tuskman79

southern Maine

Still available...

Yes they are. Please PM me if you are interested. thanks!

My mistake: forgot to include price. $990/obro. thanks

Sorry, forgot price: $130.00 OBO and would be willing to ship! thanks

A pair of refoamed AR 18b speakers. Cabinets and grills are original and in very good condition. Don't let the size of these speakers fool you. They sound amazing. I enjoyed in my living room for 9 years and continue to amaze me. Because of a new flatscreen TV and entertainment center they were recently displaced and i have no where else to set them up. That is the only reason I am selling as they are wonderful little speakers. I can confidently say i don't believe there are any other speakers of this size that put out a better sound than these little jewels. Made in Mass by AR in the early 1980's when they still put out a quality product

Acoustic Research AR3a Acoustic Suspension Speakers. Manufactured in the Massachusetts from around 1967-76. These are legendary because they are considered some of the finest speakers ever built, and they influenced many speaker designs that came after them. The AR-3a series of speaker systems uses the 12-inch (305mm) acoustic suspension woofer with dome mid-range speaker and high-frequency tweeter. These are fully functioning and sound superb. The original potentiates have been dis assembled, cleaned, and adjusted. As is common with the potentiometers on vintage AR speakers, there is a little bit of scratchiness when the knobs are being turned, but once they are set in a position, no issues. I did not want to bypass them, or install new potentiometers , because I believe the integrity of the original design is important, and the speakers are still amazing sounding once you have adjusted the levels. Both woofers were professionally rebuilt by a noted AR expert. The walnut cabinets are very nice with no notable damage or defects. I have done nothing to them other than a quick wipe. The grills are also original and have some aging too them and may be recovered if the buyer so desires. These speakers are fully functional and turn key as they sit. I believe in leaving everything as original as possible and the new owner can tweak and modify as desired. Note these are not consecutive serial numbers and most “pairs” of these you find will not be. AR did not sell pairs of speakers- they were sold individually and often had serial numbers far apart and slight differences in construction as running changes were regularly made. Each speaker measures 25" x 14" x 11.5" . Can be audtioned in person. Located in Southern Maine near NH border. Would be willing to deliver to Maine, NH, or VT within reason with pre payment. do NOT contact me with unsolicited services or offers

Thanks for the replys. I do not have any photos but they look good. Slight lower grill pilling and one small veneer chip on the lower front corner. I tried 4 different CD’s of different styles of Music- classical, 70's Rock, newer Pop, Soul. Absolutely not the slightest sound came out of either tweeter on any recording and I jiggled the attenuation switches while listening with my ear up to them. Unfortunately I would have to roll the dice and buy them and then proceed with the diagnostics once I got them home. Just don’t want to have more into them than they are worth.

I looked at a pair of all original AR9’s for sale. Of course they need refoaming but the main concern is NO SOUND from either high tweeter. (meaning the high tweeter on each speaker is not sounding) The speakers have had 2 mature owners and reportedly have not been abused (and show no signs of it). Is this more likely to be the tweeter itself or the attenuation switch? The switches for the low mids and the mid range dome function properly. This would not be a result of missing jumpers on the back panel speaker wire connections could it. (the jumpers were in place but possibly may not have been making contact- but I’m thinking since the low mid and the mid dome were working that all circuits were getting a signal) I was unable to do any diagnostics at the sellers house and an agreed price could not be settled on so I passed on them. Looks like used tweeters run about 100.00 each give or take. Did not find any used attenuation switches for sale. I would rate cabinet (1 chip) and grill (some light pilling) condition a 7 or 8 out of 10. Opinions on likely culprit? What is a fair price to pay for these in this state? Thanks!