If it were up to you...

[Guest Brian_D]

I had a thought last night that I thought I would mention here... regarding the re-building or new construction of the AR3.

If you were going to do it today, what drivers/components would you use? Would you make any changes to the design? (crossover points, upper-range radiator shape, etc...)

I ask because I'm finding a tremendous lack of larger cabinet speakers with decent specs out there. Practically no one makes a simple woofer/mid/tweet design that really can perform like the AR's did (and still do with some care). And I'm seriously sick of companies like Parts Express selling "speaker kits" with tiny drivers and horrible crossovers. I'm also sick of the gimics that supposedly make up for lack in frequency range/directional stability/power handling, etc. (think boze)

Try to think of this as a practical "building the best speaker" excercise, not an attempt to recreate the AR3. For instance, I would almost assuredly use a Morel midrange, and the Tonegen woofer is a great unit in its own right. I couldn't even speculate on a tweeter!

Of course box size would be determined by the woofer displacement, and keeping the box sealed really limits the woofer choices a well.

Your thoughts?

-Brian

[soundminded]

Here's where I would start.

Woofer; PIONEER A30IR50-51F 12" BUTYL SURR WOOFER

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cf...t_ID=7489&DID=7

Midrange;DAYTON 2" DOME MIDRANGE

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cf...t_ID=7434&DID=7

Tweeter;Vifa XT25TG30-04 1" Dome Tweeter

http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&D...&WebPage_ID=121

The woofer is intended for a sealed enclosure and has an fs of about 19 Hz.

I'd experiment with both Butterworth and Lindquist Riley alignments but frankly, I'd consider bi or tri amplifying them. If the midrange and tweeter don't have a sealed back, I'd go for a sealed sub enclosure. I'd also probably throw in several indirect firing tweeters like;

AUDAX AW010E1 3/8" SHIELDED POLYMER DOME TWEETER

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.c...tnumber=276-020

or

DAYTON 1/2" SHIELDED MYLAR DOME TWEETER

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cf...t_ID=7349&DID=7

It's important to have measuring equipment if you have any hope of getting anything close to flat frequency response. On the other hand, you have a wealth of relatively low cost off the shelf parts available that Vilcher and Kloss never had.