Trying Vintage Speakers

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Rattlin' Bones, Jun 18, 2018.

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  1. Ctiger2

    Ctiger2 Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    I'm also a HUGE AR fan as my mains are AR9's. I also own AR4x's and they're great little speakers. Just make sure you power them with high powered SS amp with a tube pre preferably. Properly powered the little AR4x's will open up nicely and that muffled boxy sound people talk about goes away. I once put the AR4x's on top of my klipschorns and plugged them in and ppl were amazed at how great and loud those khorns played! Ha!
     
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  2. PhxJohn

    PhxJohn Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    I am a huge AR fan also. I had wanted a pair of 3a's since I was a teenager. Thanks to the Internet and Vintage AR, I now own a pair of 3a's. I also have a pair of the original design 6's with the better woofers and inductors. The 6's are capable of startling bass. A new tweeter was introduced with the 6's as well. Since the 6's are not as well known as the 4's, they often sell for much less. Same with the 5's often selling for less than the 2ax's.
     
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  3. StimpyWan

    StimpyWan Forum Resident

    Match the capacitance uF/mdf rating as closely as possible. Voltages can be equal to or higher. Not lower.

    It's usually best to match the type of capacitors that were used originally. If they're electrolytic, you can stick with NPE electrolytics. Sometimes you'll find polypropylene caps on the tweeters and electrolytics elsewhere. Rarely, poly caps are used through out, but no reason that you can't. I usually recap with polys.

    As I mentioned, good NPE brands to use are made by Bennic and Mundorf (E-Cap). Poly caps are more expensive, though there are cheaper brands.

    Entry level:

    Dayton 5% and 1%
    Audyn Q4
    Erse
    Bennic
    Mundorf MKP

    Mid level:

    ClarityCap
    Solen
    Obbligato
    Mundorf EVO

    You don't to know about high end caps!!!

    Check out Parts Express, Parts Connexion, Madisound, and Sonic Craft. All have a variety of capacitors.
     
    Spin Doctor likes this.
  4. StimpyWan

    StimpyWan Forum Resident

    Human Speakers are great. The owner was an ex EPI employee, so they're basically new EPI's. Human also repairs EPI, Epicure, and Genesis speakers.
     
  5. PhxJohn

    PhxJohn Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    My NAD C272 powers my 3a's with no sweat. I bought the amp first. I figured there was no point in buying 3a's if I could not find a suitable amp(that I could afford) first.
     
  6. EdogawaRampo

    EdogawaRampo Senior Member

    Everyone is mentioning Vintage AR, but I couldn't find any contact information on them in my search last night. Anyone know where they are?
     
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  7. PhxJohn

    PhxJohn Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    You can find them on eBay. Larry Lagace owns Vintage AR. I would post a link but then you would be in my account. LOL.
     
  8. PhxJohn

    PhxJohn Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    You can do a seller search on eBay. Use advanced search 'vintage-ar'
     
  9. Mike from NYC

    Mike from NYC Senior Member

    Location:
    Surprise, AZ
    I had AR4As back in the day for 2 years and didn't like them at all for the music I listened to - RnR back in 1964. I upgraded to AR 2AXs and thought the sounded vastly superior - even better than my Dad's AR3As.

    Many modern speakers with a 8" or 6.5" woofer will blow away the ARs unless you listen to classical or jazz all the time and then their lush sound would sound decent in an inexpensive system.

    They had the typical New England sound just like Goldenear's have and DefTechs.
     
  10. PhxJohn

    PhxJohn Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    Consumer Reports rated the 2ax higher than the 3a. Their criticisms of the 3a were distant sounding treble and a thickness in the midrange. I believe that AR shortly thereafter modified the crossover to eliminate the thickness in the midrange. Most AR 3/4" dome tweeters have little to no output these days and are often replaced with HiVi Q1R tweeters. Amazingly, there are one or two guys out there that can rebuild the 3/4" dome tweeters.
     
  11. Rattlin' Bones

    Rattlin' Bones Grumpy Old Deaf Drummer Thread Starter

    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    Just what I listen to: jazz and classical. I like the east coast audio sound.

     
  12. bluesky

    bluesky Senior Member

    Location:
    south florida, usa
    AlNiCo :)
     
  13. EdogawaRampo

    EdogawaRampo Senior Member

    I'll try that. Thanks. I think I tried before but didn't include the hyphen or something...
     
  14. StimpyWan

    StimpyWan Forum Resident

    There is a Vintage AR store on eBay. A good source for Acoustic Research parts.

    vintage-ar

    And yes, I am also a big Acoustic Research fan. I currently own my AR90, AR58S, and AR-1MS speakers. All have been refurbed and recapped (a journey in itself). Updated, they sound far better than they did new. I bought my AR90's new, and a recap with Mundorf EVO Oil capacitors made a huge difference in sound. Much better than the worn out original Callins caps.
     
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  15. Mitsuman

    Mitsuman Diamond Tone Junkie

    Location:
    Missouri
    I like Solen but some think they’re a bit bright. I’ve used them in 2 pairs of vintage Mitsubishi monitors and I didn’t find that to be true.
     
  16. Mitsuman

    Mitsuman Diamond Tone Junkie

    Location:
    Missouri
    Don’t rule out the A/D/S line then. Very smooth and yet still accurate.
     
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  17. PhxJohn

    PhxJohn Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    Even the little old AR 7's were decent. My first pair of AR's were the 7's. A friend gave me a pair of the 2's. The ones with the 5" 'tweeters'. Decades ago, I went to Radio Shack and bought 2 metal midrange/tweeter horns and L-pads to go with the AR 2's. . The combo sounded pretty good. That led to a new pair of Klipsch KG-4's. I had the little Magneplanars. Great sound but missed the bass. Bought Belle Klipsch. We know how I felt about those. Back to AR's. Almost full circle. My first stereo was a KLH compact. I liked the old KLH speakers but I think AR outdid them on bass. And a few other things. AR's 1.5" midrange dome is one powerful marvel.
     
  18. Rattlin' Bones

    Rattlin' Bones Grumpy Old Deaf Drummer Thread Starter

    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    I didn't buy any AR. I bought the vintage Dynaco A10's.
     
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  19. PhxJohn

    PhxJohn Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    Here's some info for you :
    Dynaco A-10
     
  20. Rattlin' Bones

    Rattlin' Bones Grumpy Old Deaf Drummer Thread Starter

    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    As always, thanks Phoenix. I read that and a lot of other source material.

    If I don't like the Dynaco I doubt I'd like the AR's. I'd just go with a new speakers with a 6" woofer.

     
    PhxJohn likes this.
  21. PhxJohn

    PhxJohn Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    I'm sorry...I must have missed something. Did you already get the Dynaco's and do not like them ?
     
  22. Rattlin' Bones

    Rattlin' Bones Grumpy Old Deaf Drummer Thread Starter

    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    Yes, my original post lol:

    I decided to try a set of vintage Dynaco A10's: at 8 ohm with 6.5" woofer and 1.5" tweeter they might perform better than my modern Peachtree D4 at 6 ohm with 4" woofer and 1" tweeter. We'll see when I set it up next week.


     
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