The Class of the Field

[Steve F]

I have been communicating with Mark recently regarding historical AR literature that I've sent him to scan and post on the site. I have virtually all the lit (not ALL, unfortunately--some water in my basement in 1991 took a few treasures) from 1965 through 1990 and I've been sending it to him for a few months now, one product family/series at a time. (One at a time, so just in case the mail loses a package, all of my irreplaceable literature doesn't get lost at once.)

But the best literature of all, and I think the real classic of the bunch, is the famous 1970-1971 full line catalog that had the 3a, 5, 2ax/2x, 4x, 6, and the amp, tuner, and receiver. This was the catalog that had all the celebrity endorsements (Von Karajan and Don Ellis for the 3a, Arthur Feidler of the Boston Pops for the 5, etc.) as well as some great shots of the 5 being used for sound reinforcement for rock concerts at the NY Museum of Modern Art.

This was the time period when AR was such an incredibly classy company that when they quoted a magazine review on the 3a ("...in our opinion, one of the two finest speaker systems available today..."), they actually put an asterisk on the quote and said on the bottom of the page "The other is the KLH-12."

Can you imagine such a thing happening today? Or ever? Would Sony ever pay Panasonic a compliment in their own literature? Would a Toyota Camry brochure ever mention how good a car the Honda Accord is?

But AR, right in their own brochure (packed in the cartons that my 2ax's came in, no less!) gave KLH credit for producing a great speaker. AR was a once-in-a-lifetime company, and I feel privileged to have to have enjoyed their products during the company's heyday. We'll never see their likes again.

Steve F.

[Guest]

Hi, First off let me say that I lost login capability for the longest time here because of the server login problems and my original billyee userid could not be reactivated for login. So Mark suggested to register a new userid which I did and I have access again... thus my old posting id of billyee is now billyee213. Rest assured, I am the same person.

Okay with that said, I could not agree more with you on the old AR Inc company. It was a FIRST CLASS and WORLD CLASS act and a good model to follow. You won't believe how many of the so called High End manufacturer's and people were influenced by the AR Inc speakers. I suspect many of them would not admit that they admired were inspired and copied the old AR Inc. style, methods and ideas.

I too am in the crowd of people who give credit to the original AR Inc. and consider them one of the most influential and impact making Hi-Fi audio companies to grace the face of this earth. I wish all the best to Edgar Villchur and Roy Allison too who seem to have had the best ears and judgment for what sounds right out of all the AR Inc. guys that I know of. The AR Inc. sound and their dedication to customer satisfaction and scientific truths and applications above all is what I admire most. I wish that they could still be around today, unfortunately we all grow old and retire in time. I hope that the AR Inc. legacy and philosphy can live on into the future generations and this site is a good place to keep it alive.

Now all we need is a rich audiophile tycoon or group of serious tycoons that are willing to invest in such a venture to revive it. Easier said than done I know, but it is possible and I would be all for it. :-)

[ToastedAlmond]

I went into a local thrift shop today. I frequent it often. There was a gentleman about my age (a youthful 50) trying to make heads or tails out of all the vinyl that had accumulated in the shop. We struck up a conversation, and it didn't take long. He has TWO pair of 3a's, TWO pair of 6's, and a pair of 7's. The best I could gather, he has them ALL hooked to a Marantz quadrophonic receiver from the 70's. He said that he replaced all the woofers last summer due to surround rot. He had the good sense to save the old AR woofers. I can see finding a drop-in, lesser quality woof for the 6's and 7's. But I wonder what the heck he did with the two pair of 3a's? It didn't sound like he replaced them with AR woofers by the way he was talking. He sounded like he was real interested in a cheap fix. I'm going to try and stay in touch with this gentleman and see just what he's got going on over there.

While this has nothing to do with the above posts, I thought I would submit it.

George

[tysontom]

AR had a sort-of altruistic feeling about marketing their products, that the accurate reproduction of sound was what it was all about, and that marketing and selling their products came to be a means to that end. Clearly, they were in business to make money. Without profits, nothing goes forward; but as Steve says, AR was a very different breed of cat from what we see today. One of my favorite AR expressions -- right out of late-60 and early-70 catalog -- was, "The accurate reproduction of music is one of man's more benevolent technological gifts to himself...."

--Tom Tyson

[ar_pro]

Acoustic Research managed to combine technological innovation with absolutely first-rate customer consideration...it's almost like you married into a family when you became an AR owner. I've purchased a lot of equipment over the years, and only Acoustic Research and McIntosh were able to transcend the typical manufacturer/customer barriers to make an owner feel like a partner. I would imagine that no other company had the repeat-buyer loyalty (often through generations) that those two did.