iso Posted January 16, 2015 Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 There is 4 page vintage AR7 review in February 2015 issue of Hi-Fi News.Performance of the reviewed pair was found very good despite pair matching was not too good (+- 12,3dB). One speaker also was also found to have audible distortion from low level at 100 hz. I have quite often figured how much it is worth to match levels within 1/4 dB if 12dB errors do not make speaker like this unlistenable.It was stated in the review that AR7 was the first AR model to use vinyl wrap. Is my memory not good as earlier, as I thought that my AR7 pair I had in 70´s was veneered with real Koto wood? Maybe later ADD series AR7x was the first AR model to use vinyl wrap. Any memories or facts?In the same issue there was also reprint Subjective evaluation by Adrian Orlowski article from 1980. Article explains some basic information about what you can hear, but what can be quite difficult to explain with measurements. 4 page article covers issues with turntables, tonearms, cartridges, amplifiers and speakers. Nothing new, but worth to remember.Best RegardsKimmo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted January 16, 2015 Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 I had some US-made AR-7s that were real wood veneer. Not sure of the species but it was stained to look like walnut. But definitely real wood. They were ALSO available in the dreaded "wood-grain vinyl"-Kent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ra.ra Posted January 16, 2015 Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 Any possibility that you could attach a link or a reprint of this article? Whenever I listen to my AR-7's, I am often tempted to begin a post here that begins: "In praise of the tiny AR-7......" Kent was fortunate to have a pair clad in real wood, and his reprint document is probably from AR's initial offering of this speaker. As seen in my attachment here showing AR literature from 1973 (left) and 1974 (right), the size and performance specs remained the same but the price began to increase and the cabinet cladding descriptions became more vague (i.e. less wooden).From what I have seen, all European AR-7's had rear-wired tweeters and were clad in real wood, often teak. The AR-7x was only available in Europe, and it included an updated tweeter that employed ferro-fluid for greater power handling, I presume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted January 16, 2015 Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 I liked them very much. Replaced the caps and (possibly rock wool) stuffing, installed new Irish Linen grille cloth and refinished the cabs. Used them as rear speakers in a surround sound setup that included AR-4x's as fronts. The 7 was smaller than the 4x but according to Stereo Review in 1973, "...compares with many speakers selling for twice its price or even more... the effective lower limit is about 40 Hz...very respectable for a speaker of its size.The measured characteristics of the AR-7 were so outstanding that we were not surprised at its excellent performance using our simulated 'live vs. recorded' test technique."I eventually changed the surround sound system to include Cizek KA-1's in front and Cizek HTA's in back (with some other speakers for center, side etc.). The AR-7s went to a fellow AR enthusiast in Viet Nam!-Kent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ar_pro Posted January 16, 2015 Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 Pretty interesting article, although the reviewer's comment that these speakers were "designed in the days of much less powerful amplifiers" is kind of incorrect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobHolt Posted January 17, 2015 Report Share Posted January 17, 2015 I have a sneaking suspicion that whoever refoamed the woofer reversed the phase when reconnecting.The large null in the frequency response is what you'd expect with such an error - and its far more severe on one 7 than the other so perhaps the error applies to one of the pair only. Given the findings, you'd think the tester would check surely.My pair have nothing like these gross FR errors:AR7 1m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iso Posted January 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2015 I have a sneaking suspicion that whoever refoamed the woofer reversed the phase when reconnecting.This is mistake easy to make. It seems that these mistakes sometimes occur even on the assembly line. When I looked two 10" AR woofers (from 5 or 2ax models) and discovered that positive terminal stickers are near left terminal on one speaker and near right terminal on the other one, I thought that someone has misplaced one sticker. When I tested speaker phasing, I discovered that both stickers were placed correctly... so... most likely VC leads of one woofer were connected in reverse phase. Best RegardsKimmo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted January 17, 2015 Report Share Posted January 17, 2015 Yes--I've seen that too. IIRC the red + sticker was on the - terminal on at least one 2ax woofer.-Kent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ra.ra Posted January 17, 2015 Report Share Posted January 17, 2015 Thanks for posting the original article - - - it does make for an interesting read with equally interesting comments here.I may be mistaken, but I think Kimmo and Kent are stating two different observation experiences. Kimmo has found woofers with positive terminals in different locations (i.e. one on left, one on right, each one labelled correctly) while Kent has found an example where the positive terminal was actually mis-labelled on the woofer backside. [i suppose either of these scenarios could occur with other drivers (not only woofers) as well.] Nonetheless, Rob has raised an excellent point with a potential flaw in the article's test methodology and observations - - - even though my skills are insufficient to properly analyze the graph shown, it sort of looks like a train wreck to me.Other sloppiness: there is mention of a model AR-4a (doesn't exist) and a subtitle in bold letters referencing Audio Research (uh....oops!). My favorite, though, was seeing two mentions of the AR-7's vinyl clad cabinets and then showing a pair in gorgeous teak veneer with a rear label to confirm this.Great pic of Villchur, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djcheung Posted January 17, 2015 Report Share Posted January 17, 2015 It is funny that I have 2 pairs of AR7 both with real wood veneer.I think they were both made in the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iso Posted January 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2015 I think that all AR7 models I have seen were veneered with real wood. Most of them have been European models, as I happen to live in Finland. Maybe writer has mixed AR7x and AR7 specs. I ques AR7x was short lived, as it was released as ADD model and it was replaced shortly with universally available AR18. ADD line used vinyl wrap for models like AR18 and AR8... It seems that you were able to choose between real wood and vinyl if you bought more expensive 2-ways... As far as I understand drive units and crossovers of AR7x and AR18 are similar... so differences are mostly cosmetic and AR7x was some kind of transition between Original Models and ADD line. Audio Research typing error was not too insulting...I happen to have Audio Research SP3A, SP6C, SP14, D76A and CL60 models and they have advanced development of amplification similar way AR did for speakers. Best RegardsKimmo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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