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A couple of months ego I got a pair of AR-16 loudspeakers,made in Sydney Australia under license from AR.

They were in a very bad condition,foam surround on both woofers completely gone,cabinet veneer cracked & separated at the seems ,very neglected & unloved. I tried Google for some info. but there wasn't much there.I turned to the classic speaker pages & got some positive & some negative comments .But on the whole not much discussions.

To cut a long story short, I managed ( I believe) to bring those speakers back to their original (new condition) with the help of some knowledgeable speaker builder.(New Mundorf bipolar caps of same value as the originals + Mox resistors ).The foam surrounds were professionally done at some expense & the cabinets were refurbished beautifully with Howard restore-a-finish & feed wax something...

When I removed the woofers to have them re-foamed,I was surprised & pleased to see a substantial crossover with at least 7 or 8 components of reasonable quality & also noticed black writing on the X'over that says (AR-16 mk2).I did not know that they made mk1 & mk2 ar-16! Anyhow,how did they sound after all this work you may ask. Driven by a fully refurbished stock Dynaco st.70 valve power amp.+ luxman cl32 valve pre-amp.+ Cambridge audio azure 740c cd player,the sound is neutral, pleasant and maybe accurate albeit a touch light on the bass. Pushing the speakers against the wall seems to generate a bit more bass.( Also, tweeter roll off position selected at the back).

The thing that I don't understand is why so much fuss about the AR 4x when the AR-16 sounds (to my ears at least) so much better! Clearer,more extended treble , excellent mid-range & useful bass,in general more focus & more details. No muddy bass & muted highs that I used to get from the very popular ar4x. Although the 4x has a nicer cabinet!

I must say I'm beginning to appreciate & like the sound those (unloved & underrated) loudspeakers make.

I would like to hear the views of members who used the AR -16 at some stage.

before

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after

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Welcome to the CSP!

Are you in Australia? I found an informative thread here, started by an Aussie member with Aussie AR-16s:

http://www.classicsp...?showtopic=4351

And a brochure here:

http://www.classicsp...#previous-photo

I'm curious about one thing: These are "post classic" speakers from the 80s (Teledyne era). The brochure in the Library says they have "simulated walnut wood finish" or "wood grain vinyl" finishes. Are the ones made under license in Australia real wood? I'm assuming, based on your use of Restore-a-Finish and Feed n Wax. Or maybe the "simulated walnut wood" is real wood stained to look like walnut.

Your comparison to the AR-4x is apt. Senior guru John O'Hanlon said it used the same 8-in driver as used in the AR-4xa, -MST, -6, -9, -16, and -15. The size is similar: The 4x was 19 x 9 10" and the 16 is 19-1/8 x 8 ½ x 9 1/8"

Nice work saving some neglected speakers! How 'bout some more photos?

Kent

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Thank you both for directing me to the threads relating to the AR-16.

Kent - Yes I am from the land down under where crocodile Dundee used to live . And yes the cabinets of the AR-16 that I have are covered with real wood veneer (definitely not vinyl).I had to repair the veneer in one of the cabinets.

But I wouldn't call it real walnut .It's a strange veneer,like artificial oak.Don't laugh! Somehow the veneer does not look

natural.Maybe that's what they mean when they say (simulated walnut).

Anyhow,I've attached more photos of the speakers as you requested.

Next time I'll let you see what I've done with my AR-4x. You and other members might find that very interesting.

Till then , all the best.

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post-121766-0-69753900-1350562803_thumb.

post-121766-0-76004400-1350562948_thumb.

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G'day mate! (sorry--couldn't resist)

Those look nice! And yes, please do let us see and hear about your 4x restoration.

btw--you have a double post. No big deal but if you go to the one without the pictures you can hit "Report" at the bottom of that post it will bring up a box and you can ask the moderators (Gene or Carl) to just delete that one (I speak from experience ^_^ )

Kent

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Kent - Yes I am from the land down under where crocodile Dundee used to live . And yes the cabinets of the AR-16 that I have are covered with real wood veneer (definitely not vinyl).I had to repair the veneer in one of the cabinets.

But I wouldn't call it real walnut .It's a strange veneer,like artificial oak.Don't laugh! Somehow the veneer does not look

natural.Maybe that's what they mean when they say (simulated walnut).

Looks to me like it might be "Tasmanian Oak," which is a commercial name for Blue Gum/Eucalyptus. Here in the US it would actually be considered an exotic wood, but down under it's common enough that you're shredding it for pulp and using it to make paper. :)

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  • 1 year later...

Hello there audiochat. It's good to hear of others using and enjoying the AR16. I used them from 1977 to 1993. I agree with what you have said about their sonic abilities. They are very clean and natural sounding. The bass has been said to be lacking but what is there is quality. When people started to take notice of speaker cable, I found the bass could be augmented with QED 79 strand.

The best thing about them for me was their ability to completely vanish when you could give them a bit of space away from room boundaries. They created a glorious 3-Dimensional image and the sound seemed to emanate from all around the speakers.

I am currently restoring mine. They need new foam surrounds, and I will be replacing capacitors.

Your post above concerning the replacement capacitors etc may prove useful for me. I hope they turn out as good as I remember them.

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