I have recently built a pair of A/V-1RS as the surround channel and I would like to say Danny did a superb job in designing and positioning.
When the build was completed, as usual I tested them in the front channel position. They did not sound good at all. The bass was very weak. That's understandable given its sealed and small size, as well as not burned in. The treble was too much for my taste (it is more than the Neo tweeter), again it needs time to burn in.
However, after I mounted them in the recommended corner location, things changed dramatically! The bass is much more weighty and full body (thanks to the corner loading), the highs are not as harsh as before (thanks to the tweeter not directed to the listening position). The music is very very room filling, and the sound stage is grand scale. In this sense, they are better then the N3TL. Of course imaging is worse. But given the designed purpose as surround channel, they did an excellent job.
Another surprise is that these speakers integrate the sub woofer very well. My sub is EQed to the front channel, but when I fired up the sub with the A/V-1, they integrated seamlessly even without any EQ or phase adjustment. The sub disappeared, and all the grand bass seems coming from these little surrounds. If I close my eyes, I can imaging the sound are coming from two meter tall full range speakers. That was really a good surprise. I think I have found another good use of these surrounds: ambient background music.
I have built N3TL front, N3S center, A/V-1RS surround, and Rythmik F15 sub. Now my saga is completed (for a while).
