This is an excellent set of 1 owner Acoustic Research AR3 speakers. Please do not ask. Came from a local estate of a gentleman in his 80’s who bought them new. These are consecutive serial numbered units – 19591 and 19592. One speaker sounded fine when tested. The other does not sound great. They are in need of refoaming and you will likely want to refinish the cabinets. Original owner let poly drip down the sides and started to sand the top of one unit. The picture with the light reflecting off the top of the right speaker has no finish on it. The top of this speaker was sanded and has been waxed. Missing one #3 decal. Minor break in plastic grill. No loudspeaker by Acoustic Research has been more influential than the original Acoustic Research AR-3 acoustic suspension speaker. The AR-1 had set a new benchmark for loudspeaker technology, but the AR-3 was so outstandingly accurate that experts had trouble identifying whether a recording or a live concert was playing in front of them. Let´s note here, that this is not the AR-3a speaker from 1967. But its prior version from 1958. The AR-3 speaker had been designed by Edgar Villchur, whereas the newer AR-3a speaker was designed by Roy Allison. Even though both speakers are fairly similar, the AR-3 has been a landmark for the loudspeaker industry and had been recognized by the public significantly more than the later AR-3a. History of the AR-3. He AR-3 entered the market in 1958, 4 years after the first ever acoustic suspension loudspeaker, the AR-1 was introduced. Acoustic Research had by then tested a new tweeter design, developed by Villchur, called the hemispherical dome direct radiator tweeter, which was used in the new AR-3 models. Besides the newly invented dome tweeter, Villchur´s loudspeaker also received the AR-1s woofer from 1954, which had been another speaker technology landmark, as it was the first ever commercial acoustic suspension speaker. The result was a speaker that produced music more accurately than any other speaker at its time and is until today one of the highest performing speakers available when measuring accuracy. This outstanding accuracy made the AR-3 speaker famous, and its reputation for being the “most accurate loudspeaker at any cost” led to its usage in many professional settings, such as concert halls or record studios. The reputation for unmet accuracy was underlined by a series of concerts during the 1960ies in which Acoustic Research directly compared a live string quartet with a recorded version of the same music played by the AR-3. Listeners were unable to detect the switch overs between recorded and live music, which supported the already established reputation of this loudspeaker and leaves a great impression as to how accurate this speaker has been. Even after the “improved” version of the AR-3, the newer AR-3a model was introduced to the market in the mid 60ies, Acoustic Research continued to manufacture the original AR-3, by then over 10 years old, until the 1970ies. The item “Vintage Acoustic Research AR3 Speakers Low Matching Serial Numbers 19591 Walnut” is in sale since Saturday, July 30, 2016. This item is in the category “Consumer Electronics\Vintage Electronics\Vintage Audio & Video\Vintage Speakers”. The seller is “firetruckrush” and is located in Laconia, New Hampshire. This item can be shipped to United States, to United Kingdom, to Germany, to France.
- Brand: Acoustic Research
- Model: AR3
- Country/Region of Manufacture: United States