Vintage speakers age differently and sonically also I found out. But then I had to find a match and the start of my nightmare. Finally , I had a pair. But even after letting them warm up for 2 days they worked but didn’t sound how I expected. Did some research and found out that “all” AR-1 need new crossovers and caps. So I had 2 new crossovers built using top of the line caps etc. The sound came alive I was overwhelmed. But I noticed that I liked the sound of one of my speakers more than the other. The mid bass of the first speaker I bought was tighter and more defined. I Went back to the crossovers builder to see if there was something wrong with the crossover. We switched the crossovers and they first speaker still sounded better. We tested the Altec 755a and sonically they were not a match one of them was used considerably more than the other. So I started searching for one more AR-1… I told him that I wanted to take the speakers to an audio shop have them tested and see if they match up with what I had or to each other to find a match. He said if I didn’t keep them he would charge me 300 that included dropping them off and picking them back up. I thought I should be ok they looked like good condition but the speakers must of been used every day. Both speakers were lose like the last speaker… Stop and make a pair of the lose sounding 755a? Or go try and find one last AR-1… The audio shop felt bad for me and they made some calls and they found a collector that had one in good shape but wood didn’t match. I didn’t care at that point about the wood and asked them to check out the speaker and let me know mic test results. They asked me to come in and bring the first speaker I bought and crossovers and Altec 618 cabinet for further testing. I took both Altec 755 a out of AR-1 and put them into the Altec 618 cabs. He didn’t say a word. He didn’t have to…. They were a match in pitch bass and tightness. With no nightmares with extra Altec 618 cabs. The Altec 618 cabs work perfect for jazz. AR-1 are great for when you need more bass. If you have any questions please ask me. The item “Acoustic Research AR-1 / AR1, Altec 755a, Altec 618 cabinets” is in sale since Monday, November 16, 2015. This item is in the category “Consumer Electronics\Vintage Electronics\Vintage Audio & Video\Vintage Speakers”. The seller is “mach-mano” and is located in New York, New York. This item can be shipped to United States, to Canada, to United Kingdom, to Australia, ZA, to Ireland, to Mexico, to New Zealand, SG, AE, MY.
- Brand: Altec Lansing