AR amplifier: headphones, Delrama

[JKent]

Welcome jack!

Well, I don't know about the 300 being made and yours being last. Robert_S reported, above, that he owns 2 AR amps and "the later one (A0254xx) is replete with front panel spkr/phones selection switch and headphones jack." Dunno why people don't just state the SN but in any case, 254xx is later than your 25300.

Nice amp. Why haven't you used it? I "had" one. Fully restored and quite nice. Now I wish I'd kept it but at the time I wanted "more power" for my AR-3 speakers so I sold it at a loss 😡. Also, I can't get FM reception here in the mountains so the matching tuner was just for display.

If you have AR speakers an AR amp is nice to have.

• Power Output - each channel, both channels driven - 60 watts RMS 4 ohms
• 50 watts RMS 8 ohms
• 30 watts RMS 16 ohms 
• Distortion - any power output level up to an including full rated power
• IM (60 and 7,000hz, 4:1) less than .25%, harmonic distortion,
• less than .5% from 20hz to 20khz.

Kent

[Giorgio AR]

On 1/20/2014 at 6:01 AM, tysontom said:

Delrama was an export company that represented Acoustic Research during the 1960s and perhaps into the early 1970s. Delrama was not an AR-owned company....

Dear Tom,  to integrate the little information on "Delrama" here is a catalog from 1965, therefore preceding the output of the AR amplifiers, very, very special for two reasons: in addition to AR products, it is combined with Marantz amplifiers, and Grado (probably their tonearm and pick-up upgrade the AR turntable! ), at the end there is also the price list, of which a page only for Grado products.
The second peculiarity that suggests that "Delrama" is a large local and international distributor, is the version of the same catalog in Italian with typewriter writing and inaccurate translation! (just like Google Translate often does, which I use too!).
The story of how I came into possession of this catalog is also particular: I bought some documentation on Acoustic Research in Germany, by sending a message to the seller I discovered that he was an Italian who immigrated there years ago, which pleased us both. .in a subsequent message he wrote me that by rummaging through his vast paper documentation, he had found other AR "material" and that he would add it for free to what I had acquired, below you the "Delrama" catalog of 1965 for the use of us enthusiasts.

First the strange Italian version, note the printing of the characters and small differences compared to the original English version.

Catalog in original language

Price list

Price list Grado

[JKent]

29 minutes ago, Giorgio AR said:

Grado (probably their tonearm and pick-up upgrade the AR turntable! )

Maybe not. I've read that Grado cartridges can cause hum with AR TTs so a couple of years ago I emailed Grado to ask if their cartridges would be a good choice for me and they said the same thing--don't use a Grado with an AR TT or it could hum.

Interesting lit. Thanks for posting.

Kent

[Giorgio AR]

56 minutes ago, JKent said:

Maybe not. I've read that Grado cartridges can cause hum with AR TTs so a couple of years ago I emailed Grado to ask if their cartridges would be a good choice for me and they said the same thing--don't use a Grado with an AR TT or it could hum.

Interesting lit. Thanks for posting.

Kent

Kent, my reasoning is due to the fact that in this catalog the combinations of these three brands are offered and also the beautiful graphics of the time, supported by the various components enclosed in a stylized triangle: for the time, the user who saw an association between a magnificent amplification, "revolutionary" speakers such as the ARs, a valid tonearm and an equally exclusive pick-up, he would probably have bought the components of this combination ... and probably 55 years later he would still have a high level hifi coordinated level!
The AR3 alone combination with Marantz pair, Model 7 plus Model 8 or even Model 9 pair (I have never heard it), I think is great today and probably at the time, 1965 had very few competitors to match. total quality!
P.S. I have only seen the Grado tonearm on proprietary turntables from the same era as the Delrama catalog, do you know if it is possible to mount it on the AR turntable without modifying / cutting anything, therefore the replacement is totally reversible?

[JKent]

Giogio,

I don't know but I don't think the Grado arm could easily be mounted to the AR table. You can download the Grado manual here: https://www.vinylengine.com/library/grado/laboratory-series.shtml It looks like it mounts directly to the plinth (or more accurately, to a Grado armboard), while the AR arm is mounted to the floating "T" frame below the top plate. Maybe some modders could pull it off. Steve Frosten is an expert at such things. I had him rebuild my original AR tonearm but have not yet gotten around to installing it.

Kent

[Giorgio AR]

2 hours ago, JKent said:

20 minutes ago, JKent said:

You can download the Grado manual here:

 

Thanks Kent, wood tonearm has always fascinated me, not modern constructions, but as you will have understood the ones that man built long before this strange electronic and consumerist era.

[Martin]

FYI, in the early '70s, I used a Grado FCR (I think) as a spare cart with the AR XA & it sounded teriffic with no hum & no problems. Its relatively lower compliance made for an excellent paring with the XA tonearm.