RetroZound

Prelude

2010-09-15T00:22:00.007+02:00

It took two years to finally get fed up with the quality of sound produced by my MP3 player. And to add insult to injury (a retrospective evaluation, I should add), for some strange reason my first attempt at improving the situation was the absurd notion that wireless headphones will be the perfect solution, and that in turn was followed by the just as brilliant move to plug a hard disc media player into the home theatre. To improve the quality of the sound?! Eish, how stupid could I be? Sanity only manifested itself with the more logical realisation that ripping Cd's to a loss-less format rather than the abomination of lifeless mp3's would have been a more sensible step towards achieving digital Nirvana. Whatever further factors played a role here is unclear, but all this started me thinking – upgrade the Philips home theatre with a "better" one, or invest in a state of the art component setup? And come to think of it, what on earth was rated top dog in 2009?

Déjà vu. Thirty years earlier I was in an equally unhappy state of mind (and ear). My set of one speaker could only have started life as a wooden fruit box (boasting an unbranded driver and covered in fashionable reject curtain), so I'll not elaborate on specifications or performance. Both turntable and valve amp I ripped out of a 1960's Philips radiogram, which in turn became a drinks cabinet for the original owner. The turntable was decidedly more respectable than the speaker, and the amp with all its bare innards and glowing valves, as could be expected, became an interesting conversation piece. Yeah, not fashionable at the time, but considering the current popularity of valve amps, I think I could possibly claim farsightedness rather than poverty! Come to think of it, I lived in constant fear that a glass of rum may spill over and make everything that glow die crackling in a cloud of smoke, but fortunately the worst incident was a burnt lip collected after falling against the amp.

I was barely out of varsity and earning peanuts, searching for something better on which to play my small collection of heavy Seventies rock, spending my lunch hours in a hi-fi shop in Cape Town’s Loop Street (or it could have been Long or Bree?), drooling over an AU amp, an XA turntable and a pair of AR3a’s. I can’t remember the shop’s name, but I do remember Paul Simon’s “Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover” and Peter Grieg’s “In The Hall Of The Mountain King”. What I experienced those early summer days of 1975 was the perfect and absolutely accurate representation of live music - an audio image that was imprinted on my brain for eternity. I there and then decided that if I couldn’t afford hi-fi sound at least matching that level of excellence, I may just as well forget it. And sadly there was no way I could then afford a set of AR speakers, let alone the rest of what was required, so I waved farewell and walked away from hi-fi.

Since then my world of music centered on whatever technology was in place for automobile audio at the time – 4 track cassette tapes were played extensively, then came CD’s, and finally digital files on a Creative Zen which plugged into the car radio or the home theater – the convenience trip of a gadget man. Right through this period spanning 3 decades, I “stood my ground” and never invested in hi-fi; my wife did buy a couple of combo stereo sets, but out of principle I refused to play my music on these. Four years ago I bought a fairly basic home theater set, and that’s when the uneasiness set in. This faint hint at a better sound was enough to start a growing unhappiness with what was being heard or missed.

Obviously the reality of the 21st Century came down hard and merciless on whatever hopes I may have had about modern technology making hi-fi more accessible to the wider populace. Not to mention the ridiculous new technologies and industries of hogwash that sprang up since my first exploratory steps in 1975. If the 2009 scene required that I spend $20,000 on cables or $300,000 on a set of speakers, then I was no better off than I was in 1975. If this truly was the only road to heaven, I would once again be turning my back on this part of the audio world. But hail the gods; towards the end of that one week of searching for answers, I discovered the amazing world of vintage audio.

Equipment dating from the Fifties right through to the Eighties were alive and kicking butt. I stepped into a world ranging from discussion groups debating the merits of the various era’s, to restoration projects turning pieces of $1 junk into $1000 works of art, proper olde world boffins offering ancient expertise at reclaiming forgotten pieces from their dusty corners in the garage, right down to vintage-dedicated shops selling anything from used to new-in-box factory original parts. And part of this sub-culture was my much revered brand of Acoustic Research. So, seeing that there was a bigger movement out there, did this mean that these people did not agree with the modern perception and definition of high fidelity, or was it just pure nostalgia, or was everyone simply rebelling against the high prices of modern components?

I had just walked through the gates of paradise...

DVD Player

2010-09-14T14:30:00.008+02:00

(1) Onkyo DV-SP404

With the Pioneer V7400 moving out of the home theater setup and into the hi-fi section as CD player, I had to source a replacement DVD player. I located an Onkyo DV-SP404 for $118 in Johannesburg and the seller had it sent to me with a colleague on a business trip to Cape Town. How light these machines are! Of course this makes perfect sense when shipping from Point A to B, but sitting on the table or hi-fi rack it can really be the cause of a little nervousness – thankfully there’s some cables keeping it in place!

As far as performance was concerned, I was a bit indifferent as to how the unit fitted into my setup. There were one or two niggling issues like a “slow” remote and picture quality which kept me from giving it more points than the Pioneer, but then I didn’t spend any time on fine tuning the set, so maybe it had more to offer than what I was getting out of it in the initial stages.

(2) Denon DVD-1940

So Onkyo had to move over for something new. Having experienced the outstanding qualities of the Denon AV amplifier, I started reading up on the brand’s DVD players. Admittedly it was also a cosmetic thing seeing that the Onkyo didn’t particularly stir any artistic emotions, and the characteristic Denon layout of smooth lines and corners did not take long to become a pleasing sight in the component rack. Apart from the consideration to import from the United States, I was also watching all used markets in all corners of the globe for a good pre-owned model. As it turned out, it was a period for Denon DVD machines going at very very reasonable prices on the local used market. I ended up buying a year-old DVD-1940 for a very commendable $145. Considering the fact that I could import a new DVD-1740 for the same price (excluding shipping and taxes), it was a good deal. In fact, very soon after the transaction the seller, who was in the process of buying an Onkyo (!), confessed that it was a mistake to sell the Denon.

I suppose that being a higher priced item in this case really meant better product as well, because the Denon was filling in all the gaps left in the performance of the Onkyo. No more dragging pictures or slow switching. As for picture quality I still had to make up my mind after a three month stint, but at the worst it was on par with the Denon. Superficially it was bigger, heavier and sturdier looking than the old player, fitting in well with the AV amplifier sitting one shelf higher. Specification wise it had more formats and bells and whistles than I am able to remember, so for the time being I am extremely happy with this acquisition.

Audio/Video Receiver

2010-01-24T18:17:00.011+02:00

(1) Onkyo TX-500
Ok, so the old AR team never produced multi-channel audio/video amplifiers, because there was no need for such technology those days - no video, no DVD, no home theater. Of course I could look at the very expensive option of running multiple AR amps to make up the 5.1 configuration, but apart from being extremely rare even in the US, the characteristically heavy weight made for a very indigestible $200 shipping invoice! Therefore, the first item to roll off the list was a normal 5.1 channel receiver, and the Onkyo TX-500 which came my way in January 2009 for a respectable $100 showed only a bit of dust in the nooks and crannies, had no scratches and was in perfect working order. It was advertised on the local version of Gumtree, 500km away in the town of George, and before I could even start working out transportation details, I learned that the seller's wife was on her way to visit her sister in Cape Town, so I could look-before-I–buy. No worries about damage during transit.

