[Vintage-Audio] Re Acoustical Research Speakers

Mon May 19 20:36:00 2003

Yep .. ARs were highhly inefficient, but super HIGH quality .. the JBL, EV,
Kenwood, Sansui, Pioneer, and others were BOOM BOXES by comparison.  The AR
speakers were touted for being "acoustic suspension", and were in a totally
sealed cabinet...as, opposed, say, the "Voice of the Theater" EVs .. which
were highly efficeint, dB wise, watts in VS dB out ...vented .. Also, the
ARs had a very "dull" sound.  Put into an anachoic chamber, they were among
the MOST "true" speakers of the era.  Note . not all the microphones used in
the recordings met that criteria .. Microphones and Speakers are
interchangeable, to a degree, as to performance descriptions!  One of the
other highly touted speaks of that era, that were as inefficient, were the
Wharfdales --- same folks who brought you the Garrard turntables .. from
Great Britain !  These heavy dudes had SAND in them .. to dampen the thumps!
Now .. that kind of speaker created the need, or want, for high-priced,
high-powered amplifiers/receivers!  A marriage made in heaven, for many of
the electronic manufacturers .. like, Scott .. Marantz .. Fisher ..
Lafayette .. Knight  .. McIntosh .. you know the rest .. well before the
Japanese invasion of using THEIR brands ..
I have in my hamshack, a pair of AR-18s .. still, to this day, inefficient
.. but, OH SO SWEET!   It was easy to SELL AGAINST AR Speakers in the early
70s ... or, depending on the client .. SELL TO !!!!
Cheers, Duane, and all .. Mark ........AA6DX

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Duane Fischer, W8DBF" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2003 4:47 PM
Subject: [Vintage-Audio] Re Acoustical Research Speakers

>
>
> Greetings,
>
> Did any of you ever own/use the AR speaker systems from the sixties or
> seventies? If so, how did you like them and how did they compare to
> Electro-Voice or James B. Lansing speaker systems?
>
> I rarely ever hear their name mentioned anymore. Any ideas as to why?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Duane W8DBF
>