Giorgio AR

Hi Ra.ra, I also found in another post the presence of this "rubber / silicone ring" inside the foam roll of a 200001 speaker, signaling to have noticed it also in other woofers both 8 ", 10" and 12 ", in fact we note in numerous AR3a woofers on the original degraded foams (not present in those already refoamed). Tunedguy57 (probably the greatest Italian HiFi expert and technician of unquestionable ability!) Interviewed by me some time ago, had given me a logical explanation of which I do not remember and I find no trace, surely the aim was not to weigh down the cone as I thought . We hope for a definitive explanation of the purpose of this additional ring by a technician of the time and the material from which it is composed to restore our speakers as originally. Giorgio

Hi Steve, I hope as well as other enthusiasts that the cabinets will find new owners who use them as substitutes for damaged cabinets or for new projects or replicas, if I lived like you near the place of sale, I would have already filled my cellar! I add more photos found on the announcement and a further one with the labels removed from my AR18 EJ pair: in addition to the label identifying the model that was originally placed on the front baffle of the cabinets, there is also a small label removed from the inside of the cabinet (it was attached near the crossover plate) that reads Ingham Mirefold. My curiosity is that I suppose you identify the English manufacturer of the cabinets and ask you if the location of this plant is near the warehouse containing the AR LST cabinets. I searched both maps on Google maps (both Ingham and Miterfold), and both correspond to locations in Essex, I hope you find an answer to my question! Giorgio PS: I add to the completeness the labels of another pair of English AR18s, about 4000 before they show numerous differences: material, on the right plastic on the left aluminum - execution, on the right rounded corners on the left right angles - finally the different printing characters

Perfect, looks new, I don't see any fingerprints on the lacquer! I love guitars and their sound, unfortunately I'm not able to play, but I have many virtuous friends who do it and when I can hear the sound of a live guitar, this is pure enjoyment. The AR speakers have "the only flaw" of replicating their sound equally but fail to visually reconstruct the player, they don't just own the video, but they do imagine it!

I had not read the PS yet You're right about not accumulating but listening, I personally have too many pairs of speakers, not just AR, but I can use and listen to almost 12 pairs of AR speakers almost every day (not all of them together). Regarding the AR speakers, their flaw is that regardless of the model they give you all the same emotions, with different little nuances and I can listen to them for hours at all volumes without any fatigue, they are like family to me, other speakers of mine they are like strangers, except the two pairs of Philips 9710 that I love like ARs!

Frank, your three AR LST pairs plus the ones you can get from the cabinets in England could again sound the "Teatro alla Scala" of Milan as it was in the early 70s! I agree with you that a similar situation will never happen again, however you play your guitar (it's a wonderful thing to play a musical instrument) and when you get tired I think your AR LST will be able to play the guitar the same way for hours and hours without getting tired and without tiring your ears.

My impulse would have been the immediate purchase, but then I would have had to fly to England and bring the cabinets to my house in a container by ship: impossible !! I hope in the purchase of an enthusiast who then resells the cabinets at a correct price, the projects that could be realized with these cabinets are numerous, Stimpy has already given 3 feasible examples, my imagination also adds: a couple with Tonegen components, a paired with AB tech components and other hybrids!

Looking at the famous auction site as usual, I incredibly discovered this AR LST cabinets auction, complete with grids and some of the original packaging; also present cabinet with original black finish !! I counted in total about 51 cabinets, I hope they end up in good hands and enthusiasts. Below the link and finally the photos. https://www.ebay.it/itm/143434773123

Ra.ra,I have to congratulate you for your competent, very explanatory interventions, you are a great help like a lighthouse in my opinion !!!! Giorgio

Ra.ra I'm sorry for the delay in my response, but on Thursday afternoon I left for an extended weekend of holidays and I went to the beach in a Dalmatian island, this morning the last swim (practically me and my 7-year-old son were the only ones in take a bath in late autumn) and I had no possibility of using the internet. Thanks for your attention, your reply is very welcome because it gives me a lot of additional information and also the confirmation of having found a compatible midrange for features to the original one, but unfortunately with broken magnet and sound emission much lower compared to the mid of the other AR58s. I purchased this 200032 mid as it is more readily available than the AR58s mids (there was some time in Italy selling a mid 200044 specimen, about $ 55 the price, but I gave up buying at the time). So I decided to buy a 200032 mid and perform an aesthetic makeover to make it visually the same as the replaced speaker. One of my doubts is also to invert the small identifying labels so as to make it indistinguishable from the original, but in this way I would make a fake! I gave up on making this replacement, also because the label can only be found by removing the speaker and in any case I keep the original mid between my spare parts. Giorgio

