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AR17.... but not what you expect


TomK

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I was moving my Marantz 2285B to the basement to test my work on my LST/2, and I forgot I purchased these maybe....15+ years ago because I wanted some AR speakers for my office.     They look completely unlike any other AR model, and oddly Recoton chose an existing AR name.

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They are true bookshelf speakers, and there is a heft to them, although it may be from the cabinet.    They don't look bad, and the terminals are doing their best to impress you that they're serious.

I dont' think I ever used them more than a few minutes because I was disappointed with them when they arrived in the mail because they didn't look anything like an AR speaker..   I can't remember where I bought them, and I don't remember how much I paid for them.    I tried tugging at the grills, but I'm not even sure they come off.

I'll hook up a receiver tonight and see how they sound.  But does anybody know anything about these speakers?  Or are they well known, but you don't talk about them (like the 914 in Porsche clubs ;) )

--Tom

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I think those are from something called the Hi-Res series, but even this site's Library has no info on them. That's a really bad idea to recycle a product model name or number several decades later, but I guess they kinda did it with the VW Bug, too.

http://techtalk.parts-express.com/forum/tech-talk-forum/56697-acoustic-research-ar17-black-bookshelf-speaker

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Just a few more photos.   I was able to listen to FM on the speakers, but I can't tell much from that; FM radio has dropped all pretense of great sound and now is just AM in Stereo these days.   I need to dredge some equipment out of my fabled closet to understand how they sound.

I used a "spudger" to remove the grills, it's a ported bass (very non AR design) and a tweeter, both are metal cones.   The foam surround for the tweeter gets dented from the grills, but I'm not sure it does anything other than protect the tweeter.   At low volume with FM radio, they seemed okay;   I'll see if I have a spare CD player around.    My office is fairly small, so it will be an interesting test.

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I've got their slightly older, bigger cousins,  312HO's.  are you sure the woofer is metal? my 312's midwoofs are smooth poly w/rubber surround, IIRC....

 

these were pretty darn good speakers for their price point when they came out IMHO, but yes, they only share the name with the classic era AR's....and maybe some of the tweeter technology of the TSW eras (titanium domes on these as well, IIRC)

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I had a pair of AR Hi Res 15 at one time and liked them very much.  They had 6-inch Magalloy one-piece woofers and one-inch Diamond coated Titanium dome Tweeters! So both drivers are made of metals. Some of the old links that provide more info are no longer working. 

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These speakers, as I mentioned are in my home office, and I moved my Sansui receiver inside a cabinet, running optical out of my PC motherboard, into an inexpensive A/D....

....and these pretty good speaker.   I have the placement wrong, the room is too small for them, but still, these are significantly better than the Bose Computer speakers that I've been using (which are really quite good for computer speakers).  They don't require a lot of volume to shine, which is important in an office setting.

So certainly not classic AR either in construction or philosophy, but they deliver detailed, pleasing sound, and can probably hang with contemporary speakers in the $300-500/pair range.   If you want a pair of speakers to just enjoy without worrying about who made them, these would be good choice especially if you found them cheap at a yard sale.

And with the metal cone speakers, they'll probably last 50 years.

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  • 2 years later...

I just have to say... for Henry Kloss to give a middle finger to his old company by naming 2 speakers he made with Cambridge Soundworks after his most popular two speakers with is a pretty badass move in my opinion,  but again most likely it was nothing more than a marketing I have to say I feel like this he was being mildly manipulated for his name and that worse nefariously so especially considering the China scare of the company at the end essentially hidden if it says made in China don't buy it if it says Cambridge Soundworks on it well the exact same model when manufactured in the States was quite stellar is it worth speaking of The Ensemble and 6 maybe 17 as well although I don't think it's everything was ever a great speaker average but I'll buy anything the man that put his fingers on to be honest

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