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Teledyne Era AR's


jayrosc

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I brought this up over on AK a few days ago. I'm trying to get a sense of the speakers generated by AR under Teledyne. To me, the tweeters look very similar to those produced by Roy Allison in his Allison speakers. Was he involved with AR under Teledyne? If not, whats up with those tweeters? 

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teledyne bought AR in 1967 and sold in 1989.....so a large number of "classic era" AR's were teledyne era (Ar3a, AR5, 6, 7, the redesign of the 2x) though the ADD series, the vertical series, the LS series, to the TSW series....

Allison left I think in '71 and didn't have further involvement with AR after that

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  • 2 weeks later...

Nice find. If I'm reading the label correctly those are AR-17s and according to the AR Model History in the Library they were produced from 1977-79. That series included the 10 Pi, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17 & 18. Why no 13 or 16?

The History says your speakers have 8" woofers and 1.25" "pressure" type tweets. No idea what a "pressure" tweeter is. They were a step up from the AR-18, reaching a bit lower (48Hz) with the same drivers in a larger box. And unlike the vinyl-clad 18 your 17s have real walnut veneer. Here's the manual and some brochures: https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/acoustic-research/ar-17.shtml

According to the "Truth in Listening" brochure, this series of speakers featured the first "liquid cooled" (ferrofluid) tweeters:  http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/library/acoustic_research/add_series_1975-1978/add_series_brochures/ar_truth_in_listening_broch/ar_truth_in_listening_broch.html#previous-photo

Have fun with those and keep us posted on your progress.

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4 hours ago, JKent said:

That series included the 10 Pi, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17 & 18. Why no 13 or 16?

In another thread it has been discussed that there was no '13' produced, possibly for superstition reasons.  The '16' does not fit in because although it was produced around the same time frame, it never got the ferrofluid tweeter.

 

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31 minutes ago, Jeff_C said:

That series included the 10 Pi, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17 & 18. Why no 13 or 16?

In another thread it has been discussed that there was no '13' produced, possibly for superstition reasons.  The '16' does not fit in because although it was produced around the same time frame, it never got the ferrofluid tweeter.

Jeff_C is correct - - - the AR-16 is discussed here (as well as the phantom AR-13).

http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/IP.Board/index.php?/topic/7498-the-ar-16—the-4th-add-speaker-system/

To the OP, that's a very nice find - - the AR-17 does not show up very frequently and those look to be in very good shape. Having original foam grilles in good condition makes them even a bit more rare. Congrats. 

 

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1 hour ago, ra.ra said:

And, are these the tweeters you are referring to (Allison-left; AR-right)?

Allison - AR tweeters.jpg

I've read that tests have been done on Allison Tweeters that show the ferrofluid to still be good, or at least that the drivers continue to produce the frequencies they should. I hope the AR tweeters do the same.

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  • 2 months later...
On 1/6/2018 at 10:42 AM, JKent said:

Nice find. If I'm reading the label correctly those are AR-17s and according to the AR Model History in the Library they were produced from 1977-79. That series included the 10 Pi, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17 & 18. Why no 13 or 16?

The History says your speakers have 8" woofers and 1.25" "pressure" type tweets. No idea what a "pressure" tweeter is. They were a step up from the AR-18, reaching a bit lower (48Hz) with the same drivers in a larger box. And unlike the vinyl-clad 18 your 17s have real walnut veneer. Here's the manual and some brochures: https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/acoustic-research/ar-17.shtml

According to the "Truth in Listening" brochure, this series of speakers featured the first "liquid cooled" (ferrofluid) tweeters:  http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/library/acoustic_research/add_series_1975-1978/add_series_brochures/ar_truth_in_listening_broch/ar_truth_in_listening_broch.html#previous-photo

Have fun with those and keep us posted on your progress.

Here's a very pleasant update: First, the refoam worked perfectly. I did that over a month ago and began using these in my office, running them with a Marantz 2270. Right off the bat I noticed they were a quality pair. Unusually large sound stage for a room that is only 8' x 16'. Great imaging too. I like the punchy bass they give out AND the fact that they don't dig into the deep octaves. Just a well balanced sound. Now, about a week ago I decided they were keepers and recapped them with Solen's. They opened the sound up even more and added a degree of brightness that made them a little too hot for the room, so after a few days I switched the tweeter control over to the -3db position. They are now really dialed in, at least for classic 1970's pop hits like "Magnets and Steel," "Brandy," etc. I also notice they play quite loud with the 2270 with no real effort on the amps part. That's a real bonus. 

Now that I've done this pair it might halt my restoration of a pair of EPI 150's. They need EVERYTHING. Caps, tweeters and woofers. After all that effort and money I expect them to sound similar to these AR 17's.

Might put them back out into the wild.

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1 hour ago, Stimpy said:

I'm glad to hear that the refoam and recap worked out.  Give the Solens a bit of playing time too.  Many feel they smooth out once they burn in for a while.

Good tip. I let the system run for about 10 hours right after I put the new caps on and have been clocking about two hours a day on them since. Nice to hear these speakers sounding full of sunshine even at the -3db setting, but if they ever start sounding a bit dull it's great to know I've got somewhere to go. Switching to the 0db setting would surely bring the highs out.

BTW Stimpy, you may recall that I used a 6uf cap in one speaker and a pair of 3uf's in parallel in the other. No difference as far as I can tell, but the next time I order caps I'll add a 6uf Solen to the list and drop it in, just to be sure. 

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  • 3 years later...

So as i mentioned in a post earlier today I scored a set of 17s with original drivers, the woofers need to be refoamed for sure, Given the age I'm sure the caps need replacing. Can you help me with the values and a source please?

20211209_211400.jpg

20211209_211408.jpg

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The AR-17's crossover contains a single 6uF capacitor.  When I restored my 17's, I wasn't able to locate a 6uF capacitor.  I could have gone with a 6.2uF capacitor that is readily available from a number of manufactures, but I ultimately went with a pair of Dayton Audio 3.0uF capacitors from Parts Express:

Parts Express.com-Dayton Audio PMPC-3.0-3.0uF-250V

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