AR TSW 910A

[ironlake]

I see a pair of these for sale in the twin cities and never heard of them. They are big and claimed to be 140 lbs in weight

Any info on them?

[ra.ra]

After looking at this chart, they certainly must be big big old boys. Never seen or heard 'em - - - that's all I've got on these. I see that the spec notes frequency response up to 32 K, so at least your dog will appreciate the upper end..

[RoyC]

I saw pair of them for the first time about a month ago. They are very large (AR-9 large) and VERY heavy! All the cone drivers are poly, with the 12 inch woofer being a (Tonegen) poly cone version of the typical AR 12 inch woofer we all know and love.

Roy

[Carlspeak]

Here is some information. http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/IP.Board/index.php?showtopic=5918&hl=speaker

The xover schematic can be found in the drawings in the library. Their tweeters are prone to faiing and, of course, rotting foam is typical. Once fixed, they have a big sound. If that's what you're looking for and have the ambition to deal with their issues, give them a try.

[RoyC]

Their tweeters are prone to faiing

Hi Carl,

This has become a signifcant problem. The tweeters for the 810 and 910 were made by MB Quart of Germany. They were apparently quite unique, and replacing failed ones has become nearly impossible. For awhile owners were able to adapt tweeters acquired directly from MBQ, but this is no longer an option. Used tweeters of this type are very scarce.

Roy

[Steve F]

I have written extensively about the 910 and their place/reason for being in AR's history. Do a search.

The TSW series from 1987-ish was an ok line of product, but it broke no new ground, nor did it try to. A "play it safe" line of speakers. The 910 was a pure formulaic product: you could almost hear the Head of Marketing saying, "OK we need a big floorstander, with two 12's and a model number with a '9', so people remember the original AR-9.Oh, and let's bring back that Blanket thing, too. We got some good credit for that."

That was the 910. In a June 1987 review, Julian Hirsch--the biggest AR booster there ever was--struggled vainly to find good things to say about it, closing his review with a damn-with-faint-praise line of "Few would tire of its easy smooth sound."

Really, Julian? "Few would tire"? That's the best you could muster? "Few would tire"?

For the 3, 3a, LST and 9, it was the "best I have ever measured or heard." For the 910, it's "Few would tire."

Don't break the bank getting the 910's.

Steve F.

[RoyC]

The 910's I saw were parted out by Vintage AR. Only one tweeter was working and was sold within a couple of weeks for nearly the price the speakers were purchased for! The 12 inch poly woofers were given to me to convert to conventional AR 12 inchers by replaciing the cones with new paper cones (see attached photo of converted woofer). The voice coils and spiders were also replaced in the process. The results were 4 new replacements for all previous non-poly cone models (AR-9 series, 11, 3a, etc). The conventional 12 inch woofer is only available used or rebuilt these days, and good ones are quickly increasing in value. There is virtually no demand for the poly version.

Roy