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AR9's Brand New in the Box......


xmas111

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Yep, I saw this very tempting post yesterday, too ...... and right here in my very own town!!!

Unfortch, not willing to pull the trigger because:

1. even this excellent asking price exceeds current speaker budget.

2. speakers too large for main listening space.

3. power requirements not adequately supported by current electronics.

Shucks, once in a lifetime.

Those of you with bigger set-ups ....... go for it full steam ahead!

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It would be really great if you could provide more information when posting about listings of items you've seen for sale instead of links. These links go away after a while, which makes the discussion useless for historical purposes. Thanks.

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Even though they are brand new, 4 woofers and 2 LMRs will need to be refoamed and they'll need recapping. Unless you do all of the work yourself it could run another couple of hundred dollars beyond the purchase price. About 5 years ago I passed up an opportunity to buy a pair in excellent condition for $500 + the cost of renting a car large enough to move them. For me one pair is enough. They aren't as hard to drive as you'd think. Maybe by 1962 standards but not by 2012 standards. But they won't work with most HT receivers. A 100 wpc Sherwood 2 channel receiver sold at Parts Express shut down after a few minutes even at low volume and with the woofers removed. When they say not less than a 6 ohm load they mean it (except for the treble range.) Nevertheless, for someone looking for a high quality loudspeaker system, there is nothing remotely close performance-wise at anything anywhere near the price. If you don't have a fine pair of loudspeakers you're happy with, it's a great choice.

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Sherwood HT receivers are not suitable for 4 ohm nominal load speakers. I have a Sherwood Newcastle HT pre/power pair from around 10 years ago that does 170wpc @4ohm and Sherwood assures me it's good down to 2 ohm, but none of their receivers are designed to handle loads like that, not even the one that is essentially the same pre and power stages in the same case (because of the common power supply).

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Back to the original topic, apparently the AR-9s were sold to a New Jersey musician for $1,100. The seller very quickly got more than twenty calls, and he says people kept offering more and more to his total surprise, apparently at a point it was like a live phone auction. My wife is very happy I lost my chance at these beauties.

Supposedly they were indeed used for a “short” time, and were inherited from the seller’s father.

Francisco

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That's interesting......no wonder the guy never returned my calls..... :lol:

If those AR-9's were in mint condition $1100.00 is still a good price.

If I was one lucky enough to get them, refoaming all the drivers and rebuilding the crossover would be a big nothing to do and would of been well worth it. I did mine a couple of years ago and they sound great!

John

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John,

Now, to cheer you up, and whoever else lost this opportunity … the seller, who sounded young, also said that he is moving in with his girlfriend that has a Cambridge SoundWorks surround system, and since these were so big, he decided to sell them! :D

In the beginning, this guy had really no idea of what he was selling.

Well, I can’t really complain, as I inherited a nice pair of AR-91s from my late father, and I only had to refoam two woofers … if this had been me, even in my twenties, I would have probably lost the girlfriend.

AR-9s have always been a huge temptation for me; I thought that was over by now, but this listing brought it back very strongly.

Francisco

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  • 2 months later...

I'm a bit late with this but here's my thoughts. I've always considered the AR9 as the best "cost no object" AR ever (the most expensive AR I owned was the AR10Pi). I'm sure it's a good price IF you've already heard AR9's at some length at various rooms and music sources.

But @ 130 pounds each, a single AR9 literally weighs more than me. You should have the willingness & pyhsical strengh to find the right spot for it (as with all speakers). I believe you can get the same AR9 "sound" with "lesser/smaller" AR's when coupled with a modern "powered sub".

Total cost would probably be less with overall total performance comparable (if not better) and easier to obtain because of reduced size, added flexibility/mobility when finding that "optimum placement".

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They're not that tough to move around - a healthy man of average strength can easily "walk" the speaker into position, and make whatever adjustments are needed to fine-tune the location.

It will take two people to carry a boxed AR-9, but one man can pick up a single speaker if at least one of the woofers has been removed (ask me how I know this ;) ).

As for getting the same AR-9 sound with lesser/smaller AR speakers and a sub - best of luck with that.

I've heard many, many, combinations of top-end AR systems (with & without audiophile-grade subwoofers), and the closest result to the AR-9 was the AR-90 - surprise!

