roadside find
Tony M
Posts: 11,129
Just picked these up ( from 1 house down from where I picked up that stereo rack with a broken shelf a week ago 
)coming home from lunch ( at the same burger joint too ) with the wife and daughter. Literally 11 houses and a church away from my house.
I've made a wooden shelf for that rack and it's upside down in the pics. below. I have to unscrew the legs and flip one glass shelf so the painted glass side of the shelf is on the bottom of the glass and won't ever get scratched off.
There were 2 piles. I searched the one ( didn't really see the second one for some stupid reason) and was leaving when I spotted the other pile about 20' away. So I got back out of the car to check these speakers out. I could see the backs so I knew they were OLD little speakers.
I smiled when I saw the AR4X on the label in the back. Rough grills though and I thought they'd be in bad and blown cond... The cabinets aren't really trashed either. The pics show their cond.
That one grill though didn't weather the years well at all!...
But after getting them home and prying the grills off, the woofers move freely and no tears or surround rot.
But, it's 90* and HOT. Hardly a breeze. I'll test them later or tomorrow.
Here they are;
)coming home from lunch ( at the same burger joint too ) with the wife and daughter. Literally 11 houses and a church away from my house. I've made a wooden shelf for that rack and it's upside down in the pics. below. I have to unscrew the legs and flip one glass shelf so the painted glass side of the shelf is on the bottom of the glass and won't ever get scratched off.
There were 2 piles. I searched the one ( didn't really see the second one for some stupid reason) and was leaving when I spotted the other pile about 20' away. So I got back out of the car to check these speakers out. I could see the backs so I knew they were OLD little speakers.
I smiled when I saw the AR4X on the label in the back. Rough grills though and I thought they'd be in bad and blown cond... The cabinets aren't really trashed either. The pics show their cond.
That one grill though didn't weather the years well at all!...
But after getting them home and prying the grills off, the woofers move freely and no tears or surround rot.
But, it's 90* and HOT. Hardly a breeze.
I'll test them later or tomorrow.Here they are;
Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
Comments
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Nice Tony! A little love, and you'll get those babies to sing!
Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, Antique Sound Labs AV8 Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
Spare Room: Dayens Ampino Integrated Amp, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's, Shunyata Hydra 8 Power Conditioner
Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Rotel RCD-1072 CD player, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
Garage #1: Cambridge Audio 640A Integrated Amp, Project Box-E BT Streamer, Polk Tsi200 Bookies, Douglas Speaker Cables, Shunyata Power Conditioner
Garage #2: Cambridge Audio EVO150 Integrated Amplifier, Polk L200's, Analysis Plus Silver Oval 2 Speaker Cables, IC's TBD. -
Nice Tony! A little love, and you'll get those babies to sing!
He picked those up for kindling....The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson -
Some AR on the side of the road? The nerve of some people. That's a cool find in my book.
I'm still waiting to find a pair of JBL 4435 or 4345s sitting on the curb. I guess I better be patient???🤔🤔 -
I just tested them...WOW!
https://youtu.be/GhiYhZs9npc
I now see what all the interest is in these older ARs is all about. Their sound is Amazing!
Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them. -
This is a great quick read on this AR4x speaker pr. . I found some GEMS! Their sound field is HUGE.
http://www.vintage-speaker-review.com/2012/03/acoustic-research-ar-4xa.htmlMost people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them. -
They are decent little loudspeakers. AR sold a zillion (relatively speaking) of the various AR-4 family members.
For info, see:
http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/library/acoustic_research/original_models_1954-1974/original_models_brochures/february_1971_brochure/
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Thanks for the link.
I read a minute ago that we are most likely to find AR4x's since they made so many and their price was ok back then.
I just read the AR4x's had wide dispersion tweeters. I can say I heard tonight what that description sounds like. Yes, the sound from these little guys was HUGE and balanced.
Another lucky day for Tony M. .
