Found some vintage AR-3 speakers in my neighbor's garage (early 1960s)

My neighbor is moving and asked if I was interested in stereo equipment.
I don't need any but he showed me a original pair of Acoustic Research AR-3 speakers with serial numbers and grille cloths that place them in the early 1960s. He's got all Macintosh tube equipment but had put these speakers away years ago. Of course I asked him if they worked. He said they did when he put them away.

So next thing I did was grab a dolly and load these 53 pound (each) behemoths on and took them to my house.
I wired them up to my system (Rotel preamp and Rotel amp with Oppo player).... I cranked up some music on the speakers and they sounded real good to me. Very warm. Not bad at all considering their age.
I used my recording mic in the listening spot hooked to my HD camcorder and took video of the experience.
If anyone is interested to hear them I can post the video here when it is ready.

My neighbor wants to sell these speakers and I have no idea what these are worth. Any advice would be appreciated.

Here's a photo of the pair:

 

They are indeed nice speakers. I would check the woofer surrounds for signs of cracking and also check for signs of mold and rust from garage storage.

Fully restored these fetch over $600 dollars easily but in this initial state it's hard to say. Make him an offer something you can afford. Don't be fooled by the jerks claiming they are vintage or mid-fi junk. The ar-3 is one great speaker. You heard them!

 

I wanted a pair of AR-3a's very badly back in the good old days. Enjoy your find.

 

I still want a pair to this day!

 

Do the midrange and tweeter drivers work? Woofers are prone to foam rot, and the level controls more often than not need to be cleaned or replaced. What kind of shape are the cabinets in - water damage/scratched/gouged/scuffed/dinged corners?

 

They are very good speakers but requires a powerful amp.

 

I really like my AR 4xa's and would love to hear the 3's, unfortunately i don't think that any were imported to Finland back in the day. Not more than a handful anyway.

 

The Ar-3s are not bad speakers at all, but they are also not Audiophile speakers. They were representative of the speaker technology of 1963. They also require some heavy duty amp power to work as intended.

If you replace the surrounds, replace the crossover network, and probably the tweeters as well, you'll have a pretty Ok speaker. But I think you need to ask yourself, are you getting any bang for the buck there.

I've been thru many sets of vintage speakers. My own experience has taught me that speaker technology has moved light years ahead of what we had in 1963, and that really, a set of used Tannoy speakers for a few hundred bucks will sound a whole lot better than any vintage speaker that hasnt been completely and fully restored with new components. Not to critizize anyone who enjoys vintage speakers, just relating my own experience. Some people WANT the vintage , albeit, inferior sound of old speakers, and that is absolutely fine, like playing 45s on a 50s record player..,..it has a vibe and I get that.

My $400 Tannoy Saturns sound better than every one of the 10 other speakers I've owned, most of the others were vintage. Just food for thought.

 

I have a lot more photos showing condition. Cabinets are not dinged or gouged but they do have what looks like water damage on top only. Otherwise they look like speakers that have been around a long time but not abused.
They work great! I cranked them up on my system yesterday and uploaded a video recorded with my music recording microphone (not the camcorder built in).
They were surprising detailed sounding and I heard no issues with any of the drivers. Definitely a warm vintage sound.
If I had space for these I would buy them myself! I just have nowhere to put them. Here's th video:

 

I'll probably list these on EBay for local pickup... can't imagine shipping anything so heavy!

 

They may sound good now but the woofers could be close to rotting out. In which case you'll have one very pissed ebayer. I suggest you check before you sell.

 

The canonical vintage system for college students in the JFK/MM era was a Dyna ST70 and PAS pre, and an AR table and these speakers.

You will need to refoam the woofers and probably work on the crossovers.

Certainly there are better modern speakers but these still do certain things pretty well.

 

I owned a pair of AR-3a speakers years ago and enjoyed them.

 

They do sound nice but I would add the woofer surrounds are most likely finished. Did you check them?
What did your neighbor ask for them all things considered?

 

He would probably take $200 for the pair AS IS. The buyer needs to be fully aware that these are vintage speakers in completely original condition and thus accept all the possible things that need work and/repair. All I know is they sound great to me but I got no room for them anywhere.

 

Not a bad older speaker!

Will most likely need surrounds re-done now or soon. Caps in crossover and level controls also obviously.

I would offer about $150.00, and realize you may have to put almost that much back into them to get them in great shape.

 

A lot of speakers from that era still sound great. Many will bash anything DIY, Vintage, or Mid priced but hearing them is the key.

Yes most older speakers will be a bit rolled off on the top end, and have a more distinct voicing, that is quite different than the ear-bleeder "Super resolving" speakers of the last decade or so.

Audiophile back in the day, meant listenable, smooth, clear and nice sounding. Today, it means other things.

 

I'm trying to understand here. Are you selling them or is he? Also, perhaps the surrounds were replaced at some point. Sorry to have to ask again but did you check them?

I think a price of $150.00 is indeed tops considering the restoration work that will be required. Yes you probably will end up with local pickup given shipping costs.

 

I bought a pair of AR3s last year in excellent condition for about $600. I am in love with them!

The original surrounds are very sturdy. You should not need to replace them.

 

On the East Coast, perhaps; West Coasters opted for a more lively/not rolled off sound ala JBL...

 

Well what we talked about is me listing on eBay for him since I'm a long time ebayer with perfect feedback. In that case I would need $200 to cover my cost + fees but if anyone here is serious you can just buy direct from him and I don't have to hassle with eBay. They are entirely original and the grilles have never been off. I don't even know how to get them off and did not want to risk ruining. The cabinets are decent considering the age but the tops definitely have finish damage. Looks like they were used as end tables perhaps. So buyer should realize they are buying original equipment that currently works fine but could be in need of repair or maintenance. My neighbor is moving from San Francisco Bay Area to Oregon. As for shipping I don't even want to guess. I've never shipped anything that heavy before. That's why local pickup would be best. BTW I do have several more photos and will upload those when I get to my other computer

 

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