Speakers AR should have made

[Steve F]

Classic Speakers AR should have made

 

Certainly, the bane of AR during the 1969-1977 timeframe (which was the very height of the stereo market boom) was the Large Advent. A very formidable speaker: great bass, virtually the equal of the 3a; an agreeable mid-hi balance and tonality that sounded clear, detailed and pleasing on most program material and most musical genres. Neither too bright like the JBLs nor too dull like the ARs.

 

As I’ve detailed in past posts, AR could have gone in two different directions to produce a speaker that could do battle with the OLA, and done so without tooling new parts or incurring any great delay in time-to-market. Here are two ways they could have gone:

  

1. A “super” 2ax with 12-inch woofer. Compared to the 5, a “2ax+” would have a more expensive woofer (+$10 wholesale), but would’ve more than made up for it with a far less expensive mid (-$20 wholesale net difference between the 3 ½” cone and the 1 ½” dome) and far less expensive x-over (-$15 wholesale). Yeah, ok add in around $5 for the very slightly more expensive 12”-sized enclosure and woofer-mounting hardware, but a “super 2ax” would still be at least $20 wholesale cost less than the AR-5, which translates into a far lower retail price than the AR-5’s $175.

2. As I posted recently here in post #13, they could have done a 12-inch 2-way with the AR-14’s 1-inch dome tweeter (although this option wasn’t available to them until around 1975.) This would also have been around a $140-150 speaker, far more attractive and saleable than the AR-5 at $175, the AR-14 at $140 or the AR-12 at $225. 

In addition to the Advent fighter, there were other speakers AR should have done. The LST-2 was a misfire, with its 10-inch woofer and 3 ea. 1 ½-inch mids and ¾-inch tweeters. AR always mis-read the appeal of their 12-inch woofer. The AR-5, -8, LST-2, AR-14 and AR-12 were all sales flops, mainly because at their asking price at that time in the market, they were not a particularly good value. AR 8”-based speakers were almost always a good value. AR’s 12” speakers were sought-after products, almost regardless of their asking price.

But the mid-price 10” speakers from the 1970’s were not good values (except the 2ax).

The LST-2 should have used the 12-inch woofer in the same enclosure as the LST. With the greater ordering quantity of those cabs, the cabinet price would have dropped. Do two 1 ½-inch mids (one ea. on each side panel) and three ¾-inch tweeters—one on each side panel and one centered on the front, above the woofer. The radiation pattern of both LSTs would be identical, unlike the “real” LST-2, which had a forward-facing mid. This proposed LST-2 would still have significant advantages over the 3a in terms of power-handling and dispersion, but would be able to come in at the $400 retail price point, far enough away from the LST’s $600 so that both made sense.

The other interesting speaker AR could have done is a 3-way 8” speaker, based on the AR-6 woofer. This could have been either an “8-inch AR-5” (which would’ve one heckuva nice—but pricey—little speaker, around the same or slightly more than a 2ax) or perhaps a less expensive variant, with the either the 4x’s or 2ax’s cone driver as mid and the ¾-inch tweeter, coming in at around the retail of the 2x (~$102-110 ea.) An “8-inch 2ax” (AR-6 bass with 2ax mids and highs) might have been a very interesting product.

Steve F.

[michiganpat]

I guess I'd discuss a "super 3a" much like the newer 98LS/LSi --  for accurate reproduction, it isn't easy for the 12" woof to cross smoothly to the 1.5" mid....making a larger cabinet, with say an 8" in a sub cabinet crossed 1st order at ~200-300hz and the 12" low passed first order at around the same frequency.......

the "2ax+" which would be a 1x with a supertweet sounds intriguing....

 

[ar_pro]

Interesting observations & proposals.

I certainly agree with michiganpat that a 4-way 12"-based system could've been a very practical & popular alternative to the AR-9 and AR-90; perhaps even obviating the need for the AR-90 entirely. With a manufacturer's stand as an option (as in the AR-11 series), it might have been a better bridge between all of the previous top-of-the-line 3-way 12-inch systems, and the new 4-way paradigm of the AR-9.

And it's been my opinion that Acoustic Research could have owned the soon-to-burgeon mini-monitor market with the creation of an 8", 3-way system; perhaps with the more modern aspect of a narrow-faced, deep-sided cabinet, as the vast majority of box-enclosure loudspeakers now have. This would suit the proposed 12-inch, 4-way system, too.

Of course, any of these possibilities might still be realized with a good enough woodshop, and an assortment of vintage drivers & parts!

[owlsplace]

Okay, since we are doing hypotheticals, image what might have happened if EddieV sold the company to the employees rather than Teledyne ... it's not like he needed the money to support his lifestyle

Roger

[DavidR]

2 hours ago, owlsplace said:

Okay, since we are doing hypotheticals, image what might have happened if EddieV sold the company to the employees rather than Teledyne ... it's not like he needed the money to support his lifestyle

Roger

I like that hypothetical idea.

[ligs]

Given the good low bass performance of AR 12" woofer I am surprised that AR commercialized only a few subwoofers such as AR1w and a sub under connoisseur series. 

Another puzzling observation is,  unlike JBL, AR has not invested much into the refining its 12" woofer driver in terms of better cooling, symmetric magnetic circuit or new cone construction.  

[nefertem]

Hi AR_PRO you forgot about the AR 93 as a 8inch woofer 3 way , When I  applied for a job at AR after getting out of High School in the 80s I was I didn't get a job

[michiganpat]

14 hours ago, owlsplace said:

Okay, since we are doing hypotheticals, image what might have happened if EddieV sold the company to the employees rather than Teledyne ... it's not like he needed the money to support his lifestyle

Roger

to play devil's advocate, IIRC he sold in '67....the 3a, AR5, AR6, the ADD series and the verticals (including the 9 and 90) were all developed under Teledyne ownership....so we may have missed out on some spectacular product as well

[genek]

Roy Allison and most of Villchur's other core team were still on board for the first five years under Teledyne. So I think most everything up to the ADD would probably still have been produced. Except maybe the AR-7 and AR-8.

[JeffS]

"The other interesting speaker AR could have done is a 3-way 8” speaker, based on the AR-6 woofer. This could have been either an “8-inch AR-5” (which would’ve one heckuva nice—but pricey—little speaker, around the same or slightly more than a 2ax) or perhaps a less expensive variant, with the either the 4x’s or 2ax’s cone driver as mid and the ¾-inch tweeter, coming in at around the retail of the 2x (~$102-110 ea.) An “8-inch 2ax” (AR-6 bass with 2ax mids and highs) might have been a very interesting product."

Maybe Roy Allison had the same thought when Allison Acoustics produced the Allison:Eight and CD8. I suspect that they didn't sell a lot of these as they are rarely seen for sale or auction, probably due to the better value of the Allison:Seven / CD7. An intriquing model that I hope to find someday.