Giorgio AR

Regarding the wood of the veneer, as there is no other reference in the back of the cabinet, this should be oiled walnut; I would add that the paper and wax capacitor of the tweeter (the soap-shaped box) is usually out of tolerance even over 100%, it is the only one that certainly needs to be replaced. The frames of the grilles are original in plastic material of the AR3 and from what you see intact, so they probably deserve a fabric similar to the original that you can find, with difficulty in the USA (there is a specific thread on the site, but not I can find it). Finally the Pots were available at a very fair price thanks to the great JKent, under a reference.

Wonderful: these are AR3s, quite early and then updated to AR3a (you can guess this from the mid's and tw's owners of the AR3a), usually on the back of the cabinet the update was recorded, in this case not. From what you see and the mid's, tw's and capacitors in the cabinet, the update probably happened in '74 or shortly before. The woofer's and mid's capacitors look sprague and should be in order (a check of the values is still recommended). In my opinion, from what you see in the photos, they are very well maintained speakers with minimal aesthetic defects, the only non-uniform detail, the fabric of the grille cloths to be replaced with another similar to the original (in this case the choice between the look of AR3 and that AR3a is yours alone!).

Hello Luigi, I was able to scan a small AR brochure dated 12/62 concerning the AR-3ST and AR-3T, in the back are the original graphics made by Acoustic Research to illustrate the 2" mid and the 1 3/8" tw. The two graphs published should be clearly visible and interpretable!

I was finally able to scan the Cizek Model Speakers Manual! I publish below in jpeg format, hoping that it will be easily visible and usable to fans of this great builder of excellent speakers.

Dear Frank, I appreciate more and more your interventions and the "stories" of your memories and past times (life was certainly harder, but true and not distracted from the abstraction of these nervous and imprecise times). My father was born in 1934, he worked as a worker in a steel mill in Trieste, so there was no wealth but all the expenses were prudent and necessary, little by little, saving little by little in 1971 he bought the first complete stereo set: it was full Grundig, except the Technics branded tuner, this system that instilled in me the "Passion" for HiFi is still in use by my now elderly parent! Clearly the Grundig speakers of the time are in pneumatic suspension, with excellent components (mids and tws both with soft dome with characteristics and sounds very close to our beloved ARs). I want to attach a photo, taken around 1974/5 in the campsite where with sacrifice my father made us spend 2 weeks of sun, excellent sea, obviously with accommodation in a tent: it is the one on the left of the Opel Kadett (Ts 137112) in the photo, my father is to the left of the frame and the kid with the racket is my brother. I still go to the same campsite now with my family (I was there again this November, but not in a tent, but in a comfortable heated and insulated bungalow, now I leave the tent to young people who have no problems with a little humidity or conditions unfavorable weather! And below is a photo taken about the same place where my mother and my last 9 year old son (I turn 59 year in December) appear, audiophile and lover of AR sound !! Last photo, the car that at my father's time was an Opel subcompact, now is a comfortable Mercedes W123. I wanted to edit the black and white photos to accompany them to the earlier one (color printing in Italy at the time was very expensive).

Also in my opinion RCF, an excellent speaker and component manufacturer has built some excellent speakers, I own one of the first examples of HiFi speakers built by RCF around 1967: RCF BR-20 have an 8 woofer in air suspension and an excellent tweeter at cone of about 6 cm. and sound like the AR4x (RCFs are more efficient and have 20 watts max applicable). In the photos I am attaching they are compared in size to the AR4xa, it would be better if I photographed them together with the AR4x of the same age! Photo from the 1967 advertisement

Frank, you wrote another great piece (in another topic, but I answer here) about your life and about 50 years of passion, evolution, relationship with music and the instruments to hear it ... nice to read and imagine you in the late 60s or early 70s of the purchase and as you assemble the Dynaco pre / amp kit! The budget-stuck dreams at the time of purchasing a (compliant) pair of AR3a, presented as AR3 improved, your satisfaction after many years of sounding your stacked AR LST (clearly part of a complete system as satisfying as speakers) . I read with pleasure your passion for your musical instruments and these glimpses of your life and even more of the time of your father who built skyscrapers with a wood saw, he was a great man and a good father! Giorgio

AR55, You have added another small chapter in the history of this saga of little tweeters, but in fact they are "big" tweeters!

