Looking for thoughts on putting a single AR-1W to use...

[administrator]

I've ruled out using my AR-1W as a subwoofer for home theater or my computer per an earlier thread, but I don't want it just sitting in my bedroom.

Anyone have thoughts on a modern mid/tweeter array, mono integrated amplifier, and mono tube radio I could put together to have a functional AR-1W exhibit in my home?

The reason I mention modern is that I would prefer not to dig and take the chance of buying old gear off eBay. If there is modern equipment that would fit the bill I would lean that way. Then again, the modern mono stuff may be so incredibly expensive because of the niche they are trying to hit (like custom tube gear for example) that this may not be practical.

Mark

[dynaco_dan]

I've ruled out using my AR-1W as a subwoofer for home theater or my computer per an earlier thread, but I don't want it just sitting in my bedroom.

Anyone have thoughts on a modern mid/tweeter array, mono integrated amplifier, and mono tube radio I could put together to have a functional AR-1W exhibit in my home?

The reason I mention modern is that I would prefer not to dig and take the chance of buying old gear off eBay. If there is modern equipment that would fit the bill I would lean that way. Then again, the modern mono stuff may be so incredibly expensive because of the niche they are trying to hit (like custom tube gear for example) that this may not be practical.

Mark

Hi Mark;

The first sentence does not mention why you would not use it as a home theater subwoofer.

If you have a decent amp and a crossover, perhaps under 100 hz, you will have a one of a kind, superb, subwoofer.

It certainly would not be matched by any under $1,000.00 subwoofer out there.

Or you could ship it to me, please. LOL

[soundminded]

I've ruled out using my AR-1W as a subwoofer for home theater or my computer per an earlier thread, but I don't want it just sitting in my bedroom.

Anyone have thoughts on a modern mid/tweeter array, mono integrated amplifier, and mono tube radio I could put together to have a functional AR-1W exhibit in my home?

The reason I mention modern is that I would prefer not to dig and take the chance of buying old gear off eBay. If there is modern equipment that would fit the bill I would lean that way. Then again, the modern mono stuff may be so incredibly expensive because of the niche they are trying to hit (like custom tube gear for example) that this may not be practical.

Mark

Call me a sucker for nostalgia, I don't care. Since this will not be used as a subwoofer in an HT or other system and as there is only one of them, a logical choice is to use it as a woofer in a fine monophonic sound system. This can easily be done by adding a small two way system such as an AR Powered Partner, or any of countless models similar in concept to Radio Shack's Minimus 7. The system can be bi-amplified using a moderately powered inexpensive stereo amplifier such as one from the 1970s or 1980s and a stereo 10 band graphic equalizer as an active crossover for the two sections. If you have a rec room or den or basement, you can install this kind of system in a large old speaker cabinet or an old 1950s style console and connect it to a variety of sources to play any of the music and radio programs from the 1930s to the late 1950s such as big band swing era jazz, 1940s and 1950s pop music and 1950s rock music and old time radio shows. In an era when most people spend their spare time in front of their computers and flat panel TV sets, it would be a sort of novelty to actually spend time in this experience realizing that people who lived in that era and used ancient equipment as their main source of entertainment in their homes got every bit as much enjoyment out of it and maybe more than people get today from the most expensive state of the art high priced audio systems.

[JeffS]

I've ruled out using my AR-1W as a subwoofer for home theater or my computer per an earlier thread, but I don't want it just sitting in my bedroom.

Anyone have thoughts on a modern mid/tweeter array, mono integrated amplifier, and mono tube radio I could put together to have a functional AR-1W exhibit in my home?

The reason I mention modern is that I would prefer not to dig and take the chance of buying old gear off eBay. If there is modern equipment that would fit the bill I would lean that way. Then again, the modern mono stuff may be so incredibly expensive because of the niche they are trying to hit (like custom tube gear for example) that this may not be practical.

Mark

Mark,

I acquired an AR-1W from eBay about five years ago out of curiosity, wanting to hear how well the first AR performed on the low end. The unit I got has the Kloss woofer (with pleated surround) and has good low end extension, though I've read that it has less extension than the cloth roll surround woofer that replaced it. I settled on using a single AR-7 acquired from eBay as the mid-high end, using an AR-11 crossover my son had leftover from a rebuild project to match the 1W woofer to the 7. It worked well enough and all frequencies were there, though it probably would have been better with the mid-high from a 3. As far as looks go, the AR-7 didn't look out of place on top of the 1W size-wise, though the grills didn't match.

Driving it with tubes would seem like an expensive way to go since you should probably have at least 50 watts for the woofer. I used an older NAD 3150 and it was enough, but not too much (the room was ~ 200 sq. ft.). Just some thoughts in case you decide to go with older stuff.

Jeff S.

[Guest makilgallen]

Mark, this may not be exactly what you had in mind but I had a similar issue with my lone AR 1W. I contacted Carl, a custom speaker builder and one of the classicspeaker members. After some discussion I decided to have him add a modern midrange and tweeter plus crossover into the 1W cabinet. Of course the goal was to create a 3A-which Carl calls a "super-mod".

Thanks to current technology and Carl's time & efforts I now have a marvelous speaker which has a wonderful response, actually sounding superior -better highs- to my 3's and 3A's in head to head comparison. The original woofer did not survive the modification as it suffered from a warped spider and had to be replaced. I am currently in the process of having a second 1W converted similarly so as to constitute a pair.