Two features of the TX-500 are of great interest here; (1) it can accommodate a phono input for a turntable, and (2) apart from the multi-channel speaker outputs, it also has a separate pair of connection posts for an additional set of speakers. That really clinched the deal; dedicated home theater speakers for movies on the one circuit, and dedicated hi-fi speakers for music on the other. You see, it was about at this time that I started formulating the plan for two separate systems; the original home theater setup with some vintage AR components, and a 100% pure vintage AR-based hi-fi setup. I had high hopes of sourcing the required number of suitable/useful/repairable AR speakers, but back then it seemed as if the hunt for the rest of the components (read amp and turntable) was going to be a long, steep and dark climb. So until the day the Sybe Bakker set arrived and filled the gaps of the AR puzzle, the Onkyo’s secondary circuit performed its duties just fine. Since then the Onkyo’s activities in driving the CD-player and turntable fell away, and it was left to only process the satellite TV and DVD signals.

Sound wise I have great affinity for the Onkyo’s performance; I perceived its treatment of music audio as quite warm, of course vastly different from the AR amplifier which truly comes out stark and unforgiving. In reproducing a movie soundtrack the Onkyo was warm and colorful, and I guess very much what I want in a home theater setup. In your face, but rich and dynamic. Structurally it’s big and ominous, and extremely sensitive to the smallest irregularities in power and impedance. The unit often went into it’s notorious protection mode, and the only way to reset the amp was to completely cut disconnect it from the power line for anything from a few seconds to several minutes.

During December 2009 I installed a proper electrical ground connection, hooking up each piece of sound and video equipment, hoping that this would also reduce the Onkyo’s sensitivity by a good few points. But in that same period I started cranking up the volume, and this really threw the cat amongst the pigeons. What I initially thought was misplaced pistol shots in the movie, soon enough were identified as the dreaded phenomenon of clipping in the two front speakers. This situation occurs when a particular channel of the amplifier is too weak to power a speaker, and instead of a normal signal, it just streams through deadly square wave output. The speaker interprets this the same as DC input, which it of course can’t handle, and violently slams the voice coil in or out. This in turn can stretch the wiring or actually snap it off, while in other cases, being stationary with no ventilation, the voice coil heats up and simply burns itself into oblivion.

Mercifully the AR94’s proved themselves very robust units and came through unscathed, but with vintage AR’s as a rule requiring a good 50 watts to clear their throats, and the Onkyo delivering an advertised 70 watts per channel, what was going on?! A quick Google search gave part of the answer; many AV receivers simply don’t deliver what they advertise – 70 watts per channel simply is not 70 watts per channel all the time! Normally full power is not required by all 5, 6 or 7 channels at exactly the same time, so sharing takes place from the same source. Very few manufacturers publish the continuous performance figures, and very few reviewers test for that, because “normally” and under most playing conditions this will not surface. I suppose only when you are fortunate to be allowed to turn the big dial however far you please, will you know the true colors of your machine! Browsing through several reviews revealed that this was particularly evident in older and cheaper machines, but even some modern “power-houses” were not in the clear either.

So how do we know which amps speak the truth? One obvious indication is weight, because many watts require big amperes, and big volts mean big transformers. Now you know why that American tank of receivers, the Harman-Kardon is so darned heavy; its mean old mother of a transformer helps pump out continuous watts per channel often exceeding the specs. One should carefully read the information given in the product sheet or manual, looking for phrases like “equipped with 6 power amps” or “individual power channels” and so forth.

Unfortunately this wasn’t the only cement block dragging the TX-500 down. Not only is vintage AR a mean old dog to fire up, it also runs at 4 ohms, and this Onkyo asks for 8 ohms, so that impedance mismatch was largely responsible for the receiver’s protection mode kicking in whenever it felt unsafe. In the Onkyo's defense one should not forget that I was asking it to do more than what was normally required - in a less demanding environment plenty of load would have been carried by a self-powered sub woofer, but in my case two AR94's were asking double shifts from the same under-powered unit. Unfortunately the AR sub was still way off in the distance, and by now I was getting tired of pulling out power plugs to reset the Onkyo, so it was time to look for a replacement. Simply loved the Onkyo sound, but this one was heading for a home with less demanding speakers.

(2) Denon AVR-485

So, with the “demise” of the Onkyo TX-500, I started looking for the ideal replacement. The two big requirements were a continuous delivery of power and the ability to handle 4 ohms. Having grown accustomed to the Onkyo sound, it was logical that my initial searches would focus on this brand. Having read review after review, it became apparent that several current models were up to the task as far as watts were concerned, but nowhere could I find a review, owners’ manual or user recommendation confirming that any particular Onkyo could handle the low impedance without going into the dreaded protection mode. My horizon widened to take in more brands reputed to constantly run the same watts into the individual channels, and the names of Denon, Harman Kardon, Marantz, NAD and Yamaha came into the picture.

In the end, with the reviews and opinions available to me, the search narrowed down to Denon. Although not clearly stating that its machines would easily handle 4 ohms, the recommendations (and warnings) in the Denon owner manuals were none the less very promising. To literally quote a Denon manual;

“The protector circuit may be activated if the set is played for long periods of time at high volumes when speakers with an impedance lower than the specified impedance (for example speakers with an impedance lower than 4 ohms) are connected. If the protector circuit is activated, the speaker output is cut off. Turn off the set’s power, wait for the set to cool down, improve ventilation around the set, then turn the power back on.”

The way I understand this, the Denon will handle the load until the set gets too hot, unlike the Onkyo which simply switched off the moment it detected a mismatch. Further to this, add lots of cooling and the point of switch-off is pushed out even further. This “theory” was supported by the testimonies of Denon owners using low impedance speakers and having no signs of compromised performance. After a few failed eBay auctions I secured a Denon AVR-485 for $132 from Hayward in California early January 2010. I had by now overcome my fear for shipping heavy items from the USA, because even after adding the excruciatingly painful shipping cost of $139, the final total of $271 was still half of what these were selling for on the South African used market.

The possible stumbling block of having to drop the South African voltage down from 220 to the Denon’s US-based 110 volts, was easily dealt with by introducing a 1000 watt step-down converter supplied by Protec in Durban, South Africa; for the mega bargain price of $30. Yes, half that power would have been sufficient for driving the Denon, but Protec only had the one converter in stock and the price couldn’t be matched anywhere in South Africa. Don’t be mistaken; this is no little converter you drop into the bag for powering your iPod attachments in India. It’s the size of a biscuit tin and features two handles to support its heavy weight.