Now to put the RTA12b's back together with 2 eBay woofers, one original that stays and a temporary one to hear these guys. I'm sure they're going to blow away the AR4x's.
Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them. -
I thought they were KLH Model 6s at first.
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from 2012.
Some more cool info on these AR4x's.
http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/IP.Board/index.php?/topic/7292-ar-4x-competitive-with-todays-best/
This comment was on page 2;
C'mon, Soundminded, don't hold back. Tell us how you really feel!
As I read this discussion, and remember the less civil previous versions in the now defunct Kitchen, I can't help but think they are completely irrelevant to all but the very few of us who still have an interest in "retro" audio. It is like debating the relative merits and differences of 30 year old sports cars. I agree with Soundminded, the basics haven't changed enough to matter very much.
The world represented in this forum is an ever diminishing niche, and will never be resurrected. How many people really care if 2 boxes of speaker parts placed in an infinite number of listening settings can reproduce music better than another pair of boxes? How relevant are old studies and research oriented around this concept?
I love playing with and restoring old equipment, and appreciate the work of those who have attempted to define and improve the reproduction of sound, but I don't recall a 2-big-box-in-a-room product resulting from "studies" that changed the grand scheme of things. Perhaps we should consider what research Bose may have conducted to successfully market the concept of modules, and sound reflectivity. Imo, this success is what really put the last nail in the coffin of the 2 speaker/hifi/stereo concept. Today, research probably has as much (or more) to do with the delivery of sound, than the nuances of the "quality" of sound. The "quality" is apparently now "good enough" for 99+% of humanity. :-) It is highly doubtful the current generation of mp3/earbud users are concerned about any of this.
To stay somewhat on topic....I believe the 4x is/was a moving target. There were at least 5 different woofer changes, 3 crossovers, and experimentation with aperiodic loading (controlled air leakage) along the way. I have absolutely no doubt there were response variations between the iterations. There were 400,000+/- of the little beasties manufactured over nearly a decade.
RoyMost people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them. -
I went and cleaned the cabinets tonight.
Not much dirt or anything came off of them. Very clean wood!
It's so odd the grills are toast but the rest is pretty near perfect except that 2x2 delamination on the one cabinet.
The tweeter potentiometers absolutely need cleaning. I just looked through a thread on the web where somebody took plenty of pictures cleaning and restoring these exact ones.
And the wood is TEAK!
The cabinets are beautiful when wet. I'll definitely have to oil or wax these little beauties. Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them. -
I owned a pair in the early '70s, loved them and the AR2ax's that followed then
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I thought they were KLH Model 6s at first.
That's exactly what I thought when I spotted them. "Oh, another old pair of KLHs".
But to see the AR brass pins was a joy.
I've had more than a few KLH pairs and I don't remember being blown away by their sound like I was when these started their magic.Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them. -
They are nice speaks. Great for a vintage setup. Good on you for spotting them.
The Grills clean up easy.Speakers: Polk Lsim, ATC SCM19 v2, NHT SuperzeroSpeaker Cables: DH Labs, Transparent, Wireworld, Canare, Monster: Beer budget, Bose ears -
The ARs do well (best) with much power. The acoustic suspension alighnment pioneered by Villchur et al. basically ushered in the era of high(er) powered amplification (and vice versa).
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They are nice speaks. Great for a vintage setup. Good on you for spotting them.
The Grills clean up easy.
I'm curious as to the sound changes I can make when the Pots get refurbished. The tweeter dials are about centered right now. There was a lot of the dials where no sound came from the tweeters at all.
I missed them at first! Maybe somebody put them out 20' from where I was looking at another pile during those 5 min.. That's all I can reason since I can spot speakers from 1000 yards...and maybe be able to tell what brand and model too. Seriously...
These grills are seriously deteriorated. No clean up will happen.
Only replacing of the material will happen later on some time.
Just another 2 things to add to my to-do list.
