Tom T. & Ken K.

[Guest rickcee]

Hi As the resident, legit 'AR experts' I'm just curious - when you

re listening for the music, not 'listening to speakers' do you use ( i'm guessing AR 3 -303- or LST) classic speakers or stereophile type 'high end' such as Wilson puppies or . . .

your listening room electronics ?

right now I'm listening to 'blood on tracks' CD - old, still good Dynaco 25's , NAD 75 w reciever -

anyway, your participation is greatly appreciated. Rick

[tysontom]

>

>Hi As the resident, legit 'AR experts' I'm just curious -

>when you

>re listening for the music, not 'listening to speakers' do you

> use ( i'm guessing AR 3 -303- or LST) classic speakers or

>stereophile type 'high end' such as Wilson puppies or . . .

>your listening room electronics ?

>

>right now I'm listening to 'blood on tracks' CD - old, still

>good Dynaco 25's , NAD 75 w reciever -

>anyway, your participation is greatly appreciated. Rick

Rick,

First of all, there are quite a number of "legit" AR experts on this site. I do know a lot about AR history, but there are many, many members on this forum with more knowledge than I on the subject of certain AR models. The knowledge is spread far and wide, fortunately, as you will see if you follow this excellent forum.

In terms of loudspeaker-design expertise, Ken is definitely the one. He probably knows ten-times more than all of us put together, and we are all very happy for it, but then again this is his life's business to know.

I have been the route of the cultist, "golden-ear," audiophile-loudspeaker owner many times. I got up through several models of B&W 800 series, Threshold and Krell amps, etc., before coming full circle and back to AR. I think I realized that as good as these speakers were in certain respects -- detail, imaging, etc. -- there was always something missing. Granted, I began to prefer the spacious, far-field sound rather than the up-close, nearfield "sweet spot." Nearfield listening is very exciting in the beginning, but it soon becomes tiresome (proof of this theory, incidentally, is evident by the large number of frustrated owners of these specialized speakers, and the constant buying, trading and changing audiophile speaker systems looking for the elusive audio "Holy Grail"), probably because it doesn't represent the proper recreation of the spectral balance of real sound. For me perhaps it was just the natural, accurate sound from AR speakers that I missed. So now I am back to listening to Allison ESW-equalized AR-303as in our living room (I do drive them with great amplifier power -- 1KW/ch Crown Studio Reference). Back in my office, bookshelf-mounted, I have a pair of 1961 AR-3s, a pair of 1967 AR-3as and the AR-10Pi speakers used in the Neil Grover Live-vs.-Recorded demonstration from the mid-1970s. These speakers, of course, are switchable. I also have a pair of very early AR-LSTs.

--Tom Tyson

[kkantor]

Hey, I used to own and love A25's in teenage days.

So, there are several "legit" AR people here. Some who want to reveal it, some who are shy.

At times like this, when I am very immersed in new product design, I don't do a ton of listening at home. That's a long conversation for later. My recreational listening is done on NHT 3.3's, AR 303a's, and Quad ESL-988's.

[ninohernes]

I am no expert by any means, Im only 17, but I do know good sound when I hear it, after all, it is my job to differentiate between "good" sound and "bad" sound. My main system in the living room consists of a pair of restored AR-3's powered by and Adcom GFA-5400 which is 200 watts per channel (4 ohms). My preamp is an Eico HF85. In my recording studio, my monitoring system is a pair of AR-2's being powered by an Adcom GFA-5400 which is 125 watts per channel (8 ohms). And finaly, the little system that is going to college with me is a pair of AR-4x's powered by an Onkyo receiver which is 50 watts per channel. Vintag AR speakers are always my choice for listning. With AR speakers I feel like I am listning to the music and not the speaker. This holds true for all the models I own, even the little AR-4x's.