CYNR Posted July 9, 2020 Report Share Posted July 9, 2020 Hello Good People: I just recieved a pair of NOS Acoustic Research Red Box Improved (mint condition) SN# GW002325 and GW002326 , I can not find anything online about these speakers and am very curious to find out more. They have the "designed and engineered in Great Britain" decals with the union jack flag on them. 6.5 inch woofer and 1 inch liquid cooled tweeters, I hooked them up to a Peavey IPS 150 amp and they sound great,I will attach pics soon as I am without my camera at the moment. So come on experts tell me what I have here. CYNR 96.3 fm Good Music For Bad People Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aadams Posted July 9, 2020 Report Share Posted July 9, 2020 16 hours ago, CYNR said: tell me what I have here. Redbox 2, which was a British reissue of the AR18s, has been discussed here in the distant past. Your description seems to fit an AR8b which can be found in the AR section of the library in the "Post Classic Series". It would help if you provide photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CYNR Posted July 9, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2020 Hello Aadams, Thanks for taking the time, I have included pictures now. I have looked at the AR18,AR8b but the closest I can find is the AR102, I am curious about the UK angle and the improved designation (improved over what?) CYNR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aadams Posted July 9, 2020 Report Share Posted July 9, 2020 13 minutes ago, CYNR said: I have looked at the AR18,AR8b but the closest I can find is the AR102, I think it is a version of the TSW110 or possibly 100. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CYNR Posted July 10, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2020 Just checked the TSW line and not the same, the only ones I can find that have the similar triangular tweeters are the AR102s from 1990-1991. What is the significance of the RedBox designation and how important is it that my pair have consecutive serial numbers? I have only seen one other pair with consecutive numbers and the owner stated they were a matched pair... Cynr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genek Posted July 10, 2020 Report Share Posted July 10, 2020 Consecutive AR serial numbers are very, very rare unless the speakers originally came boxed as a set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CYNR Posted July 10, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2020 Hello Genek: I was gifted these from my neighbours brothers mother in law who bought them new in the '90s and never hooked them up but took them out of the box to use the box to ship something east. She is 80 years young but can't recall any info about the speakers. I am having a hard time finding any info about the RedBox improved designation or the UK connection but any and all info is greatly appreciated. Just noticed the Portland Or. local, passed through many times traveling from central B.C. to San francisco, I was born 6 miles from the pacific ocean and can't get it out of my blood. Thanks CYNR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cd0nc Posted July 10, 2020 Report Share Posted July 10, 2020 They look closest to AR 8BX speakers to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AR55 Posted July 10, 2020 Report Share Posted July 10, 2020 2 hours ago, cd0nc said: They look closest to AR 8BX speakers to me. I agree. Attached is a photo of a pair of AR-8bxi's, which are virtually identical to the 8bx.x's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CYNR Posted July 10, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2020 Hey guys (girls?) thanks for helping but the tweeters are wrong on the AR8b i've included pics of two different AR102s to compare . The dimensions are wrong on the AR8s my dimensions are 12.25 X 7.5 X 6.25 . I have only found this triangular tweeter on this model (AR102) CYNR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aadams Posted July 10, 2020 Report Share Posted July 10, 2020 If everything is original, the internal cab volume and the crossover specs will matter more than appearance. The tweeter appears to be a .75. Any one of the 6.5" named above should sound practically the same as this Redbox version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CYNR Posted July 11, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2020 I think I figured out the redbox designation , they were actually shipped in a red box. CYNR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonsounds Posted January 4, 2022 Report Share Posted January 4, 2022 I just stumbled across this post and wanted to shed some light on the AR Red Box speakers. I worked for Acoustic Research in the UK at the time and was involved in the Red Box project. At the time - late 1980's the band Simply Red were using AR 18's as near-field monitors and loved them. I met with the band and asked if we could make a speaker in collaboration with them, based on the out-going AR18's. They agreed and approved the design. We choose Red Box as the name because of the song of their first album Picture Book - track 8 (Open-up) The Red Box. The collaboration only continued for a short time after which the speaker was superseded by the AR Spirit 112 - same drivers newly designed cabinet, launched in 1990. Sadly, at the end of 1990 AR was acquired by International Jensen, the UK factory was closed down and all things AR turned in the wrong direction. Now they are a minor subsidiary of AudioVox and make crap cables and cheap powered speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dna Posted January 5, 2022 Report Share Posted January 5, 2022 On 7/9/2020 at 6:19 PM, genek said: Consecutive AR serial numbers are very, very rare unless the speakers originally came boxed as a set. Well, I got a pair (serial number wise) of AR 17. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ar_pro Posted January 5, 2022 Report Share Posted January 5, 2022 4 hours ago, dna said: Well, I got a pair (serial number wise) of AR 17. As genek mentioned, these speakers were originally only sold in pairs (two to a carton). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CYNR Posted January 5, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2022 Thank you simonsounds for the information that has been haunting me since I received these speakers, I am presently listening to Simply Red on my Red Box Improved speakers and they still sound great (the speakers as well as the band), As I said in an earlier post I got these as a NOS pair in 2019 , If you are reading this Simonsounds what was the date of manufacture? pre 1990 but how pre? and to the improved designation improved over the 18's?? Thanks again for chiming in 1.5 years later I can now sleep easy ... Lonny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dna Posted January 5, 2022 Report Share Posted January 5, 2022 You maybe right, they might have come in one box, it was in 1978 I bought them. What sticks in my mind though was the sales guy says "I'll make sure you get a serial numbered pair." Don't know why he'd say that unless he was brown nosing me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio AR Posted January 6, 2022 Report Share Posted January 6, 2022 11 hours ago, dna said: the sales guy says "I'll make sure you get a serial numbered pair." From what I have read and archived over the years, of the old Teledyne "production", the first ARs to have serial numbers were the AR7s, sold in pairs in a single package, of these I have three pairs, two produced in Holland, one in England and all have serial numbers (a fourth pair will be the "replica" that I will set up in the NOS cabinet, of which I own two pairs, with original speakers conforming to the model), also of the AR7, I have two original packaging of which I am attaching a photo (note the one at right in photo yet to be opened!). Instead of the ADD series, I own a pair of AR18Js with serial numbers, a pair of AR18EJs (made in England), also serial and finally a pair of AR17EH (made in England) also serial ... all these pairs were sold as the previous AR7s in a single package, therefore in ° they were serial. Finally I have a pair of AR1MS, the smallest loudspeakers produced by AR, also sold in pairs, in a single common package and with serial numbers. This is my contribution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genek Posted January 6, 2022 Report Share Posted January 6, 2022 Just to make things as confusing as they can possibly be, I have two pairs of AR-1ms. In both pairs, the speakers have the same serial number. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonsounds Posted January 6, 2022 Report Share Posted January 6, 2022 Hey Lonnie, you're welcome. Sorry it took me so long to find this forum thread. I'll keep an eye on it in future. Production was 88 and 89, I think we launched the 112's in early 1990 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonsounds Posted January 6, 2022 Report Share Posted January 6, 2022 Regarding serial numbers: At the factory in the UK we would batch-build one model at a time. Each speakers came down a production line at the end of which they were close-mic measured in a small sound-treated box (similar to our full-size anechoic chamber), the frequency response had to be withing 2dB of the reference curve for that model. If the speaker passed, the serial number was applied and the speakers were boxed. Smaller speakers were boxed in pairs and always had sequential serial numbers. Larger speakers like the 12's and 11's were boxed individually and could find themselves separated during shipping etc. The reference curve was checked each day against the 'golden' sample to ensure variations in humidity etc., had not changed the response. We believed that every speaker we made was matched and was within the reference measurements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CYNR Posted January 7, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2022 No sir, You are welcome. To get first hand information and not hearsay or second hand news is gold for me. I hope you can enlighten us with more insider information about the goings on at the factory in the UK. I am still wondering about the "improved" designation on my speakers.. Lonny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio AR Posted January 7, 2022 Report Share Posted January 7, 2022 13 hours ago, genek said: the speakers have the same serial number. Genek, you're right, I checked my pair of AR1MS and they have the same number, even the pair of AR18J have the same number, not consecutive, in the afternoon I check a couple of AR18EJ labels, removed from the cabinets and check these numbers too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genek Posted January 7, 2022 Report Share Posted January 7, 2022 It's clear from what simonsounds says above that the UK did serials on pairs differently from what AR did in the USA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dna Posted January 10, 2022 Report Share Posted January 10, 2022 That is so cool it's FREEZIN' !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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