After about a month of running the Denon, I still had to fine-tune all the different settings, but my initial impression was one of satisfactory performance. It was handling the 4ohm load of all the AR speakers with great ease, and the old Onkyo scenario of going into protection mode thankfully seemed to be something of the past. As for handling the power requirements of the five AR speakers I couldn’t detect the unit running abnormally hot – in fact it was definitely running cooler than the Onkyo, and I was yet to run into the dreaded clipping stage. A month or two later I replaced the sole surviving AR1ms (acting as center speaker) with a much “heavier” AR4, and still the Denon did not falter. After having played it for six months and showing it no mercy, I was truly convinced that the amp could handle 5 very demanding speakers all at once.

As for quality of sound, the Denon of course was way different from what the Onkyo produced - in general it appeared to be clearer, but it was definitely engaging the bass drivers of the two front speakers in a different fashion. Keep in mind that I was still doing without a sub woofer, so the two big AR94’s had to supply the low frequencies. With the dB’s set equal or close to equal on all channels, there wasn’t much oomph being produced; only when turning the levels up to at least 80% of max did the drivers come alive. As for home theater performance, the Denon did an outstanding job in reproducing Dolby Digital, and it did a better job in creating surround sound from a 2-channel stereo source.

To conclude, I have never for one moment regretted my decision to go with Denon, and it's definitely one AV brand that delivers on all of its promises and do the job it's supposed to do.

The Way Forward

2010-01-18T22:59:00.004+02:00

The burning question of course was whether a speaker, top of it's class 30 plus years ago, could be made to perform as well now as it did then? The wear and tear caused by use and age naturally would take a devastating toll on the condition of the electronic parts of the crossover and all the non-metallic parts of the speaker driver. The outer box with grill would be the easy part of the restoration process, and within whatever boundaries one set for staying as close to original as possible, some degree of cosmetic improvement would always be a possibility. As far as the cross-over was concerned, there could be no doubt that everything should be replaced, but while resistors and coils were easily renewed, to find capacitors with the exact characteristics could be somewhat of a challenge. Depending on what model you are looking at, there are a couple of suppliers offering complete replacement kits which makes it just a bit easier.

As for drivers themselves, there are two or three US suppliers still offering new factory originals which can be used as direct replacements, but stocks of these are running out fast, and some models are disappearing from the lists. The next avenue explored by some restorers is the use of new but not original drivers. These items have been rated by AR aficionados as worthy replacements for the originals, based on a combination of specifications, test measurements and subjective audio evaluations. In reality there are numerous reports of these refurbished jobs, despite sounding excellent in their own right, not measuring up 100% true to the original. I’m telling myself that things like the characteristics of the frame, the spider, the surround, the voice coil and the magnet all play a role in the forming of that particular sound which ultimately is perceived as being true to the nature of a specific brand of speaker – change one more of these elements and you get a different sound.

The third and final option, and in my mind the next best thing to dropping in an exact original, is to restore the drivers you have. The most common part to be replaced is the surround, that papery/spongy black outer circle which connects the inner parts to the outer edge of the frame, and there is no doubt in my mind that due to a to-be-expected change in basic manufacturing material, the replacement surround will slightly alter the final sound, but hopefully, aided by the continued presence of the other 100% original factory parts, that will be closer to the performance of the original than that of a non-factory replacement. Proper AR replacement surrounds are available on the web, complete with glue and comprehensive instructions. Personally I would not try my hand at the rest (cones, spiders, voice coils etc), but there are a few specialists offering this service as well.

Ok, so now every day was filled with the excitement of wonderful expectations, but the one serious question to be answered was whether I would be able to lay my hands on any of these vintage speakers, and if I did, would I be able to restore them? Let’s be realistic about the odds against finding any of these old AR’s; despite the fact that some were sold here during the 1970’s and 80’s, South Africa is very far removed from the old AR potshots of North America, Europe or the East. Also, back then when a speaker started making funny noises, it was simply chucked into the dumpster and replaced with whatever was fashionable at the time, so what hope could I have of these items surviving all those years?

I nevertheless started visiting all the local pawn shops and used equipment dealers, but unfortunately with no success – truth is, in 2009 most people simply were unfamiliar with the name, so why buy or even try to sell something old and unknown? I turned to eBay and yes, here you could certainly pick up a set for $10, but with the weight of these things, some could not even be shipped within the USA itself. Whenever a seller was willing to wrap it up, the cost of stamps ran up to ten times the selling price (For example, to ship a vintage amplifier from Northern America to South Africa, costing $50 and weighing 10kg (22 lbs), would cost you a really cool $200). In addition to that, none or very few were in really pristine condition, so on top of purchasing and shipping costs, one had to add the cost of refurbishing, and this all while shutting your brain off from morbid thoughts about unsuccessful recoveries.

But whatever the odds, the hook has already been swallowed whole in one gulp, and during the search my interest spread to other vintage equipment – there’s no stopping the rot! How about building up a surround sound system consisting of ancient components? A quick Internet search showed that it was indeed being done, despite the reservations of some pundits about the supposed fragility of older speaker designs and materials. In fact, part of the motivation for creating this blog was to prove to friends in the US, Canada and the UK that quality components from the 1960's can effortlessly stand out in a modern home theater setup. Unfortunately the range of ancient components available was limited to speakers, because the other two important cornerstones of the triangle did not exist during the classic or post-classic AR periods, these of course being multi-channel audio/video amplifiers and DVD players. A compromise would have to be made. What then follows on this blog, is my experiences in establishing both a vintage based home theater system, and the recreation of a very specific 1970's hi-fi setup. Frustrating, challenging, exciting and extremely fulfilling when successful. Starting out as a home theater project, it has now reached back into the past to also encompass high fidelity, and I have really underestimated the momentum which is still gathering - there's no immediate end in sight.

HI-FI LAYOUT

2010-01-14T15:16:00.006+02:00

More AR restorations

2009-10-11T23:57:00.017+02:00

AR XA turntable

This item was part of the Sybe Bakker collection, and was in as good or as bad a condition as my first turntable. The plinth had only minor marks, but the cover was cracked in just about all four corners; the tonearm wiring was intact, but the audio leads were cut just where it came out of the back; the tonearm counterweight was intact, but the drive belt this time was really shot. But, like with all AR items, given time and patience, this one was also going to end up a true gem.

(to continue)

Tuner

2009-10-11T23:56:00.013+02:00

(1) Dyna FM-3

My lack of knowledge about the third item out of the Bakker bag was something of an embarrassment; I didn't know one iota about it, although I was aware that it was part of the AR sales setup at the time, and that Dynaco was a big label in the amplifier world.

Like for the amplifier, extensive cleaning had to precede switching on, so that took me a good two hours to get done. In the process I "got rid" of metal shields which were wrapped around the tubes - I found it simply impossible to replace, so there must be some or other trick to get it right. Initial research showed that the main function of these shields were the inhibition of radiation, and to some extent act as heat sinks. A few Dyna fans however replaced these metal artifacts with more modern solutions, claiming that the originals significantly reduced tube life for some or other reason.