Fact is, although there is a decided family resemblance to earlier TOTL systems from AR, the 9 broke new ground, and the gestalt of the design is greater than the sum of its parts.

The actual real-world cost of purchasing & restoring a pair of AR-9 systems is absurdly low, relative to the end result. The most money that I ever paid for a used pair of 9s was $400 - we all know how inexpensively the drivers can be re-foamed and caps replaced, all else being minor details and time spent on labor.

Questions of subjective preferences or room/equipment requirements aside, there is nothing - nothing - that is even close on the new or used market to the practical value of a properly-restored AR-9.

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Yep, I saw this very tempting post yesterday, too ...... and right here in my very own town!!!

Unfortch, not willing to pull the trigger because:

1. even this excellent asking price exceeds current speaker budget.

2. speakers too large for main listening space.

3. power requirements not adequately supported by current electronics.

Shucks, once in a lifetime.

Those of you with bigger set-ups ....... go for it full steam ahead!

my response to your points (all of which would land me in HOT WATER with my wife)

1) (a) WHO CARES, (B) EAT RAMEN FOR A MONTH

2) see 1(a)

3) see 1(a)

a decent crown PA amp to handle the beasts can be had for $300

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michiganpat:

I must assume by the fervent froth emanating from your post that you might like to own a pair of these behemoths. Like most of us on this forum, I, too, have a terminal case of loudspeaker fever...... but knock-wood, my prognosis has not elevated to the level of delirium .... yet.

Seriously tho', I have never seen or heard a pair of AR-9's, but having read about the exalted fervor that many respected members here have for this particular AR product has made me very, very, curious indeed. I would love to be able to have an intense listening session with these speakers, but this desire is much in the same way I would love to have a test drive with a Shelby Cobra or maybe even have a date with Brigitte Bardot (think 1960's BB). Still, I do not wish for the muscle car to be my everyday commuting vehicle, and most probably the French starlet would not prove to be my most well-suited partner, and similarly, the AR-9's are not a speaker that I particularly wish to live with. Call me an an-AR-chist if you must.

I'm a Michigan sort of guy, too, so don't get me wrong - - - I like Ramen noodles just fine, but I also love my high-fidelity music and I love my modest collection of speakers as objects of design, engineering and decor. It is just my personal visual aesthetic, but I don't particularly care for the look of 'tower' speakers in general, nor do I find any particular appeal in large expanses of black grille cloth, and lastly, the earmuffs on the AR-9 woofers look a bit silly, IMHO. Further, these beasts are rather large and spatially dominant, and not really suitable for everyone's - least of all mine - lifestyle or living spaces. I don't need the best and the biggest - - - my itty-bitty AR-7's fill a small room with plenty of musical delight. Similarly, my simple and humble AR-6's give me immense visual and aural pleasure - - - all walnut and raw linen - - - with beautiful proportions that are nearly identical to the ancient Greek golden section.

Brief flashback: my personal AR awakening. Late 1969, only months after Woodstock, and my older brother took me, still a young teenager, into Chicago to see a concert featuring two headliners from that historic event. We stayed the night with a young avant-garde architect who happened to be more of an acoustician - he designed music halls - and I'll never forget his modest, modern apartment ....... minimalist paintings on clean brick walls, spartan Euro furniture, artful shelves made of planks and concrete blocks. And then there was the stereo - - - an AR receiver, an AR turntable, and a pair of AR-3a's. The entire scene was calm, composed and creative, yet entirely intoxicating, and as of that night, I began to understand the idea of the Acoustic Research products and mission. Not many months later, I splurged on a pair of AR-4x's and was hooked forever. Pseudo-Scandinavian moderne, and made in the USA, but .... O, that sound.

Is it delirious for someone to covet AR-9's? Not at all. Blasphemy uttered here on CSP? Nah, I don't think so. Simple fact: I cannot afford these speakers and I do not have any urge to own them. Had I somehow stumbled into this local purchase perchance, most likely I would have been only a temporary custodian, and subsequently tried to locate someone like yourself who had a strong desire, unlike myself, to own and live with these (supposedly) penultimate speakers.

My response to your question 1a) WHO CARES? ..... is that it is me who cares, and that is what I am trying to communicate here.

