Acoustic Research HD510 Surround Sound Home Theater System

by Acoustic Research

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 26.5 x 14.5 x 20 inches ; 52.8 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 54 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B000F3LZLK
• Item model number: HD510
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #68,693 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

Acoustic Research, the premier name in home speakers brings you the first 5.1 system that marries high performance with high style. Start with the speaker system designed to deliver maximum sound performance. Sleek aluminum extruded cabinets on the satellites complement the painted pewter finish on the sub. These beautifully styled speakers are at home in any decor...but we didn't stop here. The home decor system is just that, speakers designed to fit into your lifestyle whether it is contemporary or modern, traditional or classical. We offer a wide variety of speaker covers, all specially designed to fit our HD510 speakers, which give you maximum acoustics in a style that suits your decor.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic sounding speakers!, September 8, 2009

By 

W. White (Marietta, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Acoustic Research HD510 Surround Sound Home Theater System (Electronics)

I was very nervous about ordering speakers that I had never heard before, and also there were no other reviews that I could find. And, I ordered all the decor speaker covers so I was hoping everything would sound okay.

Well, to my relief, the speakers sound fantastic!! As a matter of fact, they sound MUCH clearer, cleaner, and warmer than the Klipsch bookshelf speakers they replaced! They also are much louder from the same amp, so I guess they are more efficient. By the way my amp is not that great so I was so glad these sound so good from even an average amp.

The subwoofer is plenty powerful, I live in a condo so I have not cranked it all the way up, but I have it at about 1/4 volume and it fills out the low end completely and booms when needed. It has a frequency control and also a volume control which is nice.

The satellites seem to be very high quality. They are made of metal and pretty heavy. I almost knew when I took the first one out of the box that it would sound good because it felt so solid. And luckily, it did. I really like how they are very clean in the high end, so I can now hear the dialogue in movies without having to turn up the stereo so high.

I have only watched movies so far, but anything from Star Wars to Drama to Music Videos sound awesome. I especially like the concerts on my satellite TV, they sound great in the 5.1 surround.

Very satisfied with this purchase, and my friends, especially women are really amazed at the decor covers and how they hide the surround system. Plus if I ever get robbed I don't think they'll even realize I have a stereo..

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy it for the satellites, February 12, 2010

By 

Cga (Finger Lakes) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Acoustic Research HD510 Surround Sound Home Theater System (Electronics)

The other reviewers have already described the physical characteristics of this set well, so I won't dwell on that.

I've owned a lot of hi-fi equipment over the years. I bought this set from another source at basically the same price

The five identical satellites are absolutely outstanding and compete very well with anything of similar size, at any price. Their definition, clarity, and surprisingly "big" sound belie their tiny size.

They require a good deal of power because they are not very efficient. Also, a good receiver is necessary to drive the satellites to full potential, and with a good receiver these satellites can be driven to very loud levels without distortion. They produce amazingly detailed sound, are solid, well built, and very attractive.

The subwoofer is not very good, but it's not very bad either. The operating manual rates it at 175w RMS and capable of 24hz at +/- 3dB. I strongly doubt that either of those spec's is accurate. However, it gets the job done and is much better than no subwoofer at all. As someone joked in another forum, you can always use the sub as an ottoman.

The satellites alone are WELL worth the price. Consider the subwoofer a bonus.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth the money, but not the best., January 10, 2010

By 

Dave C (California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Acoustic Research HD510 Surround Sound Home Theater System (Electronics)

The system comes in a nice sized box, and has all the mounts and hardware included to put speakers up on the walls, or sit on a surface like a table, or shelf. Also included are 2 90 degree rca plugs so that the cables don't flex at the ground, which is nice. The speakers are decent to say the best, and there is a lot of white noise and very little clarity at higher volumes. They are nice to use as a satellite far away from your head. The sub shines though as it's adequately powered (though still relatively weak) and has a pretty boomy 10" woofer downward firing inside. The problem with it though, is the sub often goes into protect mode, unless you unplug the rca's and put them back a couple times. This is remedied by using the "auto on" function on the switch. The sub will shake your house, but it's not exactly clear. It's well made and I've already taken it apart. The wires inside are covered in insulation, so they do not rattle inside the housing, and a majority of the sub is stuffed with insulation that was probably necessary to bring it down to 1 sq ft. inside the sub, or whatever they needed to tune it to because of the port that is also downward firing.

Aesthetics:
The speakers are covered in a brushed stainless steel and are beautiful, and the sub is painted gray and feels like smooth metal, though it is made of wood. There is a plate on the side of the sub that can be removed and it reveals the internal crossover controls (which should be all the way up, if you use the cross-over on your receiver) and a gain/volume knob, which will also need to be up fairly high if you ever want to hear anything come out of it. More power was definitly necessary for this subwoofer.

In conclusion, this is a great starter set, and works till you upgrade all the individual components to larger, nicer ones, like I've done. It's definitly worth the asking price though.