Older Acoustic Reserch speakers (1 Viewer)

[Greg Kolinski]

Anyone have any thoughts on the older ,early 90's Acoustic Reseach floor speakers?Im using a pair of TSW 510's for my front channnels and they still sound terrific to me.Just wondering if AR was thought of as a "good"brand back then etc.Since really getting into HT I;m going through everything I currectly have and getting rid of the Junk" I remember these were faily pricey back in91 when I got them.
Thanks
Greg Kolinski

 

[Jack Briggs]

Greg, back in the early '70s I used to own a pair of Acoustic Research AR-3a bookshelf systems (driven by Marantz electronics). They were a standard of the era. AR created the acoustic-suspension enclosure.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

AR was the standard for Decades, Along with Vintage JBL,Altec
and even Jensen.

While most of the latter were a mix of Horn Technology for
Mid and High range and Dynamic Drivers purely for the low
end. AR used Dynamic for the whole spectrum and thier vintage
equipment is still highly sought after (Turn Tables, Speakers
and even Amps)

AR was bought out by Teledyne who made your TSW's and they
too were very good speakers, AR even worked with DynAudio
to make a Reference Speaker System that sold for more than
15 grand back in the 80's (that was Pricey back then..)

Then AR was taken over by the Recoton Corporation (who also
owns NHT as well as 50 other companies) and they made a lot
of lower priced products for mass consumer stores such as
Sears, Circuit City and Best Buy. They then later came out
with the High Resolution and the Phantom lines that were much
higher pricer and far superior in terms of music reproduction.

The "Hi Res" Series became thier flagship series and they
relied on the same designations as the "Vintage" speakers
EG: AR1, AR3, AR7, AR9 etc. The AR1 is the largest in the
High Res Series line utilizing 2 Mag-Alloy 5.25 Mids, 1 1"
Titanium Dome Tweeter and 1 15" LFE Driver Per cabinent, the
15" Driver is powered by a built in Bob Carver, Sunfire TDC
Amp.

The Phantom series is also on par with the Hi Res line, the
Phantoms are meant for a "Minimalistic" approach. The Satelite
Cabinents are made from Extruded Aluminium that has no paralell
internal surfaces (no standing waves) and it is also coated
with Neoprene rubber so there is no cabinent resonance. The
Drivers are Illusion Audio Carbon Fiber Cones with Reverse
Motor Structures (Magnets on the outside of the speaker for
reduced mounting depth) They are very neat..

So that's where AR is today.. The Hi Res line is StereoPhile
Class B Rated Which in my mind says a lot about the quality
and value.

And yes, The old AR is great stuff!

 

[Greg Kolinski]

WOW thanks Brett,That more than answered my question
Soooooo ,Im using some Old Stark SR-3 in the rear,they are tanks!!!huge woofer and a tweeter and a mid range out the back also.Do you know anything about these??They appear to be very well made speakers ,garage sale from a few years ago,seemed just too nice to pass up

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Greg you are most certainly welcome.. I am as my title says
an AR Fanatic! I love thier vintage gear and even the newer
higher lines (I own all Hi Res Series components)

I wish I could help you with the Stark gear but I can't
dig up any info on them. Perhaps someone else here will
chime in with some info.