When I powered on the set, I found performance good enough not to worry about RF drift at this stage, so I'll attend to that later. Initial evaluation? Even without a proper antenna, it was a lot more sensitive than my modern Philips, picking up stations the Philips didn't even show. The sound itself however was rolling out much too smooth for my liking, and I felt that a lot of detail was missing - the sharp points were just simply smoothed out. I hooked it up to the hi-fi network in December 2009, but was not using it too often or for too long, because it was running extremely hot. I was working on a fan cooling system, so only once I have installed that (together with the replacement heat/radiation shields), shall I have another evaluation of this set.

(2) AR Tuner

Towards the end of January 2010 the AR Tuner made one of it's rare appearances on eBay, this time in the UK, and I decided that I was going to own this one, irrespective of how the bids were going to run. AR Tuners reach auction prices between $70 and $365, with an average price of $245, so my final price of $91 was more than okay considering the very good condition of the unit. It came with the optional and very scarce walnut cover, and being an interchangeable piece for both tuner and amplifier, I could use it as template for reproducing a second cover for the AR AU.

Other than a small nick which ran from the edge of the faceplate to the edge of the cover, the visual condition was a hundred percent - I easily polished out the mark on the faceplate and filled in the scratch on the wood for a tip-top condition. Internally one the two back lights behind the tuning dial had come to the end of its life, but I managed to source a replacement set from Vintage-AR's Larry Legace. In all the excitement I threw out the power cord with the packaging, so I also had to get a new one from Larry. Back lights and power cords from the early 1970's?! The man is a magician.

How does it sound to the untrained ear? The same valve-like characteristics as the AU amp, but not as smooth and laid-back as the proper valve equipped Dyna FM-3. Still only using a piece of electrical cord as antenna, sensitivity was on par with the Dyna, so I was very satisfied.

Amplifier

2009-10-11T01:09:00.081+02:00

Acoustic Research AU

The other big item from the Sybe Bakker collection, and not necessarily ranked lower than the AR3a's, is the AR Amplifier. Notorious for smoking its resistors, it spend a lot of after-sales hours in the factory with power problems, and to the extent that Acoustic Research made comprehensive guarantee extensions to keep the fans happy. Visible factory modifications eventually followed and I'm not sure if this problem persisted to the end, or whether this problem was at all present in the export units of 220 volts. Be it as it may, these were the early years of solid state, and this was the world's first high current amplifier, the first capable of successfully driving the new generation of small-box-big-voice speakers, so to be fair the people at AR applied the new technology extremely well and successfully overcame the amplifier's teething problems. Collectors and fans recognise this, and with the amps coming onto the used market scene in really isolated cases, they are snatched up quickly when they do. An expert restorer like Vintage AR drive the point home by elevating these units to a standard exceeding original factory specifications, demanding a premium which the AR community pays without blinking an eyelid.

Dr Sybe Bakker's unit came without the optional wooden exterior, so without question I would add that somewhere in the future, either as a newly built part or sourced from the used market. The faceplate was remarkably unscratched and merely required a very light cleansing and quick polishing, followed by a similar treatment for the control knobs. One of the two rear face plates were loose and bent, but that was successfully flattened out straight and then glued back down onto the chassis.

The amp however showed its age when the top cover came off. Dust and foreign objects thirty years in the making was covering most of what was inside, and aware of the not-excellent but scarily possible conductive characteristics of dust, all that had to brushed-blown-sucked out before any power switches were thrown. A thorough visual check for any other possible signs of trouble was done before the cover went back on. Both speaker fuses were kaput, but I couldn't detect any burnt residual fuse wire or black/grey soot inside the glass tubes, so I hopefully assumed that the cause of malfunction was due to due something like mechanical shock! Lining the amp up with confirmed working source and output components, I could finally after more than a morning's cleaning fire up the old warhorse. A quick crackle, a short buzz, and the decibels were pumping against the walls! Everything sounded good, and my amateur ears could not detect any false notes except for a firm encounter with stray voltages when I touched the chassis (the set was not grounded as clearly prescribed by the AR manual). Considering the initial disappointment with the AR3a speakers, this was tremendously good news.

During December 2009 I finished the restoration of the AR48 speakers, and it was time to separate the music from the movie setup. Hooking the 48's up with the AU was approached gingerly at first, intently watching and listening for any age-related signs of failure, but soon enough I had the door and window panes moaning under the onslaught. Of course it's a documented fact that instead of the published specification of a very conservative 60 watts at 4ohms, these amps consistently tested at 100 watts plus during reviews. I can only assume that the international 220-volt machine was a more robust built not sharing the initial teething problems of the US model; this example was performing as well as when it came out of the shop decades ago. I was sure that performing the recommended internal restoration would indeed improve the audio qualities of this amp, but at this stage I simply adored the sound and it was going to be a painful wait until the AR3a's were ready!

(to continue)

The Sybe Bakker Story

2009-10-09T00:24:00.010+02:00

In 1973 Dr Sybe Bakker of Stellenbosch purchased an AU amplifier, a Dynaco tuner, an XA turntable, and a pair of AR3a speakers – the ultimate vintage hi-fi system. This purchase was most probably made from the same Cape Town hi-fi shop where I was spending some time a few years later, listening but unable to buy.

Apart from listening to serious music, Dr Bakker's family also learned to treat his components with serious respect, pretty much like he was the only one to push the buttons and turn the dials. Sybe Junior recalls in September 2009, “The system was the absolute ‘Holy Grail’ in the house I grew up in. As kids we were never even allowed near it. It was my father’s pride and joy and I clearly remember many evenings in which we would gather around the system and listen to music for hours”. When Bakker Senior passed away a year or two before the turn of the Millennium, no-one even for a single moment contemplated the possibility of upsetting the status quo. Everything was to remain as it was, the AR's would stay in Bakker domain for at least another decade.

But yet, there were changes. The Golden Age of hi-fi has passed, vinyl was "dead", the new high-tech playback medium was the convenient and data-rich compact disc, and on paper the specifications of classic AR equipment looked sadly out of place compared to Year 2000 electronics; so the only reason Sybe's prized Acoustic Research components survived another decade, was because it was put into storage by his son. So, with no-one flicking any power switches, it just sat there quietly, no sweet sound spilling through the room. That was until August 2009 when my ad for AR equipment appeared on the Gumtree web site.

Sybe Junior saw the ad, and contacted me within a day or two, but I suppose it must have been something of a reflex action, because he appeared nowhere close to parting with the set. “Not sure what your interest is and I’m not certain I want to sell…” he wrote. My reply was to outline the historic importance of the set, and I advised him against selling, to rather restore and enjoy it in all its glory. I would never be able to live with the thought that I scored a bargain by taking advantage of someone not aware of the value of his inheritance. I got no response to my mail, so I assumed that Sybe had decided to follow my advice. Yes, it felt good to have “saved” the iconic hi-fi set of the 20th Century, but I’ll be lying if I say I wasn’t just a bit sad - I could have owned the Best. How cool would it be to again hear that same machinery which set me off on the AR road thirty-four years ago!

