AR3a Speakers

[stehen kimball]

I recently replaced my old Bose 901 Series II speakers with a pair of excellent vintage Acoustic Research AR3a's, and man do they sing, especially with classical and jazz! Sometimes old is good !
Cheers!

[emaidel]

The AR-3 was AR's top-end model, retailing (at a 20% discount, which was customary at the time) for $180 each. While its measured response was quite good, and it received glowing reviews in the mainstream audio press at the time ("Hi-Fi Stereo Review, High Fidelity Magazine, and Audio Magazine), few retailers cared much for the speaker for two reasons: its overall sound wasn't especially detailed, and often deserved the common adjective applied to many AR speakers - "lackluster." It was also a none too profitable model either, and often the subject of less than fair speaker comparisons: when switching from one set of speakers to another, the louder of the two almost always sounds better. Since the AR-3 was a very inefficient speaker, requiring a good deal more power than many others, it fared poorly in such comparisons when dealer salespeople didn't take its efficiency into account. Lastly, the crossover point from the woofer to the midrange unit was a bit high (1,000HZ) resulting in some unpleasant coloration.

The AR-3a was introduced in 1968, and made many an "AR-hater" a fan. According to one of AR's people at the time, the "crud" was removed from the woofer by lowering the crossover from 1,000HZ to 700HZ. The result was a far more musical and listenable loudspeaker than AR had ever made before. Still, at a retail price (less the 20% discount) of $200 each, it was a very pleasant sounding speaker, and gave the KLH-5 a run for its money Dealers still didn't make much of a profit on it, but at least they liked it, which is a lot more than can be said for the rest of the AR line at the time.

[Feanor]

I recently replaced my old Bose 901 Series II speakers with a pair of excellent vintage Acoustic Research AR3a's, and man do they sing, especially with classical and jazz! Sometimes old is good !
Cheers!

Welcome to AR, Stehen.

Old Bose to old AR sounds like a good move to me. emaidel's history and characteristics of the AR3 and AR3a is perfectly I believe, but tends to down-play the reputation of the AR3a which was very high indeed in the late '60s and early '70s. Audiophiles, if not the general public, raved about it. The AR3a was a more natural sounding and detailed speaker than say, the JBL L100.

I never owned the AR3a but I did own the AR5 which as the model immediately below it. It was a slightly warm, very musical speaker and reasonably detailed and accurate -- perhaps a bit "New England" in style, a little laid-back with slightly attenuated highs.

The AR3a is definitely a classic -- I hope you enjoy them a lot.

[JohnMichael]

Welcome to AudioReview and I am glad you are enjoying your AR's. I have owned several pairs of AR's and enjoyed them all. I worked in an audioshop that sold AR's, JBL's and Bose. I sold mostly AR's because if I sold too many Bose I might win a pair. I always thought that AR's did a great job with string tones since I to love classical.

[E-Stat]

I recently replaced my old Bose 901 Series II speakers with a pair of excellent vintage Acoustic Research AR3a's, and man do they sing, especially with classical and jazz! Sometimes old is good !
Cheers!

This sounds like a thread from thirty five years ago! Indeed, AR created an entire new breed of compact, neutral sounding speakers (that were duplicated by many others) with exceptionally good bass response. I was never a fan of the 901's peculiar imaging even in its day, but bought some similar to the AR sounding Advents back in '72. While not the same models, I maintain a double pair of New Advents in my garage system today. While technology has improved driver, crossover and cabinet technology, neutral sounding speakers from the sixties and seventies still sound neutural today.

Welcome aboard. BTW, please notice the variety of different forums that specialize in particular aspects of audio. It is for that reason I am moving your post.

rw

[babak58]

you know ar3a very good .
i connected my 3a to many amps like
marantz 2216b 2230 2245 2250 2270 pm45 and 1150 1030 4240
fisher t550 t200 and 1000 integrated.
sansui aud 907
sherwood 7900
unisonresearch k2s a tube amp.
and more.
now im really a bankrupt man.
but the best of those amps was fisher 1000 60 watt
and dual cv40 18 watt.
i don know why but best sound was from dual cv40.
how is 3a with mosfet amps?like denon 1560 or 1500 ?
thank you.
i need your help .please!