Acoustic Research AW510 5.1 Wireless Headphones

by Acoustic Research

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 10.6 inches ; 3.5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds
• ASIN: B00163WAFI
• Item model number: ARAW510
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 7, 2004

Product Description

Acoustic Research 5.1 digital surround sound. Hi-def 2.4GHz wireless transmits true audio sound through walls floors and ceilings up to 100' from transmitter. Digital sequence spread spectrum wireless technology. Decodes Dolby AC3 Pro Logic II DTS and AAC. Uncompressed audio for CD quality music and extra voice clarity. Proprietary design: 3 high performance speaker drivers in each earcup. Lighweight padded self-adjusting comfortable headband. Protective sound pressure level contol. Frequency response: 20Hz-30KHz. Multiple input sources analog fiber optic and SPDIFLi-Polymer battery for extended life up to 8 hoursIncludes power adapter

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very pleased with the purchase months later., August 25, 2008

By 

S. McDougall (Fort Worth, Texas (yee haw)) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

SHORT STORY: The price for these is excellent and aside from a few minor annoyances and minimal 5.1 surround, six months later I'm very pleased with my purchase and would recommend these to anyone.

Rating: I gave it 5 stars because I think these have a 5 star "value" rating. There are flaws but what they offer for the price is worth 5 stars in my opinon. If they were any more expensive, I'd lean towards a 4 star rating.

Quality: There's only one pair reviewed better and they are kind of ugly (the Pioneers). They're also much more expensive. I thought hard about them though.

I bought these about six months ago. The confusing part was the dual manufacturer name. It seems like Acoustic Research (AR) is carried in retail stores, but online retailers list this product as an "Audiovox". The cool thing is, online these are half the price of retail stores! I saw these on the Best Buy website for $399!! After ordering these from here, everything came labeled "AR" - funny. It's like they can't list under the AR name but the product is an AR. For a price so much better than retail. If you buy these online they're like $200 less than what a retail store would have them for. Although it's hard to find something of this high of a price in a retail electronics store.

The sound is really excellent. I have a pair of $169 Sennheiser full sized headphones (CANS) and I'd say these are "close". I'm pretty happy about that - for Wireless headphones to get so close to the quality of wired headphones. My guess would be these have the same sound quality as a pair of $75-$125 headphones. Music sounded really excellent to me on these - I liked it. This is the point of view from a guy that has a pair of $300 Klipsch Image (in-ear) headphones. If you didn't think these sounded good I'd be shocked. They aren't top notch by any means but I can't picture anyone thumbing their nose at these.

5.1 Sound: I've watched a lot of movies and played a lot of games using these over the last six months. My option is the "5.1" aspect of these headphones is minimal. It's enough to get you by with a general sense of front-rear/left-right surround. But, it's not distinct. I want to say the surround feels "blurred". It is good enough to get spatial awareness though - which is a mile beyond normal headphones. Overall, I'm not thrilled but not really disappointed either. I sure wouldn't trade the 5.1 for better sound quality though. I really would miss it.

Volume: These headphones have an up and down volume button on the outside of them. Operation is easy and responsive while using them. The volume range is good and these things will go a lot louder than I can stand. Although the base really isn't there. It's like movie quality base - a little weak for game play (to me) and music.

Size: These suckers are small (much smaller than I pictured). Technically these are "over the ear" CANS, but on my ears they almost qualify for "on ear". My wife has a pair of Bose on-ear headphones. These are about 1 size larger. I was very pleased with the size!

Comfort: These are very light and have very soft ear pads. My wife's Bose headphones feel noticeably more comfortable - but not by a lot. The one flaw (for me at least) is that after about an hour my ears get warm. The material is something like vinyl in feel. I much more prefer the fabric-like material on my Sennheiser headphones. It doesn't distract me though. I notice it sometimes but mostly you just get these relief when you take them off and fresh air hits your ears. And, BTW, for new headphones I recommend rubbing them down with Armor All as soon as you get them and every few weeks after. I'm talking about the cord and ear pads. It will greatly extend the life of the headphones by keeping cracks from forming.

Battery: Six months later and they will still last through two full movies. It's actually never run out on me and I've had some five hour gaming sessions. The BAD part is, the battery is not user-replaceable. These headphones are like an iPod in that respect. It's not easy to swallow because for all you know in a couple of years the battery could barely hold a charge. The only thing you could do at that point is probably send them in to AR. Who knows how much that would cost? I think the fee for replacing an iPod battery is like $69. Six months with no noticeable battery life loss (and very heavy use) is promising though! OK the other bad part is there's no docking station. You have to plug a wire from the base into the headphones. In the dark, it's impossible to do.

Range: I have a 1500 sq ft house. I can go anywhere inside without any static or loss. I've never bothered trying to go further.

I own both a 360 and PS3. Since there is only one optical port (and no HDMI), I have to switch back and forth. That is annoying, but I'll bet most people only have one or the other.

360: flawless
PS3: seems to drop the optical "feed" when there is no sound being played (loading screens or scene changes). I get a lot of pops because of this, but it never seems to happen in the middle game play - so it's not a deal breaker.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars High Class, but not for the HDMI addicted, February 10, 2008

By 

E. Pantev (Sweden) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

A very well crafted product. Sound almost top notch (according to a 50 year olds declining hearing). In a building constructed with rail road steel bars, reach was more than satisfactory. Almost on par with current WiFi standard. Comfortable, with a very slight sound leake. Allthough your sleeping partner might disagree.

Unfortunately sound appears difficult to tap from units connected via HDMI. None of the ample supplied connections seem to provide access (even if the SCART connection is OK). Information "how to connect to HDMI" is in any case not povided in the very short manual. If anyone figures this out, please let know. Otherwise, as a "bedroom-watch-TV-by-yourself" solution, it is certain buy recommendation!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great headphones!, September 16, 2008

By 

Michael Vieira "BONESTOCK" (MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

So I bought this headset to use while playing Xbox360 or the PS3. It's great!! Sound is great!!

My only problem with them is comfort. The speakers are literally on my ears. They bother me a little.
The next thing is the headband. For some reason they hurt like hell after 30+ minutes of use. I have to constantly move them from the spot it's resting on my head.

Pros: Sound is top notch and the surround works great!
Cons: Comfort.