But then, most unexpectedly, just about one month later, Sybe puts in another appearance, and this time he turns my world upside down. He wrote, “I've spent a lot of time thinking about the matter and I've, reluctantly in many ways, decided that I cannot ever, due to my lifestyle, do the equipment the justice it deserves.” I was to take ownership, evaluate the set, and pay him whatever I thought it was worth, and with the clear distinction that out of respect for the man who originally owned the equipment, there would be no haggling. The one and only condition would be that the set be cared for and appreciated. It took me a full day to recover, reading his memo over and over. How can anyone not be humbled by such events?

Sybe took a week or two to gather all the pieces and documentation - being guarantees and original brochures. It was a simply stunning find not often encountered by anyone anytime. The first week of October 2009 Sybe dropped everything off at my place of work. It was the greatest day in my AR life - finally, thirty-five later, I again touched those legendary products with which Edgar Villchur changed the course of audio history!

[Individual reports for the Bakker components can be read under their respective headings]

The original layout as offered for international sales, and as purchased by Sybe Bakker in 1973. Bakker's components was a mix of late 1960's and early 1970's stock, because the amp was from the Sixties, and the turntable was manufactured in 1970. In 1970 the AR Tuner of course replaced the Dynaco FM3 shown here bottom left. Bakker's set did include the wooden display unit and walnut case covering the amp, but these unfortunately did not survive.

HOME THEATER LAYOUT

2009-10-01T01:01:00.018+02:00

Taking the AR94's out of the home theater configuration and using the AR3a's for both HT and hi-fi, requires the installation of a speaker/amp switch. This is not the usual speaker switch where more than one set of speakers can be played from a single amp, but rather a system which works both ways; multiple speakers coupled to multiple amplifiers. There are probably several models out in the market, but an initial search produced the name of Beresford in the UK, and following a couple of positive references, I am currently awaiting delivery of a 2 amp/2 speaker switching unit.

HiFi Speakers

2009-09-10T00:43:00.032+02:00

(1) Acoustic Research AR48s

Almost as if the AR1ms’ unexpected appearance on eBay sparked a global upheaval, the local market suddenly came alive shortly after the New York transaction, and within a three week window two different AR sets breezed through the used items scene. The first was a lovely pair of AR48’s, advertised by a guy living a mere 2km from my work in Stellenbosch! Cosmetically they were both only slightly marked, but one was missing its mid-range driver, and on the other mid-range the surround (paper suspension) was in a final state of crumbling decay. The seller, Diederick, also an AR lover, bought them from the original owner, the late old Mister Frowein, a well-known jeweler of Stellenbosch. Diederick could not recall exactly when he took ownership of the set, but we know that the 48's were manufactured from 1981 to 1983, so if we assume that the set hit South African shores at round about that time or just thereafter, Diederick probably bought them in the late Eighties or early Nineties. Be it as it may, after removing one of the mid-ranges to have it repaired, it unfortunately went missing in the process, so the set ended up in storage in his garage. These drivers were manufactured with a rubbery kind of suspension which did not last very long, so it was the first and most common repair on all 48's. Okay, I was facing one or two challenges, but still, at $50 I was very happy with the purchase.

I ordered a set of surrounds for $19 ($9 for shipping) from Vintage AR in Boston, and a new replacement driver from AB Tech in Hopedale Massachusetts to bring the 48’s back up to 1984 specs. Only when the driver arrived did I realize the mistake; the unit was not new-in-box old stock, but a close-to-original-spec substitute. That did not fit in with my restoration plans, so the ABT unit was shelved, and I got the proper old driver from Klotz Audio in Hereford Arizona for $20 (and another $28 for shipping). They were taking apart a set of AR48’s, so I counted myself extremely lucky to get hold of that one.

Replacing the surrounds initially sounded like a task beyond my capabilities, so I started looking for South African speaker repairers, but from the very, very short shortlist I compiled, I could not verify anyone as capable to lovingly restore my precious drivers. No doubt there are guys out there who have successfully worked on these vintage items, but I finally settled on giving it a try myself. A kind of come-hell-or-high-water situation, because I had to obtain the know-how, seeing that the AR48’s most probably were not going to be the last set of speakers coming through my door requiring restoration. I downloaded a video clip from the Internet, and closely followed Vintage AR's excellent and most comprehensive documentation which accompanied the replacement surrounds. Ok, so the first operation resulted in glue all over the driver frame, but I was quite proud of my workmanship on the second one. But more importantly, when I finally hooked up the speakers, the sound coming from both mid-ranges sounded just excellent.

Despite this early stage of restoration, was this the perfect sound I heard in 1975? Probably not, but for my singed little memory lobes it came extremely close - it was as good as or better than anything else I have ever heard. I was happy and I was satisfied that I have after three decades finally started closing the loop. Contend? Ha! I have reached my original objective, but as I have by now came to accept, the ideological replacement of the AR3a’s was simply the symbolic opening of Pandora’s Box.

More work though was required, because the one woofer was emitting a worrying scratch when pumping the extremely low frequencies. The only possible reason I could attribute to this was that the voice coil was not properly aligned. Did it go out of true because of the ravages of time, or was it a bad restoration job on the surrounds? From what I could make out, the surrounds appeared original, but then it may also been a very neat re-surround job. The cure for this was to carefully loosen the surround and realign it, being careful not to damage anything. It required a blunt knife, a steady hand and lots of patience. I was hoping that by loosening only the one half of the surround the release in tension would make it re-align by itself, but that was not to be, so I had to spend the better part of an hour carefully prying it loose from the frame. Even when it was completely free, the voice coil was still rubbing, so by now I started believing that the speakers indeed had the suspensions replaced, and that the voice coil on this one got damaged in the process. This of course was rectified by forcibly aligning the voice coil using a set of shims, and at the same time gluing the surrounds back down with the proper cement. Voila! Scratch gone.

A second problem was that on starting up the first few times, the speakers had to “warm” up before any sound could be heard. This could have been an indication that the cross-overs were shot, which was to be expected after all these years, but seeing that it eventually got better, I did not attend to their replacement immediately. At this point I must also admit to a somewhat embarrassing discovery – I have been playing the 48’s for a day or two before I discovered that the high tones were only coming from one speaker.

The tweeter in the other one was completely dead, and I could only pray that it was because of the condition of the crossover and not the driver itself. Unfortunately my prayer was not answered, as tests would finally reveal that the tweeter was out of order. A handwritten sticker attached to the back of the magnet indicated that the unit underwent repairs in 1992 for voice coil and wiring repairs, and looking at the remnants of the repair work I was fairly convinced that the old problem was either not properly dealt with or that it was repeating itself. The handwork and soldering required here was way too fine for my finger stumps and senior citizen eyes, so I had to take this to the pro's.

