Chris1this1 Posted February 2, 2020 Report Share Posted February 2, 2020 Hello all, picked up this pair last week, got very lucky on the auction site. Was listed locally to me, but very ugly under the grills. What sold me was that each speaker still had the original mid, the most unobtainable driver, and considering i had AR3 tweeters and woofers already on hand, I went for it. They came equipped with some AB tech replacement tweeters, and later AR11 style woofers. Also AR3a style grills, fit with the original badges and pins. No modifications to the cabinets but a very sloppy looking seal job with two different types of silicone sealant. Everything cleaned up well, and the cabinets are in amazing condition. After restoring the pots, recapping the crossover, restoring the mids, and installing the AR3 woofers and tweeters, I am thrilled. An amazingly lifelike, lively sounding speaker system. These things are "quick" if that makes any sense. Back to the point. I left the mids installed during the entire process, so i did not get a chance to look for a date stamp, and since those were the only original drivers left, no luck looking for stamps on the woofers or tweeters. I am assuming these are later in production, but any ideas on a timeframe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidR Posted February 2, 2020 Report Share Posted February 2, 2020 Very nice! Is that a Bob Latino amp or a Dynaco? How well does it drive the 3's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris1this1 Posted February 3, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2020 3 hours ago, DavidR said: Very nice! Is that a Bob Latino amp or a Dynaco? How well does it drive the 3's? David, it’s a standard Dynaco build. I haven’t done any long term listening with it yet with the 3’s. When I get a better feel of it I will report back. I can say, when I had a pair of 3a’s in that same setup, it did drive them well, and livened up the mids and treble, while maintaining a good bass balance and speed at reasonable volumes. Its early for me to say, but initially I don’t think the Dynaco can control the 3’s woofer as well as it did with the 3a’s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidR Posted February 3, 2020 Report Share Posted February 3, 2020 I have a Bob Latino ST-120 60wpc in Pentode (and 32wpc in Triode) mode and run my 10Pi and sometimes my 91's. Both sound great. (I even tried my 90's once - not a lot of volume). Good luck and enjoy the music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markkb Posted February 8, 2020 Report Share Posted February 8, 2020 Hi Chris, My AR-3's are 45,637 and 40. The cabinet is signed/ dated "Denny Roll Dec. 1964". With an additional stamp of 4900. The tweeters are Feb 18 196?, the mids are replacements and the woofers did not have a date I could see, so I'm calling them 1965, assuming a cabinet made in 12/64 would have been used in 1965. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Pierre Posted February 8, 2020 Report Share Posted February 8, 2020 Hi Chris, Nice speakers! I can't help with the date, but I think Markkb and our friend Denny Roll took care of that. Where did you get those stands? I am looking for something like that for my 3s. I tried my 3s with a couple of tube amps: 30 watts up to a pair of 60 watt Dynaco Mk III. They didn't come alive until I put them on a lot of SS power, currently a Marantz 240 (~160 watts). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakecat Posted February 8, 2020 Report Share Posted February 8, 2020 Congrats....I saw those (I think) with the drivers sealed in silicone? Pretty ugly...lol. Date is 64-65 and the 3's I love also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris1this1 Posted February 9, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2020 Thanks folks, so general consensus would be mid 60’s. Pierre, those stands are the JBL JS120 set currently available at the major retailers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Pierre Posted February 9, 2020 Report Share Posted February 9, 2020 Thanks Chris! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GD70 Posted February 12, 2020 Report Share Posted February 12, 2020 Nice score and getting them back in shape Chris. Fabulous speakers. Also sequencial serial numbers! The one thing I'll suggest is having Roy rebuild the mids. Made a huge difference in mine. You can get the correct Saran grill material from QComponents in Canada, if you're wanting to get them looking completely original. How do they compare to your LSTs? Hope to see you at either Frankenfest in March, or Peekskill in May, and maybe bring the 3's to demo! Cheers, Glenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris1this1 Posted February 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2020 Hey Glenn, I was about to ask you where you got the Saran from, you beat me to it, thanks. The mids have been taken care of, agreed, they were useless prior. Believe it or not, the LST’s are currently shelved, in the back room but still wired to the amp. They were removed from the main room due to the sheer size and non optimal placement, in a room much smaller then they were intended for. It made the room look crowded and having 3a’s take their place, and now 3’s, I do not feel I am missing anything due to the room constraints and it seems the smaller speakers compliment the room better aesthetically. Sonically, when I went from the LST’s to 3a’s in that location, I didn’t perceive anything was missing, but with the 3’s taking the place of the 3a’s, I notice some differences throughout the entire spectrum. Everything felt quicker and faster to respond. Also and another thing... I noticed a similar effect when I switched to the Fisher 400c preamp. To describe this, I can attempt to say that a certain compression was lessened, and there was more “contrast” to the sound, like the “black background” was moved further away. I feel it’s probably less speaker related and more synergy with the amp at this point, but I am still figuring it out. Anyway, I am planning on attending the Peekskill meet, and up in the air with what to demo. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GD70 Posted February 12, 2020 Report Share Posted February 12, 2020 13 minutes ago, Chris1this1 said: Hey Glenn, I was about to ask you where you got the Saran from, you beat me to it, thanks. The mids have been taken care of, agreed, they were useless prior. Believe it or not, the LST’s are currently shelved, in the back room but still wired to the amp. They were removed from the main room due to the sheer size and non optimal placement, in a room much smaller then they were intended for. It made the room look crowded and having 3a’s take their place, and now 3’s, I do not feel I am missing anything due to the room constraints and it seems the smaller speakers compliment the room better aesthetically. Sonically, when I went from the LST’s to 3a’s in that location, I didn’t perceive anything was missing, but with the 3’s taking the place of the 3a’s, I notice some differences throughout the entire spectrum. Everything felt quicker and faster to respond. Also and another thing... I noticed a similar effect when I switched to the Fisher 400c preamp. To describe this, I can attempt to say that a certain compression was lessened, and there was more “contrast” to the sound, like the “black background” was moved further away. I feel it’s probably less speaker related and more synergy with the amp at this point, but I am still figuring it out. Anyway, I am planning on attending the Peekskill meet, and up in the air with what to demo. Chris Hi Chris, Glad to hear you plan to come to the next Lodge meet! If you decide to bring your 3's, I'll bring mine. I've compared mine to other 3as, and always preferred the 3's. My other set need Roys attention on the mids, and pots cleaned again. The LSTs are imposing. In a room like yours the 3's definitely seem better suited. If you're free, try to make Frankenfest as well. It's at a new venue this time. Glenn Glenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valkyrie Posted February 18, 2020 Report Share Posted February 18, 2020 In response to the query how does a Dynaco ST-70 perform driving an AR three way; I have some hot-rodded ST-70s, set up as monoblocs driving my AR-91 speakers. These amps, using a 2252 Marantz as a preamp, drive those speakers WONDERFULLY. My ST-70s have been completely retubed (JD-8s instead of the impossible to find 7199s and New Sensor EL-34s), recapped - using "orange drops" in the signal path, and have had their chokes on the Pi sections replaced - with of course as I am wont to do, new wiring installed. The sound is to die for - lots of power - sufficient to drive as loud as I want to hear and the tonalities are spot on - the classic "tube" sound with lots of transformer sweetness. AR three ways, of which the 91 is by some people's taste the BEST of all the AR three ways, really sound musical with a tube amp driving them. I would estimate that my ST-70s are putting out about 65 wpc - with a good portion in Class A as I have upped the bias from the nominal 1.56 vdc to about 1.9 vdc - they run HOT. Pushing the mains transformer rather hard. But the sound!!! This is my "garage" system - the main system consists of AR-9s and Pass amps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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