My AR9's

[Guest PhoenixRising]

Well, I finally took some pics of the AR9's today (well, at least one of them), and I had to post them up somewhere!

Back in college, I was looking for an inexpensive set of speakers for my apartment. In the local paper was an add that literally said, "Speakers - $300". No name brand, no info, nothing. They were close by campus, so I went and checked them out.

The lady's uncle had died and she had inherited them with the rest of his estate. They were huge, in the way, she had no interest in them, and just wanted them gone. I offered $175, she took it, and even helped me load them up. Can't beat it.

This was about 8 years ago. Truth be told, I didn't know what a classic I had until just recently, when I started reading about them online. Now I'm AR crazy, and I can't stop reading about them and buying up other models from the Teledyne era. Matter of fact, I'm becoming quite the vintage speaker nerd in general.

[dingus]

cool, what are you driving them with?

also, the mid-bass looks slightly odd, is the surround rubber or foam? i had my AR9's for about a year before i realized that the mid-bass drivers had been previously re-coned with the wrong cones. replacing them with original drivers made a big difference in the sound for the better, they opened up and "felt" like they were easier to drive.

[Guest PhoenixRising]

cool, what are you driving them with?

also, the mid-bass looks slightly odd, is the surround rubber or foam? i had my AR9's for about a year before i realized that the mid-bass drivers had been previously re-coned with the wrong cones. replacing them with original drivers made a big difference in the sound for the better, they opened up and "felt" like they were easier to drive.

The mid-bass were almost certainly replaced by the previous owner. I believe the surrounds are rubber. I bid on a pair of original mid-bass drivers on ebay a week or two ago, but I got sniped right at the end and lost out. It's certainly my plan to find original drivers at some point.

As far as amplification goes, unfortunately I'm not a wealthy person! I'm using what most folks would likely consider to be garbage, but for my purposes and budget right now, it works.

I'm using a Yamaha receiver as a pre-amp for the front R&L, and to drive the center channel and surround channels. The front R&L is sent via pre-outs to a Peavey power amp. It was previously owned and modified by a recording studio owner buddy of mine, and I think it sounds pretty decent for what it is. It certainly wakes up the 9's a lot more than the 105 watt per channel Yamaha does.

Definitely not McIntosh quality, but it's all I have right now. Ultimately, I'd love to have the Sunfire Cinema 5 channel amp. My uncle has one and it sounds very good to me.

[r_laski]

Besides the mid-bass being replacements on your AR-9s, it looks like the tweeter(s) are also replacements. I'm not sure if they are even AR tweeters from another, later series. The mid-bass driver may be an AR 8 inch driver made by Tonegen for a later series of AR speakers such as the AR-9LS /LSi. When I bought my pair of AR-9s they had the Tonegen 8 inch mid-bass drivers that the previous owner had received from AR to replace his original drivers when the foam had rotted.

Keep trying e-Bay for original drivers. I was able to secure a pair of original 8 inchers for my AR-9s a few years ago. Just had to refoam them and had an a pair of all original AR-9s again.

Rich

[dingus]

i didnt even notice the tweeters but yes, on closer inspection they appear to be non-original.

[dingus]

I'm using a Yamaha receiver as a pre-amp for the front R&L, and to drive the center channel and surround channels. The front R&L is sent via pre-outs to a Peavey power amp. It was previously owned and modified by a recording studio owner buddy of mine, and I think it sounds pretty decent for what it is. It certainly wakes up the 9's a lot more than the 105 watt per channel Yamaha does.

i ran my 9's with a Yamaha CR-2020 receiver for a long time, i thought it matched well and did a splendid job.

[d-rok]

i ran my 9's with a Yamaha CR-2020 receiver for a long time, i thought it matched well and did a splendid job.

I knew when I bought mine recently that all the woofers, lower mid drivers and 1 tweeter were replacements from AB Tech.

I NOW know that there is simply NO comparison with the original woofers, lower mids and tweeters....NIGHT AND DAY IMPROVEMENT with all original drivers.

Biamping these puppies with 2 MK II opt.2 upgraded Carver M1.0t amps REALLY lets 'em "open up and SING"......of course, throwing 1100+wpc to most any speaker that can "handle" that much power has a tendency to "make 'em sing"...but the AR9's sing VERY WELL !!!!

[michiganpat]

the woofer in the OP's pic looks like the 8" driver from the AR holographic series, the M2, I think is the model.

[orophias]

Nice find! I have a pair of them myself. Best of luck finding the OEM drivers-they are out there.

Best regards,

Jeff