Initial feedback from the “pro’s” prompted me to just forget the repair and find a replacement, which I duly did in the form of a nice working pair for $15 out of Wellington, Florida, USA. I popped one into the gaping hole, plugged in the cables and pushed through some sound. The first few seconds was brilliant, and then it just died! Closer examination revealed another busted voice coil! Ok, so we had a leak somewhere, and removing all the drivers showed that the woofer had no seal. This either went missing in a previous life and I never noticed when I worked on it, or yours truly lost it himself. We're not talking about being airtight, which would be a bit more complicated to achieve due to the very nature of both building materials and construction, but simply an acoustic seal good enough to give us the required acoustic cushion. Common double-sided foam tape solved that issue, and now with a proper seal, everything ran very well. At the back the old connecting posts had started disintegrating, so it was the ideal opportunity to also replace those with proper RCA binding posts.

It was time to start using the 48’s as full time hi-fi units, and during the summer of 2009 I split the hi-fi section from the home theatre section (no more sharing of components). With the AR amp supplying the juice, I for the first time was able to really push and evaluate the 48's. Gone was all earlier suggestions of aged cross-overs, and true to the traditional clear and no-BS sound of AR, they now took a very definite step onto the same level of excellence as the AR94's. As for my ears, the biggest difference was in what I shall call the greater musicality of the AR48's - I suspect the main contributor here was the AR amplifier, even though I have always considered the AR94 to display a smoother and rounder sound than the 48. The latter I now in tonality placed firmly in the AR3 and 3a genre, perfect for music and a worthy middle-of-the-road AR speaker for the early Eighties.

FEEDBACK
I am very impressed with your blog. And I can see the speakers are back in good hands again! Well done.
Regards,
Diederick

(2) Acoustic Research AR3a

This set is the one from Sybe Bakker's collection, having been in storage for approximately ten years up until early October 2009, and ultimately replaced the AR48's. I vaguely remembered the pair of AR3a's I saw in the Cape Town shop thirty-four years earlier, but so much of the finer detail was escaping me, that this in a sense was my first really close-up examination of the model. Even unrestored, the wood looked very impressive, but then again I'm easily drawn to any old plank which are standing up against the ravages of time. I could hardly wait to put a hand to them and bring out the deep and rich lustre of the American walnut. Only the front part of the frame was solid wood, and the rest of the panels the normal laminated MDF combination of the time; nonetheless these speakers were extremely heavy. Picking up one felt like double the weight of the AR48 which was about the same dimensions, and certainly also heavier than the much bigger AR94's. Specifications reveal a hefty 24kg, compared to the AR48's 17kg and the AR94's 19½kg.

The grills had no physical damage, but as could be expected they were showing the normal signs of discolouring associated with the ageing of the original cream material. I'll therefore try a wash before discarding them for something new, but for the sake of budgetary constraints, the replacements will have to be a locally sourced version of the suggested style of Irish linen, rather than the replacement sets available out of the US. More on this later.

The cabinets only had a few nicks and scratches and one or two loose splinters, so the overall cosmetic condition was very good. That made wood restoration relatively straightforward. The rough patches and deeper scratches were "smoothed out" with some wood filler and the deft use of a mouse sander, and all sides were then lightly sanded down. The classic oiled finished treatment took this phase to its conclusion. The backs of these speakers were closed up with plywood, so there was no crumbling pieces to be locked in like some of the other AR's I worked on, but I'll nevertheless still put down a coat of sealer as soon as possible. Both cabinets took just about half a working day to finish. The picture below shows the one speaker restored (left) and the other still requiring work.

With the grills off and following the Champagne/Kantor/Luong/O'Hanlon guide, I was able to identify the period of manufacture as between 1967 and 1969, making this one of the earlier AR3'a sets. My first visual inspection revealed no signs of damage as I couldn't detect any deterioration of the surrounds, and a manual pressure test for cabinet sealing also checked out fine. It was time to take the next step - a proper audio test with power fed to the drivers. Ever put off something because you were fearing bad results? I wanted to, but the urgency to relive the past was just so much greater, so I hooked up the Onkyo amp, hoping that it's claimed 60 watts will indeed be the 60 required to drive the notoriously hungry AR3a's. Starting with the recommended low-level test, my heart dropped like a bag of wet cement, knees going lame with that sickly sensation of disappointment. On both the woofers were reassuringly flexing in and out, but as for the rest, on the one speaker the mid-range was out, and on the other the tweeter made no sound whatsoever. I listened, and listened again, fiddling with the volume and tone settings to make certain. What was dead, remained dead.

I had to swallow my disappointment; after all, I couldn't really expect any piece of audio equipment that old to come out of the wars unscathed. Taking out the multimeter however brought the first signs of good news - both conductivity and resistance measured okay, so electrically the suspect drivers were all functional. Crossovers shot?

As I was about to start reading up on AR3a crossover rebuilds, I remembered the potentiometer issue. Both tweeter and mid range had old rheostat controls on the back panel with which tonal quality could be adjusted, so I started fiddling around with the one attached to the dead tweeter. At first nothing happened, but then a faint crackle sneaked out. Soon I found a spot where I had full electron flow! Repeating the process with the second pot brought similar results. Okay, so I had six working drivers, but how well were they performing? The pots most definitely required surgery, and hopefully a careful cleaning process would do the job in restoring full control. Disappointingly, and it just about broke my heart then, but at that stage the AR3a's were found wanting. The one speaker was way down on dB's, and on the whole the sound was muddled and without life - I had the AR94's doing duty in the hi-fi setup at that stage, and they were light years ahead.

But no despair yet. It simply meant long nights and more applied AR science for a full blown AR3a restoration.

September 2010
If you have ever dreaded opening a piece of very valuable equipment for repairs or restoration, fearing the unknown, or perhaps more correctly fearing the possibility that you will not be able to properly repair said item, then you will know why it took me eleven months to finally gather enough courage to tackle the AR3a's The fact that in the meantime the AR48's were doing a mighty fine job of delivering pure unadulterated sound, naturally helped to prolong this state of affairs. During this period I collected and read through many papers on the AR3a, the most authoritative one being the Champagne/Kantor/Luong/O'Hanlon guide from The Classic Speaker Pages; read it many many times, trying to work out how I was going to meet and overcome setbacks, but as it turned out, good fortune was never far off.

First stop after opening up the speakers was the potentiometers. Each pot was showing a fair amount of corrosion, even on the outside, but that was to be expected after so many years. I cleaned up as best I could with a fine brush on a Dremel tool, but half the contacts were so bad that I could not establish complete contact over the full range. Nonetheless, once firmly settled in a position, performance increased tenfold over initial switch-on almost a year ago, and I decided to leave it at that. Phase 2 will see a revisit to the pots for home-made replacement contacts, and quite possibly the replacement of capacitors, while Phase 1 was concluded by refurbishing the speaker cloth and badges.

