bobby_sunshine Posted October 20, 2012 Report Share Posted October 20, 2012 I have been following the forums here for some time and have used the advice to rebuild some AR2ax I bought new in 1972.I love the warm full range sound. I have been thinking of configuring a home theater arrangement, probably 5.0 and including the speakers in the mix.If this is sacrilege and violation of some 2 ears 2 speakers philosophy please forgive me.Otherwise, has anyone done this? I was thinking of 4 2ax for front and rear. Too much woof? Any advice on center channel? Would something AR 4 be better for rear channels? Switch to AR 3a for front?Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genek Posted October 20, 2012 Report Share Posted October 20, 2012 There are several of us doing this. My 5.0 HT setup is a pair of AR-3a for FL and FR, a pair of AR-2ax for the rear surrounds and an AR-1ms for the center channel.The FL and FR speakers should be the ones with the most "woof." Remember to set your amplifier/receiver's bass management to no subwoofer so the low frequencies are sent to FL and FR instead of a nonexistent sub. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldarnut Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 I use AR's in my 6.1 home theater setup. Fronts are Infinity Quantum II's, side surrounds are ARLST2's with AR3a's for the rear surround. I use a single 15" IB woofer mounted in the floor using the basement as the other side of the infinite baffle. The LST2's work great for side surround, as their dispersion is very wide with tweeters on three sides of the front panels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeF Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 Looking for a center channel to match my AR94sx's I'm using as fronts. Any opinions on this?Driving the 94sx's with Pioneer SX-1010 amp off Yamaha RX-V1400 pre-outs. I really want to replace that Yamaha with much better power but not much budget for that right now. Also would consider new AR LCR's with floorstanding fronts if I could get "old" AR quality for about $1,500 for LCR. A quality center channel now would be best for when I upgrade the front L/R's though I'm not sure what I would buy right now. Thanks for the advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xpat Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 Using AR speakers for home theatre is a fine idea. I use AR9s for my fronts and AR6s for the rears. I also use a Boston acoustics center speaker which integrates well with the ARs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeF Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 Thanks, xpatWhat model Boston Acoustics center are you using?Your AR9's trump my 94's but I'm sentimental and want to keep them in my system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michiganpat Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 Looking for a center channel to match my AR94sx's I'm using as fronts. Any opinions on this?Driving the 94sx's with Pioneer SX-1010 amp off Yamaha RX-V1400 pre-outs. I really want to replace that Yamaha with much better power but not much budget for that right now. Also would consider new AR LCR's with floorstanding fronts if I could get "old" AR quality for about $1,500 for LCR. A quality center channel now would be best for when I upgrade the front L/R's though I'm not sure what I would buy right now. Thanks for the advice.I'd pick up a set or two of AR 18, 18S, 18B or Rock Partners and use 1 set for the rear, and one for the center, on it's side. that way your entire surround setup would be voice matched (the above speakers use essentially the same woofer and tweet as the 94's), unless you're still running a CRT TV, in which case you'll need a shielded center channel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve F Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 We all justifiably enjoy the sound of older AR speakers--the Classics, the ADD's the Verticals, even into the 78LS/98LS series.But......a little common-sense caution when using them for HT is in order. Most of these AR speakers were designed for analog source material of relatively limited dynamic range (LP's and cassettes). When the CD came out in 1982, we were into the next-gen 9 (LS and LSi), the 78, 98, etc. Those were pretty robust speakers and they could handle most digital source material without much problem.None of these speakers was designed for HT, with HT's demands (especially in the bass region) at extremely high levels--especially in the 15-35 Hz region--coupled with greater explosive dynamic range than ever before. Combine 2013's latest digital program material with a 1980's (or older) AR speaker and you have to keep in mind aging adhesives, brittle spiders, stiffening lead wires, all kinds of things. Plus....worst of all, there is the ever-more-difficult availability of NOS replacement parts.The old girls are gettin' up there. Sure, they sound great and I'm as proud as anyone to amaze my friends (especially the younger ones) by showing off how terrific my 9's sound ("Wow! Never heard anything like that before!").However, a little caution and common sense is in order, that's all. I would definitely NOT use a Classic AR speaker that had still-working original 3/4" dome tweeters on modern program material at high playback levels. That's just asking for trouble. Why risk it?I use my 3a's for 2-chanel music in another room, played at moderate levels. I enjoy their smooth, classic sound and intend to for years to come. My 9's are also in a 2-channel system. I "goose" those a bit more from time to time, but I don't abuse them.For HT, I use a very high-quality system based on BA VR-M's and a BA PV-1200 subwoofer. Those are "modern" speakers of extremely high quality, backed by a company still in business with service parts readily available. Most important--I have no nostolgic attachment to the BA's like I do to my AR's.Steve F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xpat Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 Steve, I agree with your comments. I've been careful regarding volume settings and rely on the pre-processor to route the bass to a Energy Sub Woofer. Also, the speakers have been fused to comply with the original AR specifications. My original AR5s are used for music only. I love their sound on classical material and don't want to take any chances. Frankly, I prefer the sound of the AR5s for music more than the AR9s. I've always felt that way (maybe it's my room set up).Mike F, the Boston Acoustics center channel is model CS225C. It has been discontinued ==>http://www.bostonacoustics.com/US/Search/Pages/DiscontinuedProductSearchResult.aspx?k=cs%20225cHowever, it appears there is a newer version called the CS 225 C II. http://www.bostonacoustics.com/US/Product/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?CatId=HomeAudio%28BostonAcoustics_US%29&SubCatId=CenterChannel%28BostonAcoustics_US%29&Pid=CS225CIICenterChannel%28BostonAcoustics%29 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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