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AR10pi & AR11 vs AR3a - AR30BF & AR44BX info anyone?


Kuja

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I know that this forum is mostly dedicated to "classic" AR speakers, but I hope there is someone here who has some info on later Teledyne era speakers as well.

For a long time now, I'm trying to track down and buy AR10pi or AR11 speakers... Are there any significant differences between them, beside 3 vs. 2 switches? How sound wise they do compare to AR3a - the historical aspect is not important to me at all...

For the time being, I have some AR30BF from the connoisseur series - you can see the scanned brochure at:

http://www.kujucev.com/ar/ar_connoisseur.htm

and AR44BX - you can see them at:

http://www.kujucev.com/ar/ar.htm

PLEASE do you have any information on these series, since there is no info on them on the internet and they are just mentioned on AR section of The Classic Speaker Pages (If the author is reading this, I see that you have only text file with basic description of the Connoisseur series, so you can freely use the scanned brochure if you need it).

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>Are there any significant differences between them, beside 3 vs. 2 switches? How sound wise they do compare to AR3a <

Later 10pi speakers should be very close to the AR-11. But don't be fooled by the "one switch" difference. The 10pi has a very strange and unusual crossover. The switches don't just switch-in a resistor to attenuate the individual driver's output. There is a transformer in the 10pi used to change the relative output of the drivers according to the switch position. It is an odd design and, to my ear, has its own "signature." It also has its own problems. I like it. Some may not.

Both the AR-11 and 10pi use different, if akin, drivers to the AR-3a. The 3/4" tweeters in the 11 and 10pi are ferrofluid "filled" and so have higher power-handling than those in the 3a.

And there are other design differences you can find if you will look for a thread here about the AR-3a "Improved" speaker. These differences having to do with cabinet design and relative driver distances are inarguably scientific improvements to the 3a's design. I would expect a 3a "Improved" to sound remarkably close to an 11.

I will quickly add that just because I prefer the 10pi to the 3a, I like listening to 3a's, too.

The 3a had crossover points at 575 originally (later versions 525) and 5000. The 10pi had crossover points at 525 and 5000. The drivers are much the same, the cabinets and speaker mounting positions are different.

If you were forced to sum-up the difference in a single sentence anyone would just about be forced to say, "The 10/11 produce more high-frequency energy than the 3a," and that's not entirely adequate.

Bret

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