Guest postjob62 Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 I have recently seen two examples of 60's-early 70's AR speakers, both in pairs with close serial #'s, where the model suffix was hand-written on the label on the back. One was an AR-2ax where the "x" was handwritten; the other a AR-1W where the "W" was handwritten. Actually have seen pics of two of the latter. To me, the speakers looked otherwise legitimate.Was this actually a sometimes occurrence at the factory, or should one suspect nefarious intent?Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tysontom Posted August 8, 2005 Report Share Posted August 8, 2005 >I have recently seen two examples of 60's-early 70's AR>speakers, both in pairs with close serial #'s, where the model>suffix was hand-written on the label on the back. One was an>AR-2ax where the "x" was handwritten; the other a AR-1W where>the "W" was handwritten. Actually have seen pics of two of the>latter. To me, the speakers looked otherwise legitimate.>>Was this actually a sometimes occurrence at the factory, or>should one suspect nefarious intent?>>EdIt is unlikely that any of the production-run speakers, after the first few, had any handwriting on the labels other than the QC-signoff initials. Can you get the pictures and attach the images of these suspect speakers on the site? The AR-2ax might have been a very early production version of the 1964 changeover to the 3-1/2-inch midrange driver, at which time the speaker got the "x" suffix before the printer was finished with the new-style label. I can only surmise this, but this sort of thing happened. As for the AR-1W, I think it would have to be a very early version to have a handwritten "W" suffix, probably a very early serial number.It is also unlikely that anyone would make the changes with any sort of ill-intentions. It's all-the-more unlikely in the case of the AR-1W, as the latter was less valuable than the AR-1.Send some images if you have them.--Tom Tyson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charger3834 Posted August 9, 2005 Report Share Posted August 9, 2005 > The AR-2ax>might have been a very early production version of the 1964>changeover to the 3-1/2-inch midrange driver, at which time>the speaker got the "x" suffix before the printer was finished>with the new-style label. I can only surmise this, but this>sort of thing happened. >Send some images if you have them.>>--Tom TysonHaving worked in the printing business way back when, I think this is very probable. The printer may have been slow, or perhaps AR was slow with their order. They may also have had to make a couple of revisions to the label, thereby slowing down the process. Tom, is it possible that the factory converted these AR-2a's to a 2ax's. Perhaps these speakers were converted under warranty ?Perhaps a dealer did this conversion with the $15.00 kit, and then marked an X on the label ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest postjob62 Posted August 9, 2005 Report Share Posted August 9, 2005 Hi Tom,Here's a link to a current ebay auction that shows an AR-1W displaying exactly what I'm talking about. The "W" appears handwritten on one of the speaker labels.http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tysontom Posted August 9, 2005 Report Share Posted August 9, 2005 >Having worked in the printing business way back when, I think>this is very probable. The printer may have been slow, or>perhaps AR was slow with their order. They may also have had>to make a couple of revisions to the label, thereby slowing>down the process. >>Tom, is it possible that the factory converted these AR-2a's>to a 2ax's. Perhaps these speakers were converted under>warranty ?>>Perhaps a dealer did this conversion with the $15.00 kit, and>then marked an X on the label ? >Brad, I think your explanation is the most plausible -- factory or field conversion from an AR-2a to an AR-2ax. I had forgotten about that possibility, but it makes the most sense.--Tom Tyson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tysontom Posted August 9, 2005 Report Share Posted August 9, 2005 >Hi Tom,>>Here's a link to a current ebay auction that shows an AR-1W>displaying exactly what I'm talking about. The "W" appears>handwritten on one of the speaker labels.>>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1>Ed,Thanks for sending the link. I see the hand-written "W," and I would have to think that AR probably made this mistake and put an "AR-1" label on an AR-1W, then perhaps went back and corrected it. Or the dealer or owner corrected it. This set of ARs was originally listed on eBay as "AR-1s," and I sent a message to the seller explaining that they were actually AR-1Ws, as you could readily see from the grill cloth, lack of level control and the inscription (on one of them). They were also originally listed as being "1953" models, but I told the seller that they were actually 1955-1956 versions. The seller quickly re-listed the item, and changed it to "AR-1W." It is faintly possible that one of them is an AR-1, but there is no evidence from the grill that there is an 8-inch tweeter present, and there are no straps or level controls on the back of the speaker.--Tom Tyson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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