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AR 9 Speaker Equivalent ?


Rat44

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Just moved into a new home and my AR 9's wont work due to lack of proper spacing for the side firing woofers.

I have loved the sound of these since I've owned them.

Was thinking of moving to the 9 LSI since the sound should be similar .

Are there any other speakers I might look for that would come close ?

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I have been reading your posts wondering what could be the problem because the only AR12 inch that is easier to set up than an AR9 is a 9lsi, which will be hard to come by for an even swap and parts are dearer.  Have you read the AR9 manual section on room placement?  Ideally you need 3ft on either side of the outside woofers but extreme asymmetrical arrangements can be accommodated. The only real constraint is placement against a short rear wall. And speaker separation can be as close as needed for a minimum listening distance of 3ft.   

Adams

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3 hours ago, Rat44 said:

I am only able to have about 1 foot on the sides.

How do they sound placed like that?   I have about 1 ft on the side of the left speaker and 2 ft on the side of the right speaker.   I have them towed in a bit and about 5 ft from the rear walls.   I'm very happy with the results.

I know that you are talking about placement distance to the side walls, but Julian Hirsch's review of the AR9's, states that they could not get the speakers to less than a foot or so from the back wall, but that placement had no harmful affects on the sound.  I suspect that more people have made compromises regarding the placement of these speakers than those who have them set up exactly as recommended.

If it bothers you that much, another solution may be to install a rather sophisticated equalizer.  You can get one of these 31 band units, $220 at Amazon:

https://artproaudio.com/product/eq355-dual-31-band-eq/

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The AR90 manual showed response graphs from different room positions.  While not always optimal, none of the graphs looked horrid.  Before I gave up on AR9s, I'd have to try every possible spot first.  Plus, nothing new, in an affordable range, is going to compete with the 9s.

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Lack of bass is very noticeable.

Its still there but sounds kinda 'lacking' is the only way I can describe it.

I have an old Pioneer SG 9800 12 band graphic equalizer.

Or would that be the wrong way to go about it?

 

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1 hour ago, Rat44 said:

Lack of bass is very noticeable.

Its still there but sounds kinda 'lacking' is the only way I can describe it.

I have an old Pioneer SG 9800 12 band graphic equalizer.

Or would that be the wrong way to go about it?

 

Can you try to place the speakers asymmetrically in your room?   Or change your listening position such that it is asymmetrical to the speakers?   That is AR's recommendation for when one is experiencing loss/cancellation of bass frequencies...Perhaps you are sitting in a null.   Look at page 12 of the AR90 manual:

http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/library/acoustic_research/ar-9_series_1978-1981/ar-9_series_manuals/ar-90_manual/ar-90_manual_pg12.html

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Any chance that you could sketch a room layout with dimensions, furnishings & your listening spot?

As other guys have noted, the AR-9 can be adapted to less-than-perfect circumstances, so maybe there's still a chance that you can get them to work.

Also - have you double-checked your connections for polarity?

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1 hour ago, DavidR said:

Don't know if you can open this powerpoint but shows caddy-corner set-up

LvngRm - Stereo.pptx 43.67 kB · 3 downloads

And if you look at these paged of the AR90 manual, they state that a catercorner placement as recommended by DavidR is an acceptable alternative.   I am quoting the AR90 manual because the earlier AR9 manual does not seem to address this type of placement.   (BTW, catercorner=catty corner=caddy corner = kitty corner.)

http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/library/acoustic_research/ar-9_series_1978-1981/ar-9_series_manuals/ar-90_manual/ar-90_manual_pg11.html

http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/library/acoustic_research/ar-9_series_1978-1981/ar-9_series_manuals/ar-90_manual/ar-90_manual_pg12.html

 

 

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On 4/13/2021 at 8:19 PM, Rat44 said:

Lack of bass is very noticeable.

Its still there but sounds kinda 'lacking' is the only way I can describe it.

I have an old Pioneer SG 9800 12 band graphic equalizer.

Or would that be the wrong way to go about it?

 

lack of Bass.   1 ft on either side.....thats not aweful.

1 check and make sure your polarity is correct.

2. dont be afraid to add 1 to 2 db to lower 3 slides on eq.

3  placement is important, but I find it hard to believe you have a huge lack of bass..if everything else is correct.

as for the AR9LSI....the forward firing woofer and downfiring 10 are hard to beat in terms of ease of placement.  The ar9LS is easy to find and less $

do number 1 and 2 first.

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  • 7 months later...
  • 5 weeks later...
On 4/16/2021 at 8:23 AM, AR surround said:

And if you look at these paged of the AR90 manual, they state that a catercorner placement as recommended by DavidR is an acceptable alternative.   I am quoting the AR90 manual because the earlier AR9 manual does not seem to address this type of placement.   (BTW, catercorner=catty corner=caddy corner = kitty corner.)

http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/library/acoustic_research/ar-9_series_1978-1981/ar-9_series_manuals/ar-90_manual/ar-90_manual_pg11.html

http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/library/acoustic_research/ar-9_series_1978-1981/ar-9_series_manuals/ar-90_manual/ar-90_manual_pg12.html

 

 

Or we could say "diagonally spaced"!

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  • 3 months later...

 

On 4/13/2021 at 8:19 PM, Rat44 said:

Lack of bass is very noticeable.

Its still there but sounds kinda 'lacking' is the only way I can describe it.

I have an old Pioneer SG 9800 12 band graphic equalizer.

Or would that be the wrong way to go about it?

Sometimes a room will not work well regardless of speaker or placement.  For the MLP, equalization (preferably more granular than 12 bands, such as a PEQ or Audyssey, Dirac, MiniDSP, etc.) may help attenuate peaks but cannot eliminate nulls as those frequencies cancel regardless of amplitude.  Using something like REW to simulate and measure the room would be most revealing (I am happy to help if you live nearby - can't tell from your profile).  Guessing is expensive; I certainly would not divest from the AR9 before confirming that an alternative sounds better!

On 4/14/2021 at 2:05 AM, ar_pro said:

Any chance that you could sketch a room layout with dimensions, furnishings & your listening spot?

On 4/15/2021 at 8:09 PM, Rat44 said:

The room is 13 1/2 ft by 14 ft.

Speakers are on the short wall.

Other important aspects include height, construction, and any acoustic treatment to relieve bass pressure, which can be overwhelming.  Example:

Anecdote: I drove to Long Island to buy my AR9 from the original owner about 15 years ago.  I auditioned them in the untreated living room of his tiny cape-style house and was disappointed by the lack of bass.  They had been recapped, all four woofers had significant extension, and he had "audiophile equipment" (fancy turntable, glowing tube amp, "articulate" (i.e.- overly bright) replacement speakers, etc.), so I figured the room was highly modal.  Upon returning home, I placed them against the wall, connected them to my GFA-585, and was rewarded with terrific sound.

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  • 1 year later...

I have had my AR9's for 43 years.  I have had them in a variety of configurations in apartments, Mobile homes and houses.  4-12" subs and you don't have enough bass?  That is just not possible.  The bass rattles the window in all cases.  If you have a lack of bass it's most likely you don't have enough power to drive them.  That is assuming you have them connected properly.  These things are very power hungry.  If you don't have at least 250 RMS Watts per channel you are wasting your time.  I run a Hafler 500 with mine.  And into 4 ohms (which the AR9's are) it pushes 400WPC RMS.  And yes there is plenty of bass. 

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