Classic AR speakers came with grills covered in 18-count (threads per inch) Irish linen, which of course is no longer being manufactured, so the closest match I could find was a 16-count local version known as hessian and produced from, I believe, sisal plants. Coloured in a very mild off-white, visual appearance was absolutely spot-on as far as matching the AR feel was concerned. Going for about $5 per running meter, I left the shop with whatever was left on the roll (enough I found out later to cover the grills of 40 speakers!). The AR badges were re glued to their fitting plates (a steel plate with a screw soldered to the middle), and after a mild scrub and polishing they were good to go.

So, sound wise, where did Phase 1 take me? In the December 1970 issue of Hi-Fi News one Ralph West reviewed both AR3a and AR4x, and came to the conclusion that the 3a was only marginally better than the 4x, after initially having placed the smaller speaker ahead of the AR3a! Ralph obviously was suffering from severe inner and outer ear disturbances, whereas for me it was fairly simple and easy to after a week declare that the AR3a was way ahead of any AR speaker in my possession, and that included the AR4x. It was just stunningly different in any aspect of tonal comparison, and for the first time ever I had to turn down the amplifier's bass control by 50%. For the first time in my life I came "face-to-face" with the awesome bass capacity of this groundbreaking speaker, a proud legacy to the principles of sound advocated by Edgar Villchur. Now, sitting there amongst the weird collection of both vintage and modern home theatre pieces, their presence is so commanding, that even switched off and when walking through the room, they draw one's attention like two ominous giants of past battles waiting on the heights for the next encounter.

My thirty year wait had come to end.

Turntable

2009-09-09T00:24:00.024+02:00

Acoustic Research XA

While searching all corners of the earth for speakers, it was inevitable that other AR products will also move across my screen, and few larger than the legendary XA turntable. So one local search coughed up a very old ad for an XA somewhere in the Johannesburg area, 2000 km away. The seller was asking only $40, but I sent numerous emails without receiving any response, so I could only presume that it has been sold. Hardly a month had passed when the same item surprisingly popped up in a different set of classifieds, now going for $20, and this time the seller, Andre, responded after my 4th desperate request – he was unwilling to ship the turntable for risk of damage and would only entertain personal collection. Having seen pictures of what inadequate packaging or rough handling could do to a vintage turntable, I could understand his unwillingness to subject a piece of art to a known unsophisticated practice. Fortunately I had colleagues from work flying to Johannesburg on a regular basis, so we agreed that I pay and then have someone collect it from him when convenient. Eventually things didn’t quite work out like I wanted it to with trips being postponed or cancelled, so I had to employ a shuttle service for $45 to move the XA from one end of Johannesburg to the other to get it closer to the airport. This was in June 2009.

The turntable came complete except for tone arm counterweight, and this had me in a state of indecision. One school of thought maintains that completely replacing the tone arm is the kind of upgrade which puts the XA up there with anything else currently available. To put this claim in perspective we have to keep in mind that this was the arch original model for the English phrase “basic turntable”; it played vinyl and nothing else – no lifting arms, no anti-skating, or auto shutoff. With counterweight missing, it made sense to replace the tone arm, but looking at prices for some of the suggested arms made me break a cold sweat. Two popular early replacements were the Grace 707 and the Mayware Formula 4, while more modern favorites are the Rega 250 and 300, Linn Basik LV-X and Origin Live. The Grace was a legendary tone arm from Japan, no longer in production and very much sought after, easily fetching in excess of $200 as a used item. In their November 1988 issue “LA Audiofile” ran a very comprehensive diy article on transforming the XA into a state-of-the-art machine, and in that same vein, the very respectable “Stereophile” did the Mayware modification to achieve the same results.

Yet, a few years earlier, in 1984, “Audio Basics”, while sorting out a heavily modified Merrill (arguably the world’s foremost rebuilder of AR turntables) fitted with the Grace 707, reported that this was “...a nice try, but a properly set up original AR arm is so much better than the Grace...”, because lacking “...the superior authority of the original AR arm, the Grace arm is not rigid enough for optimum results”. This 2nd school of thought maintains to this day that the AR tone arm is unfairly judged by rebuilders, probably because of its very ordinary looks, and that it works as well as any alternative. The general belief was that apart from the required servicing of the suspension and belt replacement, the only significantly measurable change resulted from replacing the cartridge with something better. This is supported by a surface tracking shootout between a 1968 XA, fitted with an Ortofon OM30 cartridge on the standard XA arm, and a 1995 Oracle fitted with three of the top cartridges of the 80’s and 90’s. This test was done using the Shure "Audio Obstacle Course" test record, and the AR out-tracked the modern combinations.

So, if a turntable’s main function was to play vinyl records with the minimum number of errors possible, I guess the XA’s tone arm, although closer in resemblance to a medieval door latch, incorporated some very clever engineering from the 60’s. I decided to go with the stock setup, seeing that there were more than enough directives from the proponents of the keep-it-standard religion on how to exactly tune the original arm to vinyl perfection.

My search for a replacement for the missing counterweight was unsuccessful, and initially I fared only slightly better with auctions for complete arms which included the counterweight. The first two auctions I encountered were running between $50 and $60, and I was outbid on both, but fortunately the third one went very well, and I was able to clinch the deal on $31. This unit came out of Ohio in the US, and shipping cost clocked in at $15. In time this seemingly over the top purchase proved a blessing in disguise, because once I started restoration work, I was unable to fully disassemble the tonearm. The TA and initial XA's came out with some kind of damping device which had to be very finely tuned - when not, which was very often, it led to serious tracking problems. Disabling this feature forms a major part of the standard tone arm's upgrade, and AR soon enough replaced this with a simpler design. The tonearm that came with my table was of the original design, and the auction arm was the later and foolproof version, so when I was unable to loosen the minute screws holding the cylindrical pivot to the shaft, it was a easy decision to replace the complete old arm with the upgrade.

During transit the wiring of the tonearm got just about completely severed because the suspension was not clamped down, so there was another purchase to be made. Care must be taken here to obtain proper internal tonearm wiring, because if too heavy a gauge is used, serious tracking issues will spoil your vinyl experience. I got mine as a five wire colour coded set for $18 plus $3 for shipping, courtesy of John's Wireshop in the US. On receiving the rewiring kit I had my doubts about it's suitability, because the wires both looked thicker and felt stiffer than the old ones they were replacing, despite being advertised as the same gauge as something like Cardas. Initially they appeared to work okay, but the jury is still out. Carefully noting which colors should go where is fairly important to make the sounds come out right, but I must confess that I became slightly impatient and lost my way in marking the sequence at the 4 pins coming out the back of the cartridge shell. I failed to notice that the wiring in the head shell was a different color scheme than that of the wiring inside the tonearm, but the gods were smiling on me, and somehow I soldered everything in the correct order and each channel fired up where it should.

My cartridge of choice was the Ortofon OM5E, another analogue legend and firm favorite for entry level belt drives. The XA originally came out with the Shure M91ED, but some people felt that the later Ortofon was better suited at sustained good tracking when dealing with a not properly tuned AR tone arm (vertical and horizontal bearing friction plus an exposed and looping cable coming out the rear of the tone arm). I sourced both cartridge and needle from Wenning & Engels in Germany for $33, shipping included, in total about $10 cheaper than what I would have paid in South Africa.