I have a 200032 mid belonging to my pair of AR58s that presented a complete fracture of the ceramic magnet. Despite the break, the midrange worked, although with less sound emission than the other mid., The coil of this midrange is good, with a detected resistance of 3.2 / 3.3 ohms. I purchased a midrange 200044 belonging to AR92, apart from the color difference of the front flange (two-tone brown / silver), electrically and physically the two midrange are identical; the detected resistance of the 200044 mid is 3.2 ohms. I could replace the malfunctioning speaker with the new purchase, but I didn't like the aesthetic difference of the couple. I had to paint the new mid in matt black, otherwise I would not have been satisfied with the purchase. I sanded the mid flange with 1200 grit sandpaper, cleaned and degreased the flange, masked the screw holes and the lower part of the flange with tape and built a 53 mm mask. for the dome (made by properly cutting a plastic cup and taped to the support). The painting was done with two coats of paint for plastic in matt black. Apart from a small aesthetic defect caused by the difficulty of painting near the dome, the final result is excellent, making this 200044 mid indistinguishable from the 200032 that it replaces.I still have a doubt, I could even replace the label indicating the model and date on the back of the magnet, but I think that to avoid confusion I will leave the original labels in their place, welcome advice on this last point! Giorgio Original 200044 mid Fractured magnet 200032 replace mid 2000 both mids Velcro removed sanded flange painted 200032 mid 200044 vs 200032 Dome mask

I purchased this pair of 200029 tweeters as a spare, they are in excellent electrical and aesthetic condition, unfortunately they have the classic rust on the fixing screws of the flange; this greatly affects the beauty of these tweeters. There was nothing left for me but to physically and chemically remove that ugly oxide flap! I worked without removing the screws to avoid an unpleasant breakage of the same: I made a protection for the delicate dome and I removed with a small dentist's scraper all the rust on the screw heads, then I applied a rust converter on the screws with a small brush, I repeated this three times to get a good result; then I removed all the converter with distilled water and dried the flanges well, the final result and the various phases are visible in the attached photos. The last two photos show the same tweeter before and after removing the rust from the screws Giorgio

Well, in addition to the AR LST, I currently have three pairs of ARs with a 12 "woofer and a fourth pair consisting of a 12" 200003 woofer and a mid / high section of the AR58b (this is a project for which I will build a pair of cabinets with the fundamental measures identical to AR3a, including internal reinforcements). If you see the photos I published, I don't have a home location that is appropriate for AR LST. The only place available would be stacked on top of the AR10 replica and the AR3a, instead of the AR58s that I circled in red in the attached picture! But I would lose the placement of a further row of speakers, probably even the external medium / high sections would not be in the best position (too close to wall and closet) I could use them in temporary location, but for the size and "particular" location of these speakers, I could not have a permanent home for them.

Adding more photos to illustrate the wet spot on the top of one six two speakers, is a shadow of a few cm. in diameter, little visible, the photos are of the particular and the complete top.These are the major aesthetic defects present in these speakers, the whole is almost like new, and the many photos I have inserted illustrate the speakers well in all their details.

Sold today 28 oct 2019

I added the crossover photo of my AR1MS, sotto il link

Hi, I also own a pair of MS1 ARs, mine have the same serial number: 11975 and the woofer is slightly different from yours, the paper cone does not have the cut (this type of cut paper is the same as the midrange of the AR48s, I am attaching the photo). The speakers in this case are all TNG made, your speakers are made in the USA, as you should see from the labels and written on the back on the magnets. I also have the kit of original mounting brackets that allows horizontal or vertical positioning of the speakers, and it is also possible to use it as a car audio (the speakers are 4 ohm!). My AR1MS are now used as a medium / high source to help AR2 woofers, to be used in this configuration I inserted a 20mF capacitor and excluded the 2 tweeters of AR2. This combination sounds very good, I think I will have to add a resistor to attenuate the AR1MS by a couple of dbs to better harmonize them with the 8 ohm AR2 woofer. A great project, I am attaching the link with AR2 + AR1MS below

I add the photo of an AR LST with the gasket on the woofer (this was missing in the other photos) to demonstrate the completeness of the speakers.

