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Help identifying AR4x


grandpopsicle

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I have had this set for some time and just took them out and do not look like any others I've seen.  Got them some time ago at a yardsale. The have the owner's social # etched in the back. LOL.  Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

On one speaker it says AR 4x (little x upper right of the 4) on the paper glued to the back with a serial # 245931 on the other speaker the paper talks about AR , warranty and such with 2 signatures for 1 testing and 1 final inspection.

They have a darker cloth then the typical whitish color.

Have no switch on the back just 2 screw terminals.

Are ported with 8" woofer that has a ribbed cloth surround

3.5" od tweeter

 

 

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10 minutes ago, ar_pro said:

It looks like someone stuck a vintage AR brass badge onto the front of a ported, 2-way design.

Welcome to the forum, grandpops. 

Agreed, those are not AR drivers and that is not an AR cabinet. Grille cloth looks like one type used by Rectilinear but the selected drivers and lay-out do not conform with Rectilinear models. Pic of backside would be helpful, but maybe also include cabinet dimensions (H x W x D) for help with identification. And are the cabinets clad in faux wood? Nice badge, though. :unsure:

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Those are indeed (partial) authentic AR paper tags, but they have been transplanted from a dead corpse to a still-breathing patient of another species. The volume of your cabinets (19x11x8) are not substantially different from  the 4x (19x10x9), but the most obvious cabinet difference is the ported construction - -  all early AR's are sealed cabinets and acoustic suspension designs. Peeking inside at the driver backsides and the crossovers might help with your ID,  but they are thusfar not recognizable to me.     

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12 hours ago, ra.ra said:

Those are indeed (partial) authentic AR paper tags, but they have been transplanted from a dead corpse to a still-breathing patient of another species

White van specials is my guess.

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19 hours ago, ra.ra said:

Those are indeed (partial) authentic AR paper tags, but they have been transplanted from a dead corpse to a still-breathing patient of another species. The volume of your cabinets (19x11x8) are not substantially different from  the 4x (19x10x9), but the most obvious cabinet difference is the ported construction - -  all early AR's are sealed cabinets and acoustic suspension designs. Peeking inside at the driver backsides and the crossovers might help with your ID,  but they are thusfar not recognizable to me.     

Didn't have too high of hopes. The quality is ok but minimum electronics inside with no identifiers of any sort....anywhere. Only paid $5 IIRC so may just get my money back out of the tags. :lol:

6 hours ago, JKent said:

White van specials is my guess.

Maybe, but the build is pretty good..to good for van speakers IMO. Recessed holes, seals, pem nuts inside, strong solder connections, nice fit and finish.

1 hour ago, Chris1this1 said:

Those actually look almost identical to a pair of radio shack speakers I found curbside, just mind don't have the port. I'll post pics when I get home. 

Thinking we may have a winner on that thought as the cloth reminds very much much of my teenage years. Was about all you could afford from doing paper routes, apple picking etc. The drivers seem better quality than I remember for tandy/optimus though.

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15 hours ago, larrybody said:

Could these be some type of Utah speaker.

Those certainly bear some resemblance, front and back both, but I'm pretty sure the Utahs are acoustic suspension.

19 hours ago, grandpopsicle said:

The quality is ok but minimum electronics inside with no identifiers of any sort....anywhere.

Not even any labels or stamps on the backside of the drivers? The OP's woofer is kinda interesting - - looks maybe like a pleated cloth surround sitting on a Masonite ring? And who knows about that cone tweeter?....the color may be unusual, but its simple construction may not be altogether different from similarly sized tweeters used by AR, KLH, and many others.  

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It looks like you've got yourself a pair of Criterion 50-A's that someone attempted to "rebrand" as AR-4x's. Coincidentally, both speaker models were mentioned in this paragraph from Popular Mechanics (May 1972), and the drivers shown are currently being available in an online auction.

criterion 50A PM May 72.jpg

Criterion 50A.jpg

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