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

Close ups

 

I cannot say for sure if he would take $150. I 'd have to ask.

 

Back in the 60s and 70s, there was a very distinct regional difference in preferences of speakers among the "hi-fi nuts". On the West Coast, JBL and Altec based horn systems were more popular where as in New England and in the Southeast and most points between besides NYC, New Jersey and Philadelphia, acoustic suspension systems and to a limited extent dipoles were more popular.

The chowder crowd dismissed horns as "Just Big and Loud" and in California they called the AR/Villchur/Allison school "Boston Bland" and "monkey coffins".

Areas in between either allied with one or the other school or ignored the whole business.

 

Put 'em on ebay and you'll get $500+ for them.

 

Wow you really think so? Limited exposure with local pick up though. Seems high for the original time worn cosmetic condition. But they do sound great and they are original. To a collector I suppose they would have value. It's my understanding that they changed phasing between the mid and woofer between 1960-1965. I found an old schematic and history when searching the serial number. Ver informative. You can't just go replacing drivers on these speakers without knowing about them first.

 

I like the speaker stand for the right speaker in your video.
And just where ids this local pickup?

 

I posted in the When Did You Know You Were an Audiophile Thread that the AR-3a a friend of mine had with a Daynaco PAT-4 and Stereo 120 and AR Turntable were what got me hooked. First good speakers I bought were AR-4ax.

 

So many times I have read comments from people whose opinions I respect about how these speakers require powerful amps. Not meaning to cast aspersions, but out of sheer curiosity I wonder how it is that these speakers were sold/used to such positive effect in the 1960s when amps were not nearly as powerful as they would be by the mid 70s and beyond.

 

The foam-rot issues doesn't apply to AR-3's they have cloth surrounds.

 

That's what I was thinking, although I am not personally familiar with this specific model AR. Cloth surrounds just need some redoping to bring them back to life - an EASY fix.

I've seen AR-3's sell for $600+ on AudioKarma's (subscriber-only) Barter Town, but I'm not sure what they'd fetch in unrestored condition. There is considerable demand for these speakers.

 

Speakers are in Silicon Valley so however far anyone is willing to drive to get.

 

Thanks for that info. Yes I myself was surprised they sounded so great and lasted so long. That explains it. I have had other speakers fail with foam rot and I'm sure if these were foam they would have been rotted long ago.

 

Expectations were less. Volumes were lower too.

People today and since the arena rock era have volume expectations that were completely unknown before about 1968. Classical, jazz, and folk music was what most of the people who bought serious hi-fi equipment listened to. Only teens and greasers listened to rock before about '67 or '68. They, and their parents who liked Lawrence Welk all had consumer mass market stuff, portable record players and consoles.

Reading the old hi-fi books (and you should) all of them before the early seventies said that a power output of ten to twenty watts was what most people needed. In the solid state era that multiplied because the sonic consequence of overloading was so much worse, people needed more headroom, plus speakers were less sensitive and they wanted better bass extension and LF volume.

 

I did notice I has to crank the volume up more than normal. Could it be because they are. 4 ohm?

 

One thing I noticed with these speakers is the depth to the music and the vocals really sounded good through these. Kind of wish I could keep them but no room anywhere.

 

Interesting. I just saw item # 221402858974 on eBay which are AR3 pair in worse cosmetic condition and the seller wants a lot of money but what surprised me is shipping from east to west coast was $133.

 

Why prefer late 50s and early 60s equipment to anything else.

 

No, it's because the AR-3 is super-inefficient. AR-3's were my first 'real' speakers. The good—real deep bass, good "voicing." The bad, major power suck, potential placement problems [thanks to all that bass], tweeters and midrange units hard to replace/repair. And the adjustment controls were a pain as I recall.

 

those speakers sound great, in the youtube link!!

 

You should be able to refoam the woofers for under $25 and a little work, but well worth it.
http://www.abtechservices.com/welcome.html
http://www.newfoam.com/

 

I wish I lived closer those speakers would be in my car right now.

I did not know the older AR3's surrounds were so rugged they could last this long. I do think I would have them done anyway.

 

Why do people keep telling him to refoam the surrounds? These are not Advents. The surrounds should be fine.

By the way, I bought mine from a seller who shipped them from Florida to Ohio for about $100. He packed them great and they arrived no problem.
I would say yours will easily sell for $500+

 

Screw the speakers, what's he doing with the amps?

 

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They may or may not be fine, neither you nor I would know. My surrounds rotted/dried out at the 20 year mark. They were easily repaired with the new foam surrounds.

 

Dynaco made the 60 watt MK III amp available with the AR-3 speaker in mind. I believe that AR's demo booth in Grand Central Station used the MK IIIs to drive the AR-3s. Most tube amps were well below 60 watts when the AR-3 was released - it's been said that AR was the cause of the amplifier horsepower wars. Acoustic suspension speakers are relative power hogs when compared to ported/vented or horn loaded speakers.