AR55, slightly off topic, but in addition to the 1 1/4 "AR tweeters I add the photo of the eldest, "front wired" tweeter, in this case NOS and inserted by me in AR6 cabinet which previously had a 200005 with the addition of external wires : this tweeter has not been used yet (my AR6 project is still unfinished!). This is the 200005 previously mounted on the AR6

This image from the original AR brochure doesn't help, the AR3a woofer appears to have a wide external flat edge on the masonite (red arrow). At the bottom (black arrow) it seems much narrower ... it must have been a photo retouch of the time!

Oops ... I have the wrong screws of the tweeters not with a cross head, but an Allen screw! I corrected the error, now the screws are AR18 compliant. Before After, the same tweeter with correct Allen screws

Exactly two years later ... finally I remove the 4 woofers from the 2 MG-27 sub, thank goodness that the cabinets held the woofers vertical, so even if they have not been used for over 10 years at least the spiders are fine! The woofers left the cabinets dirty and in need of care (the furniture will be restored later). The photos show the very bad aesthetic shape of the cones and baskets. From today the woofers are waiting for cleaning and refoaming in my house, stored in an optimal way, I thought I would start work in the next few weeks, but I could not resist ... I started with the first woofer, and in the following photos you can appreciate the result. As foam I chose the Boston fillet type which seems quite adequate in all sizes, including the high excursion of these woofers. First sub Quartet of woofers The starting woofer after... before.. direct comparison The story continues... I also insert the photo with the measure in mm. of the roll foam diameter: 17.5 mm. Here the comparison with a Cizek Model2 8" woofer

Congratulations on the lucky find! Another piece of history saved from destruction and it also looks like a cabinet in excellent condition. I also check around the garbage loot, but similar finds never happened ... I will check ahead anyway, the hope is always to find a small treasure thrown by those who do not appreciate certain objects!

Purchased in August 2018, this US pair of AR18J (AR18EJ = made in UK, for example) have been sleeping for over three years in the cellar waiting for their well-deserved restoration. One tweeter had the coil interrupted, the other with low emission, I found an excellent pair of 200014-3 tweeters as a replacement, new foam to the woofers, although the capacitors were the infamous black / red Callins, at the measure they were still in the correct tolerance , so they remained in place. It still remains to restore the vinyl veneer and to rebuild a pair of grilles. ... another small step forward, restore the small lacks of the veneer with small pieces of vinyl taken from another pair of AR18EJs that I demolished (due to the UK provenance of these AR18EJs, the color of the vinyl is different, but for now it's okay), glue all the veneer where it was previously detached. It still remains to add 5 velcro straps on the baffle of a speakers, new grids still to be done ...

Hi Giovanni, I have been buying suspension foam from Larry for years and recommended as optimal by many AR enthusiasts. My last work with these foams: 2 x 200003 woofers (AR10TT MK2) and a '71 AR3a woofer with three notches magnet, the final aesthetic and sonic result is perfect. I got a suspension so I took a picture of the diameter of this roll: 17.5 mm. The same suspension was placed on the cone of an early woofer with Alnico magnet and cloth surround: it is perfect in all sizes! The same suspension resting on the cloth of the early woofer: perfect! Note the noticeable color difference of the 200003 woofer cones caused by the room arrangement (one speaker was sunny for many hours in previous years), I have kept the old deteriorated foam of aesthetic cover of the basket which will hide the screws when assembled.

Great speakers, even RaRa would have commented like that! There is only to check and replace the capacitor (a quality bipolar electrolytic at 50 / 70v is enough). You will have a beautiful and well-sounding pair of AR18LS.

