genek
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Posts posted by genek
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Could just mean that the license was issued by "Teledyne Acoustic Research." As far as we know, AR never actually operated their own manufacturing facilities outside the US. They either licensed their IP to others or contracted others to manufacture for them.
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The dual address suggests that at least some of these were manufactured overseas under license from AR. The existence of a UK AR brochure when there doesn't seem to be a US brochure reinforces that suggestion.
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The SRTs were probably produced in a sort of semi-OEM arrangement, in which the buyer got a reduced price in return for taking on responsibility for things like distribution, marketing and service. Sears would've gotten a little sales boost from having the label say AR rather than some home label brand name, but no other AR support. AR would've drop shipped a a year's worth of stock to one delivery point, Sears would've shipped to stores using their distribution chain, the only marketing info would've been in Sears catalogs, and customers with warranty issues would've carted their speakers to their local Sears store rather than contacting AR for free return cartons.
And I wonder whether those military exchanges got them from AR, or from Sears along with Craftsman tools and Kenmore appliances.
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AR's legendary history stems from Edgar Villchur's invention of acoustic suspension. So in the eyes of AR enthusiasts, anything that lacks that feature is probably always going to be a poor cousin. As you get further and further from the Villchur years and the early Teledyne years in which the team originally put in place by him continued to design AR speakers, the less attractive the brand becomes.
You'll find the same thing happening to KLH and Advent products produced after Henry Kloss departed those companies, as well as Allison speakers after Roy Allison. Especially if they happen to have ports.
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It's probably the bass reflex. Other AR-branded speakers by subsequent owners of the brand that are not acoustic suspension get the same low regard.
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Studio Recording Transducer, aka Sears Roebuck Throwaway. A budget product originally produced for Sears and later sold through military exchanges. Have never seen any AR-published marketing brochures for them. I suspect they were too embarrassed.
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Zebrawood (astronium graveolens) is a real thing, but AFAIK the doors on the 10pi were made of walnut. Just like the rest of the cabinet in the photos you posted.
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At $500 for all four, it might be worthwhile for a buyer to call a "pick, pack and ship" company.
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Are the caps wax blocks or cans? If they're Sprague Compulytic cans, they're probably still ok as long as you don't see any splits or leaks.
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If you had that spare 2ax woofer around because you also have 2ax's, might as well go ahead and use it if it sounds ok to you. But I'd keep my eye out for one of the later, correct woofers too. You might need that 2ax woofer someday for an actual 2ax repair.
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Signal generator apps are readily availalble for both iphone and android. The advantage over music is that you are sending the actual tone you want to know whether the driver is outputting without the distraction of every other tone in a bit of music. Especially important once you get into the range above 10kHz.
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"Unfinished."
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The dark stain is similar to what the last generation of classic ARs with the Norwood address looked like.
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Unless you're planning on sending 1 MHz signals through your speakers, waste of money.
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The Euro-built ARs that I've seen all had backs finished with grey-brown speckled paint, but these appear to be plain particle board. Maybe they predate the Euro-licensed versions and were imported from the USA?
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The AR-1's low end is quite similar to the later 3, 3a, etc. (yes, LST as well); Except for the lowering of the woofer/mid crossover frequency that happened in the AR-3a, the low end of AR's 11" woofer models didn't change all that much until the dual woofer AR-9 came on the scene.
The 755a full-range the AR-1 used as a mid/high driver was a hugely overrated speaker. The sound was smooth enough in the voice range - not surprising when you consider that it was originally designed to be a PA speaker - but it started rolling off at around 10kHz, and by 13 kHz there was nothing there.
If there was no such thing as vintage speakers, I'd be checking out Yamaha's new NS-5000, the modern reimagining of their NS-1000 with 12" woofer and dome mid and tweeter. It's bass reflex rather than acoustic suspension, but initial reviews describe the lows as "tight," the highs as "sweet," and the soundstage as "big and expansive." It will probably also have that "modern antiseptic" sound quality, but fixing that is what tone controls and equalizers are for, isn't it?
Unfortunately, it blows the budget of this discussion with a $15k MSRP. No idea if anyone still sells new audio at discounts.
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On 9/30/2023 at 6:25 PM, meta_noia_fot said:
AR's and the -9's in particular, suit my musical tastes well.
So give me 10K and I'll take the AR-1's. I want to hear what the best loudspeaker system in the 50's sounded like.
I already know what they sounded like, and if your preference is AR-9's, you won't care much for them.
If it was my $10k, there's be a pair of LSTs or 9s undergoing cost-is-no-object restoration, and I'd pocket any change.
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The AR-3 used the same tweeter. It was introduced in 1958.
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First generation 2ax was 1964. Earlier models may have used the same drivers. Hard to imagine drivers sitting in factory parts storage that long, though. Any sign that driver's may have been replaced?
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The AR-1 is really a collector's item more than a serious audio gear option. Would you choose a 57 T-bird over a modern Mustang GT?
The only speaker in the TAS article that I've actually heard is the Harbeth, and that one is really more like an AR-4 on steroids.
I doubt I'd ever be willing to drop anything near $10k on a pair of speakers anyway.
First experience with ARs: uncle who owned AR-1s and 2s and took me to the GCS listening room and the Carnegie "Live vs Recorded" demo.
Bought my first ARs (1975 2ax) as a graduation present. Since than have picked up 6s, 3as and a variety of newer, smaller items like ms1s and an MC.1 center channel from the Holographic series. Plus a bunch of AR turntables that I've fixed up and sold off.
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Kent is the go-to person for replacement level controls.
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P/N 210074-0 in the 1986 AR parts list. The 10" poly cone woofer was used in the Post-Classic B and TSW series.
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I was never into motorcycles.
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How will you be shaping the mesh? I expect the titanium will be a bit harder to work than the aluminum was.
AR vs modern speakers
in Acoustic Research
Posted
Most new speakers that I see and hear give me the impression that they were designed to part of a multispeaker HT array. If you have enough of them spread around the room and a couple of subwoofers, you could probably reproduce the same low end and room-filling soundfield that a pair AR-9s would produce, and defintely a lot more high end, since that's what most consumers prefer today. You'd probably need a bunch of equalizers to get that AR rolloff if you wanted it, though.
A pair of two-ways with 6" woofers may very well outperform the 8" woofers in AR-6s, but AR-9s? No way is a pair of two-ways with 6" woofers going to do it by themselves.