AR3A and adcom amp

[Guest crawlspace]

My setup is a Fisher X202B integrated amp from 1963 and matched tuner, powering AR3a's. I believe the amp is approx. 40 wpc. I have been listening to this arrangement for almost a year and it sounds quite good to me. However, everything I read hints that more watts will make them sound a great deal better.

Does anyone know if I can purchase say, an Adcom amp (from ebay) and connect it to the Fisher, and have the whole thing work together giving me the added boost?

Thanks Mike

[ar_pro]

Mike -

You'd only be able to use the Adcom amplifier if your Fisher had a set of preamp outputs (I'm not sure, but I'd guess that it probably doesn't).

If it did have preamp outputs, you would use the Adcom instead of the power amp section of your Fisher, not in addition to it.

In other words, you wouldn't want to run one amplifier into another.

[Guest matty g]

Hi -

I believe that amp is less than 40 watts, as the IHF rating is not the same as RMS power rating. I don't think the pre and power sections on that amp are seperable, but if you want more power you might try a nice vintage receiver such as Marantz, Pioneer or Sansui just to name a few. Generally speaking, a pre 1980 model is most suitable, as the outputs are not integrated circuits, and the build is usually better.

AR3's generally work very well with an amp with a minimum of 60 watts rms per channel, but it depends on how you want to drive them. I've tried lower wattage amps, but I wouldn't recommend less than 60 watts - distortion and damage usually result with underpowered amps. You can always go higher, they can take it and will sound great.

Hope this helps

Matt

[dynaco_dan]

Hi there;

Last year a member posted a link here leading to a site that had a special on an integrated amp, for about $200.00 US.

Even changing from yours to another amp of similar power, you will hear a small difference, for better or worse.

If you have been happy with your setup, you don't need to just go and buy another amp.

The AR-3A is quite demanding of the amplifier's power output.

With the AR-3A, you would need to go to perhaps 200 watts per channel to double the sound volume output.

An honest 50 - 60 watts RMS per channel at 4 ohms, from 20 - 20,000 hz would be a good match for normal, average listening levels.

For higher than normal listening levels, a reliable 100 - 200 watt per channel amp.

Amplifier stability is the very most important amp feature needed here.

Fusing would be a good idea.

[Guest crawlspace]

Thanks everyone. I will keep listening to my current setup and maybe start a search for one of the later '70's pioneer sx models.

Mike

[Guest matty g]

Mike

What Vern stated in his reply is true. If you are happy with the sound you are getting (and it is clean and undistorted) then you may not need to search out a new amp.

If you are searching for a Pioneer model,(excellent choice,btw) the SX-850 is a great match for the 3a. It is a conservative 65 wpc and seems to be overlooked and under-appreciated by the e-bay community, so sometimes a bargain comes along. The 950 and 1050 are about the same, but offer 85 and 110 wpc respectivley, and command more money. Marantz units (2270, etc) are good receivers but are usually way over priced for what they are, and quite often have been tampered with. Sansui 8080 is also a very good choice, if a receiver is what you want. Adcom power amps seem to give the most power for the dollar and are very durable if you go with seperates. Anyway, happy hunting...that's a major part of the fun in this hobby (besides the listening!)

Matt

[onplane]

Hi, Mike!

When we last spoke about this issue (power for AR-3a's), I still believe as I did back then that no vintage tube amp can compete with a solid state amp for deep, undistorted bass.

Further, the real strength in the AR's is in the bass line. They really shine with a powerful, clean bass line.

Now, Mike, your Fisher will perform well in the frequency region of the mid and tweeter and may even out perform vintage ss amps.

If you are serious about using vintage equipment to achieve the maximum potential, I'd recommend a ss amp powering the woofers and your Fisher powering the mids/tweeters.

This can be done, but it's NOT easy. That dam phase reversal switch on the Fisher makes for complex connections. Further, you would need a solid state INTEGRATED amp or a solid state POWER amp WITH attenuation controls on each channel.

Problem you have when bi-amping is you need some method to balance the signal, so that equal voltage is going to both halves of the AR-3a's.

Your Fisher has just such an attenuation control on AUX-1. So if you feed it a complete line level signal, you should be able to balance the outputs. Now, I say "should" because the problem is whether the gain in the Fisher can "catch up" to the gain in a solid state integrated amp. (However, I would bet the Fisher would work just fine because of the large number of amplifying stages prior to its main volume control.)

As I said earlier, Mike, ... it's NOT easy, but it can be done!

Hope this helps ....

Regards,

Jerry

[johnieo]

It is imprudent to recommend biamping an AR-3a. We have heard your suggestion many times; as others have also stated, please take that topic to the "mods and tweaks" section.

[ToastedAlmond]

There is a product that becomes available on ebay from time to time, that will reduce speaker level output from a receiver or integrated amp, to variable line-level output. It is the Carver Wide-band "Z" Coupler. This piece would allow you to use an external power amp with the Fisher receiver you already own.

There may be other commercially available products marketed under different names that accomplish the same thing I guess, but this is the one I am aware of.