I insert here to illustrate the replacement: original / New 16 ohm Pots. Thanks JKent

These were given to me by JKent and they are excellent, I also insert the photos of an original Heathkit AS-2A board (the AR2a kit by Acoustic Research) so you can see how they fit in their seats. Beware that you have to make a cut on the masonite to accommodate the "hinge" of the new Pot! Original Pots (the holes and center distances are the same in AR3 / 3a / AR2a, etc. in all AR production) New CLS Pots (there is about 1 cm between the 2 installed pots, so no problem).

I visited a friend of mine who is passionate about AR and USA equipment and he gave me an AR3a woofer! He took it full of dust from above a closet where he had been standing for many years. After a good cleaning, this is the result, notice the "custom-built" ring "?! On the cone (as for the previous woofers, but thinner). No date on the magnet or basket, just the Made in USA stamp. Possible dating from late 1971, same aesthetic characteristics with the AR LST woofers I own and dated late 1971.

Robert will like this photo, he loved the small ARs, mainly AR7, but also all those with 8" woofers, I still leave you a nice picture, made today of my AR7 and AR4x, I know you really appreciate it !!

I have to solder the aluminum cables of the 1" 3/8 AR tweeters to lengthen them with copper braids and I have finally found a person who can do this job. The tweeters in excellent condition belong to a pair of my Heathkit AS-2a . When they are ready with the elongated copper cables, I will do an experiment: I have always wanted to try these tweeters with the AR3a, but aluminum is difficult to solder, with copper cables, the test with the AR3a becomes achievable! I could just replace one to compare with the 3/4" tweeter on the other speaker. Is there any member who has tried the AR3a with the AR3 tweeter? In the Heathkits, the aluminum wires are locked by screws (the same ones that AR used for the rear connection) and these have sheared the delicate aluminum shortening the cables!

Wonderful tale of a story of two generations, nice to see dad Marsi working manually in construction: let's remember the effort of those who built the cities we live in now and the sacrifice made to give a better life to future generations, how much sacrifice and effort they have made our parents. Frank, from the history of your family I understand why you keep everything you have bought in HiFi in over 50 years of passion: each purchase cost effort and sacrifice (at the time also the objects, in this case HiFi equipment were built to last decades and be easily repaired to work again giving new satisfaction for years): people now quickly replace any item either because it soon becomes "old" or breaks and needs to be replaced or is out of date! We preserve and appreciate what other people designed and built years and years ago: these objects have exceeded the life of those who built them as a testimony of the goodness of past projects! To top it off my currently running pair of AR3a play with McIntosh Mac4280: 100w X 2 at 4 ohms, AR LSTs are provisionally paired with a 40w x 2 tube amp. I often change the electronics in rotation, however satisfied with all the combinations, the sound pressures obtained change, the quality and AR sound always remains! Mac4280 & AR3a Pioneer C21, Nuova Elettronica tube amp. & AR LST AR speakers: AR10TT MK2 are related to McIntosh Mc2105

I publish for documentation a photo from my archive of an early AR2 specimen with the aluminum double cone basket (this photo of AR2 was found by me years ago on the Web), the serial number was 3xxx.

Ronan, currently I have connected a tube amp to my AR LSTs with great satisfaction. Pioneer C21 preamplifier and Nuova Elettronica tube amp (1990 year) with KT88 (40w x 2), excellent sound quality, good volume (clearly the AR LSTs would support numerous multiples of power).

Bravo Luigi, a good anamnesis, experience, observation and an eye accustomed to grasping details are able to make a correct diagnosis without other help! The same can be said of Xtophr, the enigma here is easily solved with the only help of a 1.5v battery to find the correct polarity, Jay will inform us of the right positive contact of this Franken cone. P.S. Jay, The date of the AR14 cone is easily 7736, the stamp probably hand-stamped and variously positioned on a magnet or basket is sometimes moved, not very impressed, partially canceled, sometimes even 2 stamps with different dates, an example in my 2 AR3a tweeters below. 6441 or 7505 ? Probably the stamping worker was confused that day or did some printing tests! Even here it might look like 7488