Looking for replacement of AR9 speakers

[Pete B]

Are you referring to any of the subs I suggested in this thread, or are you speaking in general?

[genek]

General. Mostly, the HT systems in the Crutchfield catalogs that come in my mail.

[soundminded]

General. Mostly, the HT systems in the Crutchfield catalogs that come in my mail.

Even though there were no visible holes in the 25 year old 12" driver surrounds, replacing them in the fall of 2009 resulted in an obvious improvement in bass respnse of AR9. I was surprised that it took a few days for the new surrounds to "break in" probably due to flexing. Perhaps the old surrounds had hardened and changed the driver resonant frequency or perhaps small holes not visible to the naked eye was causing a leak.

With careful equalization, properly functioning AR9 can accurately reproduce the lowest musical tones of any instrument I've tried. One problem with speakers that have LF capabilities of AR9 is that any noise or distortion in recordings becomes audible and often annoying. This is surprisingly common on many cds. It wastes amplifier power and detracts from listening enjoyment. These are sounds that would be inaudible on other systems. Fortunately, LF filters in cascaded preamps in my system enable me to cut off this noise when necessary. Another problem is that can excite room resonances to a degree not evident with lesser systems. Yet another is that the relative loudness of bass can be a function of where in the room you are listening at. These are small prices to pay to hear accurate reproduction of the lowest octaves of a grand piano, double basses and cellos, and feel the thud of a bass drum when it is there. Use of a turntable in the same room, even one that is well isolated without LF filtering is out of the question because acoustic feedback.