Speaker Asylum: Re: AR3a's by peterh General speaker questions for audio and home theater.

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Posted by peterh on June 21, 2005 at 17:16:15

In Reply to: AR3a's posted by D Harvey on June 21, 2005 at 08:58:06:

I have a vintage pair of AR3s and am quite impressed. The bass range has real impact and goes deep effortlessly on organ music. The speakers have a sense of realistic weight and presence not only in the bass but higher up the scale. No mini-monitor has this weight; nor do most larger speakers. In general, contemporary audio goes for a bright sound because it is more fun to listen to on average material. There is a bit of bass emphasis in the 3 that had something to do with 1950s amplifier characteristics. The 3a is brighter sounding, and brighter than Kantor's 303 according to Julian Hirsch, who certainly was well-acquainted with the ARs and wrote a review of the 303. Mark Levinson was a great fan of the AR LST, which uses the same woofer as the 3 but triples the midrange-tweeter array to provide more uniform power radiation. I suspect that with the right electronics and accurate recordings, the 3/3a would acquit itself very well against good current models -- provided you listened with eyes closed! The small dome midrange ought to provide better detailing than the five or six inch cone used by most mini-monitors. One thing for sure: If you own mini-monitors and want a subwoofer for 30-100hz, I doubt you can do much better than a crossover and a vintage AR3. The fact is, the great innovations in speakers all happened long ago: the acoustic suspension woofer, the dome tweeter (both AR inventions), the folded horn and the electrostatic. If today's woofers are so much better, why are most speakers at any size or price unable to hit an honest 30hz? AR's success in live-versus-recorded concerts (one of which I attended) ought to count for something, too! Sounding like live music: Isn't that the name of the game, boys?

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