I would like to sell my pair of AR LSTs No. 466 and 498 of 1974 year. I enclose numerous photos in detail of the cabinets and all the speakers to better illustrate the conditions of the AR LST. All the speakers: 8 tweeters, 8 midranges and 2 woofers are in perfect condition, I report for a tweeter only a small frontal tooth of about 4mm. On this dome (it does not affect sound or performance), the 2 woofers need new foam , already prepared the ring in masonite, to finish the cleaning of the old surround on the cone. The cabinets look almost like new, with only small imperfections and a small stain on the upper panel of a speaker. Original, undamaged grids, to reposition some strips of Velcro, no lack or defect. All original labels and knobs are in excellent condition. It is possible to ship on pallets, the packing time (safe and protective) is long and the cost of shipping, for example to the USA will be high. Welcome purchase series proposals, please send email to me.

Wonderful, the claim of "museum grade" is appropriate. Here in Italy I gave up some time ago to buy an early pair of AR2ax, with a number of about 200 if I remember correctly (I think the oldest AR2ax pair in the world), very well preserved. However, as I think you know I now have 17 pairs of Acoustic Research speakers, but the AR2a (also now in operation, I listen to the radio) are the speakers I hear most, along with the AR2s (only woofers plus the pair of AR1MS instead of the double mid / tw). They are "cheap" speakers for the time, but very balanced and play for hours without bothering the listener. Clearly when compared to AR3a, there is a lot of difference, mainly in the absolute presence of the AR3a bass.

IARybody, I must add that your ex AR2a are splendid. As I think you know, I currently have a pair of AR2s, a pair of AR2a and a pair of Heathkit AS-2a, these three pairs of speakers are practically always in use, even now that I write, the AR2a are running, connected to an excellent amplifier Philips 521! Giorgio

Very well IARrybody , apart from minimal differences in the padding material, it seems to me that your packaging is suitable for very demanding shipments .. My packages made about 350 miles, but once the cartons were unpacked, the speakers were like home before I left! Their new listener was amazed by the AR3a improved as new. Congratulations on your passionate packaging work, done by a true AR enthusiast

After years of waiting, the owner and I finally brought his pair of Cizek MG-27 subwoofers out of the cellar where they slept buried under dust and other material. The conditions despite the years of neglect still seem good: the cabinets are intact, no dent on the veneer and no lifting of the same, there is only a few stains due to humidity and a lot of dust deposited, the grilles, (I think not original?) these are in excellent condition. All four woofers need refoaming and seem to have spiders in good shape (no spider sinking). In the cellar there are still a couple of Cizek Model3s to be recovered and they were part of the kit sold together with the subwoofers and we will soon be pulling them out of the antrum in which they are. I had been waiting for this moment for years, at the time I proposed to my friend to buy him the speakers, I hope soon to realize this purchase. Below the photos of the "find" Giorgio

Reluctantly I sold my AR3a improved from 1974, I had to send them to the buyer and I wanted them to arrive in the same conditions as they were in my house, cabinets as new! Under document with photo the phases of the packaging, long and laborious. First the speakers were wrapped in thick paper, then placed in double-wave cartons, with neoprene filling of about 5 cm. thick. When the cartons were sealed and sealed, I applied additional triple-wave cardboard to the front of the boxes as additional protection for the speakers' grilles. Then I applied the upper and lower bases, padded with 6 and 5 cm neoprene, protected by double-wave cardboard. The final sizes of the boxes are 77 x 46 x 44 cm. the speakers inside measure 63.5 x 36.5 x 28.5 cm .. I think they can fall from about three meters and ensure the integrity of the speakers contained inside! The last photos show the two boxes stacked next to my 124 special of 1974 (contemporary of the AR3a imp.) And the workers of the shipping company when they came yesterday to pick up the speakers at my house. I'm sad for the loss, but I hope the gentleman who bought them will enjoy their sound for years ... Giorgio

Thanks for the note, I got the n° of the AR92 woofer wrong, the correct number is rightly 200033, I corrected my post !! Yes these AR92 are veneered in wood, as well as the other couple of my friend (already taken from the cellar a speaker of the second pair, now stacked under the working AR92) Regarding the 200040 woofer, as you wrote, it is also AR48s, different from the ones I inserted in the AR92 with the color of the paper cone: light gray in AR48s, dark gray in AR92, I am attaching photos with my AR48s couple to illustrate the cone (date 82/37), photo of both after refoam and photo of the back with type label and date.

Hi ra.ra, I haven't been able to work on AR7s yet, but I found photos of my AR7 1622/1623 where you see the AR7 capacitor and it's a 6mF blue Sprague, I add two photos. I'll update you when I start working on the speakers, I'm still looking for a foam that has a wider size on the cone contact!