Does the driver worth this much ?

[Guest Stevey88]

This AR3 Mid went for $102 !!!!!!!

ebay item # 220079964127

http://cgi.ebay.com/Acoustic-Research-AR-3...1QQcmdZViewItem

Need to watch how much the woofers from the same seller go for in a couple of days.

[dynaco_dan]

Hi there;

Certainly a much higher dollar amount than usual.

There was a few bidders too.

I guess I should pull out all my spares and start selling.

Let's see now, Altec 755A drivers, AR Turntable headshells, AR plastic turntable covers, AR logos, AR-3 mids and AR cross piece speaker stands, yup, that about does it.

[Carlspeak]

I was curious about the buyer who would pay that much for an AR mid. His handle is PentaxAmerica. His numerous EBay purchases prior were solely of Olympus camera equipment. Strange isn't it?

It's all about the music

Carl

Carl's Custom Loudspeakers

[dynaco_dan]

Hi there;

Well the 2 - 12" alnico woofers just went for $207.50 US plus S&H for the pair to Korea.

This must the new high figure for these alnico 12 inchers.

Even if they had come from early AR-3A's, using the AR-1 and AR-3 model designation was like drawing bee's to honey.

Yes, Carl, there apparently is phantom bidders on ebay.

At least he has a camera to take pictures of his mid.

[Guest centaurus]

yeah, i was watching that auction. i just posted here about my desire to use them in my janszen Z-200. oh well, screw it, i think someone is telling me NOT to hack up my Z-200 and to just restore them.

see ya,

Robby

[dynaco_dan]

>yeah, i was watching that auction. i just posted here about

>my desire to use them in my janszen Z-200. oh well, screw it,

>i think someone is telling me NOT to hack up my Z-200 and to

>just restore them.

>

>see ya,

>Robby

Hi Robby;

If you were thinking of inserting one of the AR 12" woofers in your Janszen cabinet, you would almost need to see an AR-1, AR-3 or AR-3A enclosure first.

The dimensions are quite critical, at least the internal cubic content, as well as the need for internal bracing, fiberglass insulation, weighed, asuming your enclosure is at least 3/4" material, ex. plywood, MDF.

The dimensions of the internal area may be altered, quite probably, but you must have the same total internal area.

I am guessing at this comment, if your cabinet is close to having the correct internal woofer section, it may be possible that a cabinet resonance may happen with the tweeter section of the enclosure, or not.

Of course you would need the same crossover network as the AR-3A for a 575+/- hz crossover point.

I do not know the crossover point for the Janszen but remember that AR 12" is 4 ohms not 8 ohm, which is what I believe your Jansxen is.

To use a AR-1W or what you are suggesting would be great.

The woofer's output would be less desirable above 575 hz as it would detract from the electrostatics.

My little fantasy has been to make a system, similar to the AR-9's, with an older alnico 12", crossing over to a 10" alnico, then over to an alnico 8", over to 4 - 1 1/2" mids and finally over to 4 - 3/4" dome tweeters.

Crossover points might be, 300, 1,200, 5Khz.

I am only wishful thinking.

If you just need new Janszen woofers, they are on ebay once in a while.

They are not in the same league as the AR 12" woofers as far as depth of clean authoritive bass and power handling capabilities, but they were quite acceptable with their own electrostatic driver matching.

[Guest centaurus]

thanks vern,

i think it's probably best to stick with the janszen woofer. i think the Z-200 crossover at 800hz. but, aren't the AR woofers relatively flat to 1khz?

janszen says the panels go down to 500hz, but it think that's BS. if you can keep them around 1khz or more, they'd be happier.

as far as the Z-200 construction, i used to have AR3. looks like the same materials to me. no particle board, solid wood enclosure (1 inch plywood?). thick walnut venner. even the baffle is solid wood, look at my Z-200 post a few threads down. there are some pics there.

but, being the 130U ESL arrays (which just slide into the Z-200 cabinet) are 16 ohm, i'd be biting off more than i can chew to get them to mate up to the 4 ohm AR3 woofers.

just gonna rebuild them and crank up thw REL Q100 sub to fill in the lower regions ;-)

see ya,

Robby

[dynaco_dan]

>thanks vern,

>

>i think it's probably best to stick with the janszen woofer. i

>think the Z-200 crossover at 800hz. but, aren't the AR woofers

>relatively flat to 1khz?

>

>janszen says the panels go down to 500hz, but it think that's

>BS. if you can keep them around 1khz or more, they'd be

>happier.

>

>as far as the Z-200 construction, i used to have AR3. looks

>like the same materials to me. no particle board, solid wood

>enclosure (1 inch plywood?). thick walnut venner. even the

>baffle is solid wood, look at my Z-200 post a few threads

>down. there are some pics there.

>

>but, being the 130U ESL arrays (which just slide into the

>Z-200 cabinet) are 16 ohm, i'd be biting off more than i can

>chew to get them to mate up to the 4 ohm AR3 woofers.

>

>just gonna rebuild them and crank up thw REL Q100 sub to fill

>in the lower regions ;-)

>

>see ya,

>Robby

Hi Robby;

I did see those 2 photos so I have a better understanding of that speaker system.

I also do not believe that sterifoam would be an adequate long term cabinet space filler.

I do not believe the higher woofer crossver would be a good match with the Janszen's.

The AR-3 with the alnico woofer had a much higher crossover point than the 575 hz of the AR-3A with the ceramic woofer and foam surround.

The AR-3A ceramic magnet woofer with the foam surround was used only at the 575 hz crossover point.

Using a pair of AR-3A's, woofer's only, a pair of Janszen 1-30 electrostatic tweeter array and a pair of Microstatic Tweeter Array's, for a weekend when they were currently selling new, was to die for.

Using my AR amplifier at the time, I was very privileged to borrow the two pairs of add-on tweeters for a weekend's home demonstration.

Ultra clear, in your face mid/highs, would be my first memory comment, from so long ago.

This was compared to solely using just my, AR-3A's, as a system, for a few years.

I did not have the forsight to listen just to either the Janszen's or the Microstatics separately, but with the AR-3A's, at that time.

The ultra clarity was for the entire session that weekend.

Switching left to right channel, AR-3A, with the add-ons still sitting on top of the AR-3A for appearance sake, and the other channel with the add-ons connected.

It was a very dramatic demonstration, the difference between channels, was like night and day.

Sadly, I was a woosh, I had a poor WAF and returned them to the store on the Monday, never to have them in my home again.

Wasn't the first, or last time, I would have to return something. lol

With all honesty, I cannot say whether or not I could have lived with that clarity or brightness for the long term.

With the AR-3A's having a more subdued mid/highend, I have lived with them all these 35+ years with little to complain about.

Well, now that I have stated I had little to complain about, I always felt the highs were lacking.

I tried to buy a pair of Microstatics a few times in the past 5 years, they always seemed to elude me.

A very kind member helped me to obtain a beautiful pair, thank you.

If you can verify that the internal dimensions are compatible with the AR 12" woofer, you would need a coil, and wire your Janszen's in parallel with the woofer.

That is all the 1-30 needed done, mind you they were available in 8 and 16 ohm ratings, I do not know which one I had, but there certainly was no problem.

They had their own level control and crossover for 500 hz.

Certainly please wait for more feedback, Robby.