Remember: "Small is beautiful." E.F. Schumacher

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Funny, but I've always thought the thick, decorative mouldings on the AR-3a to be the antithesis of "minimalist" aesthetic; form following function much better in the Euro version of the 3a, and in the more linear AR-5, AR-2ax, etc.

That said, women and cars are difficult to compare against each other, let alone loudspeakers; but given the option, my gut feeling is that very few guys would have real trouble with a '60 Bardot or a '65 Cobra as their "everyday driver" !

The AR-9 was clearly not designed for everyone - it makes certain demands of the listening space and associated amplification, and it's about as subtle as BB on a beach towel.

Just one more reason why I love it. :D

Remember: "Less isn't more...more is more." Dolly Parton

.

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If I had to "duplicate" AR9 as closely as I could from other equipment, I think I'd try a pair of AR5s on top of a pair of Parts Express RS1202A subwoofers

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=300-767

Would it be the similar? I don't really know but if you gotta have it, this might be one alternative you could live with.

Main differences? AR5 has better upper midrange and high frequency dispersion but upper midrange and tweeter are crossed over at lower frequencies than in AR9. They might not have as much power handling capacity as the UMR and tweeter in AR9 either. An equalizer should minimize the differences.

BTW, these subwoofers are available at a lower price as kits that take about an hour to assemble. Both assembled and as kits they are often further discounted.

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Parts Express RS1202A is indeed like the bass portion of AR 9 and weighs as much as an AR 9. I had a pair of AR 9's for about 10 years. I often used just the woofer section of AR 9s to supplement the missing bass from NHT Zeros, Radio Shack LX4s, LX5s and a pair of home made MTM using 4-inch AR woofers/ a Dynuadio D28 tweeter for each channel. I had Adcom GFA-555 ll power amplifier so 2-ohm load posed no problem. Today I have a pair of NHT 1259 in 4 ft3 sealed enclosures. I consider NHT 1259(woofer in NHT model 3.3) as a younger relative of AR 9 :)

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  • 4 weeks later...

They're not that tough to move around - a healthy man of average strength can easily "walk" the speaker into position, and make whatever adjustments are needed to fine-tune the location.

It will take two people to carry a boxed AR-9, but one man can pick up a single speaker if at least one of the woofers has been removed (ask me how I know this ;) ).

As for getting the same AR-9 sound with lesser/smaller AR speakers and a sub - best of luck with that.

I've heard many, many, combinations of top-end AR systems (with & without audiophile-grade subwoofers), and the closest result to the AR-9 was the AR-90 - surprise!

Fact is, although there is a decided family resemblance to earlier TOTL systems from AR, the 9 broke new ground, and the gestalt of the design is greater than the sum of its parts.

The actual real-world cost of purchasing & restoring a pair of AR-9 systems is absurdly low, relative to the end result. The most money that I ever paid for a used pair of 9s was $400 - we all know how inexpensively the drivers can be re-foamed and caps replaced, all else being minor details and time spent on labor.

Questions of subjective preferences or room/equipment requirements aside, there is nothing - nothing - that is even close on the new or used market to the practical value of a properly-restored AR-9.

At 5' 21/2" tall (5' 4" once...true about "shrinking with age") and 135 pounds, even "walking them" is a challenge for me. Maybe the AR 90 would be the better choice IF I was gonna go that route.

The best "afffordable" speaker I'm "intimate with" was the Boston Acoustics T1030; designed the X-O's for them. Ironically, never OWNED them, seriously !

Got a whole bunch of other BA products I "voiced" , but all smaller. Size DOES matter, but I've "mellowed" over the years. Don't need (or want) the performance levels the AR 9 (or even the BA T1030) can deliver.

Most (all ?) of my BA products are now suffering from "foam rot". Wish I could find a source that provides discounts for "quantity purchases". Once I restore them, plan to give them to friends or relatives; all those speakers are cluttering my 960 square foot "living space" since 2000. As much as I love my speakers, they don't love back.

Figure once I get rid of the speakers, I can have "female companionship" again. THEN, I'll re-awaken my passion/obsession with "hi-fi". The challenge then becomes having both.

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gerry, email John at Msound, he has pretty decent prices when purchasing in bulk. quoted me a good price on 6 8" BA style foams for some AR93's a few years ago (no kit, just foams)

unfortunately, the deal to purchase said speakers fell through

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