The Beautiful AR-3

[Liangshan Marsh]

17 minutes ago, tysontom said:

One of the things I've always admired about the AR-3 was that you could see the very faint image of the "fried-egg" midrange and super-tweeter through the grill.  Note that the term "fried egg" belongs to the AR-3 , but it has been used for other speakers, even the Advent tweeter!

--Tom Tyson

Very interested in to know  the term "fried egg" belongs to the AR-3  and the nickname "fried-egg" been using for the AR3s's midrange and super-tweeter ... Thanks Tom-

 

Rarely to see the  front moldings having the wood grain texture like this, Wonderful!!! ... The cabinets looks like birch finished..?

[tysontom]

16 hours ago, Liangshan Marsh said:

Very interested in to know  the term "fried egg" belongs to the AR-3  and the nickname "fried-egg" been using for the AR3s's midrange and super-tweeter ... Thanks Tom-

 

Rarely to see the  front moldings having the wood grain texture like this, Wonderful!!! ... The cabinets looks like birch finished..?

This pair of AR-3 speakers, C 17533 and C 17534, were special-ordered cabinets for a professor at MIT.  The cabinets were, if I remember correctly, stained birch, but the cabinet molding was done in stained red or white oak.  I'm not altogether positive about this, and I only have a few pictures of these speakers.  I suspect this was a one-off special order.  The speakers had an oil finish, too, which was unusual.

--Tom Tyson

[Liangshan Marsh]

That is very nice , rare pair with special-ordered cabinets. Thanks Tom- for the info ..

In other thread, LAKECAT had talked about :'' Eucalyptus veneer offered on AR3's..?????? ''. Have you ever known about that offer before, Tom- ? Very interesting to hear your opinion about the Eucalyptus veneer soon.

[tysontom]

16 hours ago, Liangshan Marsh said:

That is very nice , rare pair with special-ordered cabinets. Thanks Tom- for the info ..

In other thread, LAKECAT had talked about :'' Eucalyptus veneer offered on AR3's..?????? ''. Have you ever known about that offer before, Tom- ? Very interesting to hear your opinion about the Eucalyptus veneer soon.

It is possible that this was special-ordered; however, with the absence of the standard grill molding frame line (it was veneered-over), I suspect that a cabinet-maker added veneer to the original AR-3 cabinet.  I'd love to see more pictures of this speaker from the sides, front and rear (e.g., does it have a plywood cabinet, or is it an MDF-type cabinet?).  It's really hard to tell, but since the veneer is over the molding, I really doubt this was a factory special order.

--Tom 

 

[Liangshan Marsh]

Thanks Tom for that INFO, still waiting the update about the Eucalyptus veneer from lakecat . Hope him gets a chance to ask the gentlemen that was working on the Eucalyptus veneer AR3s pair... More questions and getting more PIC.

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         Edited: Just relocated ,moving couple pairs from other room to this study room.

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[harry398]

On 4/22/2016 at 10:50 PM, bjmsam said:

Thanks!  Info here: http://www.artesanosdonbosco.com/

I just asked my dad about his purchase of that 3a pair:

Ridiculously low prices on CL seem to support that view; I bought AR9, AR90 and AR94 for next to nothing (but agree that AR-3 and AR-3a are more beautiful).

Some prices are low, some arent.  Price in dollars is not a constant though.  You still have to factor in inflation,  $500 in 1970 does not mean 500 dollars in 2016.  Price it in gold,silver,oil, or compare it to whatever you feel matters, these speakers would cost way more than 2000-3000 dollars today, even with production efficiencies.  Try finding real wood veneer?? 1970 camaro price?  everything costs 10 times more than 1970.  Ask yourself Why?

I am personally happy about the millennials, and all the rest of the hurd doing their thing........I get to enjoy this hobby for dirt cheap.  They dont care?  GOOD!

Got my AR3a's from a thrift store...$40 Plus tax.  I squirted the Pots with wd-40 on the advice of my Brother, the pots work well now , and the sound is exceptionally clear-rich-full and easy on the ears..  Best I have so far.

They arent super polished , but they are sealed and sound incredible to my ears.  yes, they arent ar3's, but they are MY AR3a's. 

 

Hard to match that 12 AR woofer.....smooth..........enjoyable.

 

Often time only gratitude goes to designers and engineers.....overlooking that these had to made by people...So I want to express My Thank you toward the hidden working people ---who sweated and toiled to produce these!  Another aspect of todays society that is overlooked.....the Working man......The clock puncher.......guys like me.

Salute.

 

 

[CSUNRocks]

These are twin sisters from this post mentioned earlier.  AR-3 sounding well in Wisconsin. The pots and solinoids and one speaker was resealed was the only work. These have never been played loud and sound wonderful. Christmas instrumental is playing a lot now in Dec. The piano sounds so realistic. I can even hear the guitar player move his hands up and down the strings with my poor hearing. To clean cherry wood lacquer finish, I use my Gibson guitar polish cleaner. I trust this on my vintage lacquer guitars too.