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Lovely set of LST's


owlsplace

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This early AR-LST, #00081, was built in 1971.  It is remarkable (to me, at least) that one of the urethane surrounds is original if barely barely intact, even though the other speaker's surround has begun to collapse in on itself!  AR coated all of these early (until 1975) 12-inch woofer surrounds with a clear butyl-latex coating, and this one has been a survivor after 45 years, defying the odds.  My LST woofer surrounds lasted this way until around 2013.  Most of these surrounds were beginning to go south after 17-20 years, so to see them last for this many years is great.

This pair of LSTs has great original grills -- and the cabinets look great -- but sadly there appear to be problems with some of the tweeters and/or the crossover network.  Still they should do well considering their overall excellent condition.  My pair of LSTs are packed away, but they are in similar condition and have no electrical issues.  I stored the original beige-linen grills and ordered replacement grills from AR in Norwood, which were the later "white linen" versions, so the original grills are still in nearly new condition.

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Norwood "white-linen" grills

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AR-LST No 636, 1972

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AR-LST No. 636

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Norwood "white-linen" grill in center vs. "beige-linen" original grills behind.  The black outline is a result of a black sticky substance the AR Norwood people put on the grill frame before mounting the grill itself, supposedly to keep the grill material from "migrating" or sagging.  Instead, the black mastic leached through the grill.  This was later corrected, but some grills have the black showing through the grill itself. 

--Tom Tyson

 

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6/29/16

Fear not Tom Tyson, I will not abandon one of the few sole original members that still part take on this forum.

It’s so sad that the premier and probably best speaker AR ever made does not get much mention any longer on this site.

 

On the other hand if this site only spoke about AR-LSTs, there would be only a few members and it probably wouldn’t exist!

 

My 4 main LSTs are numbered extremely close to yours with a S/N of 0672, or there about and are all close in number. A date stamp is clearly still visible of June 1972.

According to the fellow that I acquired my speakers from in 1987.  I was told they were pulled out of a 42nd. Street theater during the time the mayor was tearing down that horrible, yet great area of NYC to make room for the “Disney”  fiasco that exists there now. 

That area had declined markedly since its heyday and was actually part of the wonderful character NYC was known for. 

 

In fact it always seemed to me in the late 1950s through out the early 1980s NYC was a place that if one turned a corner from if one neighborhood to another a whole different character would materialize. That is to say every few blocks presented a different scheme and character from the last. Each neighborhood was unto itself. Sadly, even the ‘flower-district’ is down to a mere couple of blocks.

 

Unfortunately, that sense of a different character from one neighborhood to the next is amazingly different. There doesn’t seem to be any ‘mom and pop’ stores anywhere for the most part, as once was the norm on almost every block. 

Big box stores, and fast food chains have taken over and the once colorful-character that distinguished NYC as being one of the most interesting places in the world is all but gone.

 

This homogenizing of major areas seems to be taking place everywhere, not just the USA.

The world is changing folks and seemingly, not for the better. 

The scary theory regarding the ‘NWO’ is rapidly taking shape.

 

Personally I am very appreciative to have experienced what I have in my life time.

And as a devout AR-LST listener, I too have become a rare bird.

fm

 

P.S. A long time ago I mentioned on this site that my originally bought in 1972 AR-3as had a shiny and sticky coated surround but most found fault with my determination and disagreed.

So, thanks or making mention of it as I knew I wasn’t wrong.

 

P.S. I was on another audio forum a couple of months ago describing a slight issue I was having with one of my new moving coil cartridges. When I mentioned my component set-up, I was lambasted by naysayers saying: “my system and speakers were so old, that no one remembers them any longer”  And: “ my system would not be able to discern a more costly moving coil cartridge”.  Imagine that!

 

I responded by artfully criticizing the poster’s negative comment by stating that:  “My AR-LSTs are pretty much the ‘Holy-grail’  of the vintage audio world!” “And some of the most expensive!”. 

In fact, my system has never sounded better since I’ve exclusively been using MC cartridges for the past three years. Admittedly, I’ve come late to the MC table, but I’m here to stay.

I can enthusiastically recommend them with any AR speaker as they really bring out the best ARs have to offer!

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Those are beautiful! Im fortunate to have a set of LST-2's I restored, and they sound phenomenal, so I can only imagine how the LST's sound when fully functioning! The winner of these will be a very lucky person to own these!

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