Returning to your original q and posting, if you are still interested in creating a classic mono system, you should check listings for AR standalone mid-tweeters on ebay. Also i saw a mono tube Fisher model 90 tuner this past saturday in a philadelphia suburb, offered for $75. Good luck, Mike

[mluong303]

The Best way to utilize a single AR-1W speaker is to sell it to the person who wish to have a pair of mirror imaged AR-3a or AR-3 speakers. The AR-1w cabinet comes in handy for this application.

Minh Luong

[Carlspeak]

The Best way to utilize a single AR-1W speaker is to sell it to the person who wish to have a pair of mirror imaged AR-3a or AR-3 speakers. The AR-1w cabinet comes in handy for this application.

Minh Luong

I'm planning on doing exactly that when Mike delivers the second 1W to me.

[johnieo]

If, as Tom Tyson has pointed out many times, the AR-3a and similar models are best heard in the reverberant field mode, then I am at a loss as to understand why one would expend the energy requried to fabricate a mirror image pair.

Cheers,

[Carlspeak]

If, as Tom Tyson has pointed out many times, the AR-3a and similar models are best heard in the reverberant field mode, then I am at a loss as to understand why one would expend the energy requried to fabricate a mirror image pair.

Cheers,

Two reasons:

1) The customer requested it and I had no issue with it.....

2) The Scanspeak tweeters I'm using in this particular mod beam a bit more than original 3a tweeters.

Cheers

[Steve F]

< Two reasons:

< 1) The customer requested it and I had no issue with it.....

< 2) The Scanspeak tweeters I'm using in this particular mod beam a bit more than original 3a tweeters.

If the customer wants it, then that's reason enough. This is a hobby, and user perception is at least as major a contributor to satisfaction as anything else.

I'd give a princely sum of money to the listener who could reliably (statistically significantly) pick out the L speaker from the R in blind A-B mono listening tests while sitting in the reverberant field, 10 feet way--whether they were NOS 3a's or Carl's mods. I'm not saying it's absolutely impossible, but pretty darn close to impossible.

Steve F.

[Diamonds&Rust]

I'd give a princely sum of money to the listener who could reliably (statistically significantly) pick out the L speaker from the R in blind A-B mono listening tests while sitting in the reverberant field, 10 feet way

LOL!! <not at you, but with you!> You've got to imagine a good-natured smile on my face before you read-on.

What sort of bet is that, Steve??!!

I know you must have been thinking something highly intelligent and perfectly correct. The question I'm still mulling over is why anyone would even want a mirror imaged single speaker to listen to a monaural signal?

Tell you what; I'll take your bet to identify which side the tweeter's on against your ability to tell whether you are looking at the right or left eye's Viewmaster image if I only show you one of them. I'll bet you can immediately identify if I show you two lefts or two rights instead of the stereo pair. The winner gets what? Either a monocle big enough for both eyes or a parabolic microphone with two earpieces for listening to their quad system?

I really hope you can read this in the spirit it is intended - that of good fun. I don't mean any malice or even to "correct" you. It just struck me that you had issued a really weird (and totally pointless) challenge. It's like defying anyone to tell, blindfolded, whether you were using your right or left shoe to smash their nose with the heel. You're exactly right. It would be really hard to tell which side the arch was on. (at least, in a statistically significant sense) I wouldn't want many guesses, either.

<Maybe the problem is that I don't understand the concept of even trying to identify R or L speakers on a monaural signal. Either that, or we've got to discuss the age of your record collection.>

[Steve F]

I never take anything you say in a negative manner. Your posts are always interesting, always entertaining, and always courteous.

Perhaps I didn't express myself clearly. What I meant was that if you had two 3a's--one absolutely stock, one "mirror imaged", but with NOS drivers and x-over--I don't think that someone could reliably identify the 'tweeter on left' 3a from the 'tweeter on right' 3a.

I don't think it has anything to do with the 3a's tweeter having wider dispersion than Carl's mod'd 3a. I just feel that by time a listener gets 10 feet from the speaker and is in the predominently reverberant field in a normal listening room, then tweeter on 'left or right' issue fades into essentially acoustic irrelevance.

Steve F.

[Diamonds&Rust]

I just feel that by time a listener gets 10 feet from the speaker and is in the predominently reverberant field in a normal listening room, then tweeter on 'left or right' issue fades into essentially acoustic irrelevance.

You may be right. I'm about 14 feet from my AR9s right now and I swear I can't tell the right speaker from the left.

Bret

<for any newbies - the AR9 is a vertical array. It has no left or right. The imaging issue is why this was done.>

[Carlspeak]

Just an FYI. Dahlquist DQ-10's were a popular mod for mirroring. Check out the Dahlquist user's group at Yahoo. There is a complete set of instructions on how it's done. Of course, they are not configured like 3a's. Their asymmetrical mid and upper range driver array was housed in a separate frame mounted on top of the woofer cabinet which made it handy for modding.

Not sure, but I believe Dahlquist sold factory made mirrored pairs for a while.

Was this marketing hype or something significant? Don't know since I've never had a pair to evaluate.

Maybe some DQ-10 owners who have mirrored pairs who visit here could share their opinions.