Potentiometers refurbish and Grills cloth replacement. I have some really nice black cloth. Maybe some light tan cloth also. But the tan might be too thick.Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them. -
mhardy6647 wrote: »The ARs do well (best) with much power. The acoustic suspension alighnment pioneered by Villchur et al. basically ushered in the era of high(er) powered amplification (and vice versa).
I might hook them up to my Carver TFM35thx whenever I get those Pot.s cleaned.
Shoot, maybe a 555II or older NAD integrated.
I can't believe how much info and reviews are on the web about this AR Series. It's like this series were so well designed that they blew the minds of most of the stereo listening community. These little guys lacked deep bass but they are also very listenable. I didn't think one time last night that I need a subwoofer to make the sound I was hearing better.
I luckily hooked the wires up correctly too. There's NO marking on the speaker terminals at all. No instructions on those labels either! I happened to read that terminal info on a thread later, after I put them inside for the night.
I thought about it for a minute, read the labels and looked real hard for an indicator symbol and found nothing! I then hooked up neg. to the left and thought "right is red" for some odd reason.
The sound was SOOO good, I didn't think I had them wrong! It was late and I was so happy, I forgot to come inside and get a battery to test the polarity. I was going to earlier after they started playing but I called my old friend Mr. Paul, the man who's AR's we just re-foamed, to tell him about my luck, and to let him hear ( limited in quality of course ) through my flip phone how good they were sounding. He said he thought he could hear good sound through the phones but it surely couldn't transmit what I was hearing.
I'm still a happy camper and feeling blessed once again.
I just wish I NEVER threw that 6.00 or 10.00 pr. of AR3x's I think they were that I bought from a Goodwill store 10 years ago or more. They were so ugly! like these woofers are UGLY, I didn't think they would sound good. I don't even remember hooking them up after taking the grills off. They were twice or more bigger then these guys. Another one of my life's' regrets!
It hurts even more since hearing these AR4x's last night, that's for darn sure!
I just remembered, I saw another of this series AR speakers ( I think they were ) at a local Goodwill 10 years ago also, but the label said electrostatic. So I passed... Post edited by Tony M onMost people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them. -
There was a gorgeous pair of AR-6 at the local junk shop this morning. Gorgeous as in the grilles were original but clean and bright; like new. Heck -- minty, even. Wood was good (i.e., not chipped or stained) but needed refreshing of the finish.
I was able to resist them, though, fortunately.
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NOOOOOOOO
They say those sound pretty darn good too!
So it was "like a dead head Cadillac. You can never go back, never go back!"
Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them. -
Took a couple of hours this 4th of July holiday to replace the grill cloth. I had some tan cloth, about 100 sq. ft. of it but it had creases that needed ironing and so I looked at some black cloth I also have. I have 2 bags of black cloth. I grabbed one with the tan. Well, the black cloth had fewer creases so I went with that. I could always change it out later if I felt the urge.
Well midway through wrapping the 2nd grill, I noticed I was wrapping the wrong side. No Biggy. I just put the brass AR label on the corner that has the extra triangle to affix it to. It looks like mirror image speakers now, which they aren't but who cares.
I had some more fun. Next is to paint the speaker face and speaker rims and maybe the surround on the woofer, maybe not.
Then there's the tweeter potentiometers to rebuild projects.
I'll re-glue the peeling veneer soon too.
Man these speakers grills were ugly when I picked them up!
Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them. -
Looking good Tony!Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, Antique Sound Labs AV8 Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
Spare Room: Dayens Ampino Integrated Amp, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's, Shunyata Hydra 8 Power Conditioner
Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Rotel RCD-1072 CD player, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
Garage #1: Cambridge Audio 640A Integrated Amp, Project Box-E BT Streamer, Polk Tsi200 Bookies, Douglas Speaker Cables, Shunyata Power Conditioner
Garage #2: Cambridge Audio EVO150 Integrated Amplifier, Polk L200's, Analysis Plus Silver Oval 2 Speaker Cables, IC's TBD. -
Thanks Dave. You should hear them. Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
