AR3a Limited, these mysterious!

[Giorgio AR]

Here I open a new discussion on the little known AR3a Limited, built under license from Acoustic Research in the early 90's due to the market demand at the time.
These replicas were produced in a few examples mainly for the Asian market, but from various finds in Italy of these specimens, by now certain also the production in Italy for enthusiasts who at the time wanted a new pair of AR3a (also produced in Italy and rarer, replicas of AR10TT of which I own a couple already illustrated here).
From what I have read and found over the years, the various AR3a replicas had the speakers and the crossover in common (this differs from the original AR3a due to the presence of L-pad instead of original 15 ohm pots and the possibility of bi-amplification). The differences between the various specimens were in the veneers (vinyl or wood) and in the face frame in 2 versions: narrow frame and large frame.
The specimens that I found for sale in Italy have large frames and wood veneers and are in my opinion the best aesthetically of this production: At the front and side view they are indistinguishable from the original construction, the walnut, however, being of Italian origin, has different grain and veins from other sources of wood.
I hope to have opinions, stories and specimens to learn more about these replicas, I hope that the Asian forumers will write and illustrate their specimens and maybe we will get to know these speakers better.

Under a topic on AR3a Limited

 

 

And here what I recently inserted in the "For sale / wanted" section:

Other interesting topic

We have a good start and already 4 pair of "replicas", I hope more AR3a Limited copies and more information about them will be added.

Giorgio