ar_pro Posted September 18, 2015 Report Share Posted September 18, 2015 Classic AR-9 systems made an appearance at one dealer's display.Still relevant, after all these years! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owlsplace Posted September 19, 2015 Report Share Posted September 19, 2015 Always relevant So you are in HK? Pick up a batch of those cheap AE pot replacements while you are there Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidR Posted September 19, 2015 Report Share Posted September 19, 2015 What's with speaker these days: multiple medium-sized woofers. I've yet to hear any that sound better than my AR90s. There maybe a brand out there that does but I haven't heard it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genek Posted September 19, 2015 Report Share Posted September 19, 2015 And pricey, too. Those towers with the three 8" woofers are $13,000 a pair... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonnar Posted September 19, 2015 Report Share Posted September 19, 2015 Ridiculously pricey. Audio market in Europe is infested by expensive, ugly, multiple little woofers reflex tower speakers, bright sounding and with no low extension . They have neither the dynamic range and the impact of my old Altec Valencias, nor the accuracy and the exceptional bass of AR speakers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iso Posted September 20, 2015 Report Share Posted September 20, 2015 I agree that pricing of top of the line HiFi gear has skyrocketed to level that I can not understand. But... I have sometimes visited in local HiFi shops and have witnessed many set ups that do outperform any vintage set up I do have by quite clear margin. It is true that you can not buy these sets from flea market for pennies, but some of them do not cost arm and leg.There has always been good and bad designs. Comparing bad new design, or design you dislike to your favorite vintage gear does not make all new designs bad. I can live with shortcomings of recently refurbished Ariston RD11s turntable, SME3009 S2 improved with Stanton 881S, but I would not say that this is the best turntable ever made, as better decks, arms and cartridges have been made since.Comparing handling or refinement of 1955 Roadmaster to recent BMW or Jag would show some shortcomings in Buick design... but if you do like it... GM is your way. Best RegardsKimmo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonnar Posted September 20, 2015 Report Share Posted September 20, 2015 Last modern speakers I 've heard are B&W 800 Diamond and Dali Epicon 6, and I don' t like it . Three words to describe its sound : artificial, unnatural, boring. May I suggest You to hear a pair of restored AR 3? Not the 3a , the AR3 is a different thing. The only speakers with same excellent mid-highs, in my opinion, were the Acoustat X and the Stax Els F 81, but without AR 3's clean and deep bass. Modern cars are full of high-ranking technology, but very ugly and without personality. My father had a BMW 3.0 Csi in 1972, one of the most beautiful coupe I've ever seen , with its inimitable front , beautiful, elegant, nervous and fast. Modern cars are perfect and useful, not elegant. In 1979 , with a friend, I bought an used ( and very rare in Italy ) 1972 Dodge Dart Demon, I remember it as the funniest car I' ve ever had in my life . No class, but funny, aggressive, powerful. Back to speakers: if You ever plans to visit our sunny country, it would be a real pleasure to have You in Rome to listem my AR 3s ! Cheers, Adriano Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iso Posted September 20, 2015 Report Share Posted September 20, 2015 AdrianoThank You for invitation... If I will ever visit Rome, I will gladly visit you and listen your nice AR3 and Altec´s too.I also like vintage cars and hifi and prefer my 5500 model Airking to Omega Speedmasters or Devilles for similar reasons. They do not have to be the best ever designs to be dear to me. I am enclosing couple of pics of old world Ariston RD11s, which is now especially dear to me.Best RegardsKimmoPS original AR bearing oil was used for Ariston rebuild... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonnar Posted September 20, 2015 Report Share Posted September 20, 2015 I 'm not so much into watches, but I use this for my everyday's life, a vintage Rolex Oyster , we 're both 1960. Not extraordinarily precise but elegant and reliable ....and vintage just like me. Your RD 11 ise very, very beautiful! I remember it well beacause my father had it in 1978 with the same SME arm, to me it' s an elegant , affordable, excellent sounding turntable , a real competitor to the expensive Linn Sondek LP 12 or Michell Gyrodeck. But I have a real lust for original Transcriptor Reference Hydraulic , my uncle has one since 1972 . Wrong? Unreliable? Bad sounding? Pehaps. But it' s a work of art. Best wishes, Adriano Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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