://www.head-fi.org/products/acoustic-research-ar-ha1-planar-headphone

    Supposedly these were demo'd at Can Jam NY but there are no impressions yet. A quick glance over the company site reveals nothing about them yet. Price is around $600. I guess Acoustic Research makes expensive DAP's and wireless outdoor speakers that look like lanterns? Interesting.

    I'm always skeptical when a company that has never made headphones jumps into the game but I thought I would share this. I'll update if I find anymore info.

    Company Site: http://www.acousticresearch-hifi.com

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Feb 9, 2017
  2. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    At least they've got a Golden Schlong winning headphone in their marketing materials. If they're using it as a tuning reference, it might not sound that bad.

    [​IMG]
     
  3. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    I'm glad there are more and more reasonably priced headphones coming to the market. Mr Speakers and Monoprice other notables doing good work for the masses.
     
  4. TheIceman93

    TheIceman93 El pato-zorro

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    Reviews for their DAPs seem pretty positive. I guess its an old hifi company that sort of drifted away from the business, was bought up by an audio gear megacorp and now they are in the headphone market.
     
  5. SineDave

    SineDave Friend

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    They made some great speakers - so I wouldn't put it past them to surprise us. The market needs more players competing for the crown, so I say more power to them!
     
  6. AllanMarcus

    AllanMarcus Friend

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    Just heard these today. Very nice. RMAF conditions, so limited impressions, but worth further investigation. Comfortable and impressively fun sound.
     
  7. Dino

    Dino Friend

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    I bought a pair of new AR 2ax speakers back in 1972/73. I really enjoyed those speakers. They were the first hi-fi speakers that I bought. I knew that I would be living a long time with whatever speakers I chose since I was still in high school and didn't make a lot of money from my part-time (nearly full-time) job. I listened to a large number of speakers at every store in town when I was shopping for my first good ones and ended up choosing these. (I even bought a second pair a few years later, inspired by The Absolute Sound's Double Advent Loudspeaker article, when AR2ax were on half priced closeout.)

    The Acoustic Research name was sold, I think several times, since then. Some of the products released under that name seemed pretty cheesy. Maybe the name is owned by a quality oriented company these days. It sounds like it from what I've read here.
     
  8. Luckbad

    Luckbad Traded in a unicorn for a Corolla

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    Loaner candidate?
     
  9. Riotvan

    Riotvan Snoofer in the Woofer

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    Wouldn’t mind a comparison between the HP-3, HD660S and these. The 1k bracket just got more exciting.
     
  10. sfoclt

    sfoclt Friend

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    The HP3 is now 1200. I don’t think it should get the benefit of competing with products half its price. It’s now at HD800 pricing. (Though all comparisons are useful of course.)
     
  11. Riotvan

    Riotvan Snoofer in the Woofer

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    Hmm that is dissapointing. Guess it’s off my list then, 1k is my upper limit for headphones.
     
  12. powermatic

    powermatic Friend

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    From the HF review:

    AR headphones.png

    The phrase "....distributor of lifestyle products" is both sad and horrifying, but maybe they really have made "a long term commitment to excellence."
     
  13. Robert777

    Robert777 Acquaintance

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    /warning: sort of off topic post ahead/

    I am looking forward to comparisons between these Acoustic Research headphones and the new Hifiman Sundara headphones which are proposed to be around $500, and to see how they stack up against the new Sennheisser's and the recent Massdrop Hifiman headphones.

    Should be very interesting indeed.
     
  14. starence

    starence Facebook Friend

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    In case anyone else is confused, this headphone is actually the AR-H1, not HA1.
     
  15. Rthomas

    Rthomas Friend

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    @Tyll Hertsens seems to be excited about these. There is a big gap on his WoF between the HD600 and the Elear.

    I'd be thrilled to see a shootout between the AR-HA1 , HD660S and Aeon Open to see who's the king of mid-fi. :D
     
  16. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    Ugh, I hate how stuff below $1k is considered mid-fi compared to just a scant few years ago. Can we go back to calling it hifi and rename everything above it stupid-fi?
     
  17. Rthomas

    Rthomas Friend

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    I'm using the terminology differently from the other site. I just mean mid in terms of pricing not performance.
     
  18. Dino

    Dino Friend

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    In the earliest days of 'The Absolute Sound' magazine, editor and founder Harry Pearson refused to publish the price of equipment in the magazine. He thought it was not relevant to the sound quality of an audio component and could cause confusion. Apparently he received a lot of letters requesting that he print the prices, because he would defend his position fairly frequently. (This was way before the internet so getting such information was not a few seconds away. It may have been quite a chore finding the prices.)

    I though he was being too idealistic but I think I understood his point. If a lower price component bested some higher price components that was just the way things were. Price was not a factor when it came to sound quality.

    On the other hand, if a component was priced outside of my budget, it was interesting to read about but it was not something to consider buying for myself. He ended up caving to popular demand and started printing the price at the end of the reviews. The idea being, a person was intended to read the impressions prior to reading the price. I tried doing that, but always ended up sneaking a peak at the price. I was too curious to see if a given review was about something that was simply interesting or something I could imagine actually buying.
     
    Last edited: Oct 13, 2017
  19. TheIceman93

    TheIceman93 El pato-zorro

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    Who was the first to sell a headphone over $1K?
     
  20. AllanMarcus

    AllanMarcus Friend

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    Now-a-days, TAS doesn't need to publish prices. Everything they review is out of price range for most people! :)
     

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