guns kill people,
like spoons made rush limbaugh,
fat ....
AR speakers have never been considered Hi FI . Speakers like vintage Waferdale , Dyn Audio,
Vintage Klispch, JBL classics, B&W , sound much closer to the Altec Model 19 which is the bench mark All speaker mfr. should try to immatate.
AR speakers are fairly well thought of. To what degree, I'm not sure, since I've never looked for information on them, specifically.Originally Posted by LICORNE
Audio_by_Goodwill
Michigan, USA
There are plenty of people who would say the same thing about the Altec Model 19 and to the same degree they would be right.
"Considered" ? By whom?
Demand for audio products from those ancient days is coming (almost always) from a nostalgia subculture spiced with an addition of younger buyers who are discovering what the old folks were doing in their day. Combine that with the price of new stuff that sounds like something, and I think you need to look no further for an explanation of what ebay bidding does at times.
The AR3, and even more, the AR3a, is a decent speaker, unobtrusive, listenable for long periods, low distortion in the mid and upper ranges and flat frequency response. It epitomizes what was then and is now still sometimes called the New England sound, which was associated with listening to classical music at reasonable volumes in small rooms, often in apartments. This type of speaker was a by product of the stereo era, which made large speakers problematic, because two of them well positioned was difficult to achieve in most living rooms not dedicated to the purpose, and coincided also with the move to solid state, less expensive, low output impedance, more powerful amplifiers, which did not then and do not now match well with efficient light-coned woofers, horns and compression drivers.
By today's standards the AR3(a) and the later 10Pi both lack dynamism and definition, but I think they compete well at the $1000 price point for some people, although I would not choose them myself. There are later, better speakers available for that money, in my opinion. But that it is not the same thing as saying it was never considered a hi fi speaker. It was, and by a lot of well-respected listeners.
I can't comment on the value question, but to suggest that AR speakers were not hi-fi is ludicrous--they, along with KLH and a handful of other NE manufacturers, practically defined hi-fi during most of the "golden-age" of the mid '50s through mid '70s, besides having measurably deeper bass, flatter frequency response and wider dispersion than anything Altec ever offered for home use during the time period. Low midbass distortion and high efficiency are areas where the "west coast" speakers of the era may have excelled, but these are not usually considered "hi-fi" criteria.
BTW, I don't have a "religious" attachment to any camp and enjoy Altec, JBL and UREI high efficiency systems alongside various planar electrostatics and acoustic suspension systems.
Re: AR3's are worth this much?
NO!
Four bidders felt they were worth more than $850.00.
Maybe they perceive a holy image in the grill cloth stain.
Not all vegetables make good leaders.
Reasonably supported;
Obviously the selling point for most here.
"[I]We're going all the way, till the wheels fall off and burn[/I]!"
Bob Dylan, from [I]Brownsville Girl[/I]
[I]"Time wounds all heels"[/I]
John Lennon, referring to the Nixon/Hoover deportation fiasco.
Yes, it may be time for me to join AA (Altecs Anonymous):laffingassoff:I think they have meds for that now...
Yes, the AR 3a has a nice flat response. I'm sure many of the AR speakers did. We might have to agree to disagree in that I still find that statement to be too much of a generalization because I don't believe that anyone has the proof to say that every AR speaker had a flatter response etc. than "anything Altec ever offered for home use during the time period"..... To make such a sweeping generalization with any hope of accuracy, you'd have to have measurements for all the Altecs and AR speakers produced over a significant time period which I sincerely doubt that anyone has.....Reasonably supported;
bfish, I have noticed that you consistently display an impressive knowledge of vintage Altecs here on this forum. I'm actually very impressed with the response of the AR 3a now that you have been kind enough to post it here--I'd love to hear a pair. As far as "selling points", obviously here we're getting into personal opinions and I'm a firm believer that in this department everyone's personal preferences are equally valid--"whatever floats your boat". I would never presume to speak for anyone else, but personally although I love the bass that my Model 19's and Model 14's produce (and I love the efficiency of most of the Vintage Altecs), personally, if I had to pick a "selling point" I'd have to say I love the Altec "midrange magic" found in many of their vintage speaker systems that I've owned/heard over the years, and the h.f. sound that the combination of tangerines/lite diaphragms/H.F. EQ/compensation (from the 19 and 14 crossovers for example) produce..... I just find the statement to have a derogatory tone--implying that the vintage Altecs excelled in areas that "are not usually considered "hi-fi" criteria", when in fact, multiple Altec speaker systems that were produced for home use during that time period do in fact excel in other areas that are part of what many would consider to be "hi-fi criteria" IMHO....... As I stated before, I have no interest in being part of a debate regarding whether or not vintage AR or vintage Altec Lansing speakers are "better" or more "hi-fi", so I need to bow out of this thread and I personally will agree to disagree with some of the (IME) over simplified/generalized/derogatory statements that precede this post in this thread......Obviously the selling point for most here.
Being of "Sound" Mind
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