Overall the turntable was in a very good shape. The cover, prone to cracked sides, was in one piece, and it fortunately had no deep scratches. The expected myriad of hairline marks I visually reduced to as close a mirror image possible with normal car polish and a lot of buffing. I believe a better finish is possible with a proper plastic polish and even more elbow action, but for the time being it was looking pretty close to new. The plinth was in a really exceptional condition, no marks whatsoever except for a small nick at the one back corner. A few layers of Burmese oil quickly brought out the life in the wood, which of course was the original Acoustic Research standard of solid American Walnut. The recommended factory treatment is a 7-step course with boiled linseed oil, but I was in too much of a hurry to see the first glimpses of restored Walnut the first time round, so this finishing will have to wait for a later stage.

The one horrible looking piece was the top plate - I'm not too sure what paint finish AR used here, but when I took ownership it resembled a thick layer of cooked, green goo. I scraped the worst off with a knife, removed the rest with paint remover, and then cleaned and prepped the metal for a coat of hammered red. I was fairly excited about this finish, but wanting a really rich and dark burgundy, I could only source a very plain and flat fire hydrant red. I applied this colour, but I'm not too happy with, so I may still try and darken the red, or simply switch to plain black.

The insides showed the first signs of wear and tear - a cracked pc board, which I re-inforced with a metal strip, and the cracks in the circuit I bypassed with pieces of wire soldered in to recover the connection. I removed the sponge shock absorbers in the springs, seeing that they were primarily used on bouncy wooden floors (I live with a solid tile floor), cleaned all bearings and filled up bearing wells with 100% silicone. The belt still looked okay, and apparently turned the platter without any signs of impending failure or popping off, but seeing that everyone recommends replacement as a refurbishing standard, I ordered two belts anyway from Pleasebyme in Homosassa, Florida - $5 per belt and $3 for shipping to South Africa. In general I followed a combination of two or three XA servicing guides which I sourced from the Internet, and in my limited experience I can only conclude that everything worked out very well.

Finally, despite the unit's good cosmetic condition it was missing it's logo plates, so once again Vintage-AR had to come to the rescue with their top class replicas. Slightly smaller than the speaker logos, these were of the exact same design and quality, and with double-sided tape at the back to make for easy fitment. I attached one to the centre of the cover, and another in its proper position on the left front side of the plinth. The dustcover was finally put on hinges, seeing that I wanted everything out of dust range at all time, also when playing a record.

I couldn't wait to get the XA started and didn't even bother to set up the tonearm correctly. Playing that first record turned into a very emotional experience because it was an old German big band label handed down by my late father, so it brought back way too many memories. That, and the fact that I managed to bring this magnificent piece of audio equipment back to life was one hell of a high in the progress of my project. I still had to set up the tonearm, and the record had forty three years of grime in the grooves, but within that first minute of listening, the detail and clarity confirmed that it was going to be extremely difficult to take a stand in the digital vs vinyl debate.

After properly adjusting both the tonearm weight and the pivot tension, I started washing my LP's, following the cleaning method of Bill Cartmel from Billstuff. This brought about a very distinct improvement in sound, mainly by removing most if not all of the dirt on the surface, and as a 100% manual operation, it is a very successful substitute for expensive record washer/vacuums. And the sound? Without waxing lyrical, I'll conclude by saying that I consider myself fortunate for having strayed off course so that I could rediscover the world of vinyl. It's simply a completely "new" world of sound.

TV Screen

2009-09-08T01:07:00.009+02:00

Logik 107cm plasma

Not too much to say about this one. A 42 inch demo unit from a local department store, and one of those brands which came with whatever name the shopping chain or distributor selected when signing the contract.

This time it was called Logik, and except for one or two references on the Internet, I couldn't find out zilch about it. All I knew was that it spent year one playing constantly from morning till afternoon, the second year being switched on on demand, and its final six months in the shop storeroom.

The first year's daily ten hour shifts left the screen with its fair share of burnt pixels, but most of the time I didn't notice the defective bits, and for $500 and a 5 year comprehensive insurance policy I'm sure I could have done worse. I didn't have too much of a choice either; the 83cm Akai had just blown its power transformer for the third time, and I was spending the milk money on AR speakers, so there was no way that I was going to see a brand spanking new $1000 plasma in my neck of the woods. I didn't complain, it displayed my pictures and it was big.

HT Subwoofer

2009-09-07T18:27:00.011+02:00

The sub woofer was promising to be my biggest challenge. Acoustic Research’s first and only vintage sub woofer glided through the audio market from 1982 to 1988 as part of the Connoisseur series, and it was simply known as the AR or Connoisseur Sub. Measuring 406x787x457mm and weighing a healthy 32kg, it looked like a small walnut coffee table, and had two 10-inch down-firing drivers in separate interior enclosures. Frequency response was specified as 31-100Hz, and it sold for $500.

Nowadays one or two pop up annually on eBay, selling for between $150 and $200, but at this stage I simply cannot afford to have it shipped to South Africa. I have no idea whether any were ever sold here, and I have certainly never seen any used ones come up for sale. So apart from importing from the States or waiting for ever on a South African version to hit the used columns, I had two other options; build a replica, or completely fore go the vintage route and simply buy a later AR model which was available locally.

As for building my own, I had enough confidence in tackling the woodwork part, and I could lay my hands on a pair of either used original drivers, or a pair of AR-rated substitutes. What troubled me was that very little is known about this speaker, and nowhere on the Internet could I find anything about electronic specs, material specs or building diagrams. I had external dimensions, but no internal volumes, electronic filter details, driver load or whatever, so without all the detail I would never be sure that I was getting close to original performance or not.

After living with the Denon/AR94/AR4 setup for a good 4-5 months, and having run through plenty of mega sound dvd’s, I was starting to question the need or justification for a separate sub; it was a non-deniable fact that all my low frequencies were handled by five 8 inch bass drivers. Did I really need more? Ok, maybe I was starting to get used to the sound on hand, but until I was proven wrong, the sub-woofer would remain on ice. Final evaluation would be made when I replace two of 8 inchers (AR94's) with the 12 inch drivers of the AR3a's, each sporting a free-air resonance of 18-21 Hz.

(To continue – or maybe not)

Front speakers

2009-09-03T19:04:00.053+02:00

Acoustic Research AR94r

Within two weeks of sourcing the AR48’s, towards the end of February 2009, I happened upon an old ad for household goods which included the following simple phrase “…AR speakers…” The ad was almost 2 months old, so I was expecting the worst, but lo and behold, when I phoned it was still there, unfortunately in a not too pristine state according to the seller, Dennis. He again was just around the corner from my home, so I popped in there straight after work. Dennis was cleaning house, and the speakers sat against the wall in his garage, dusty, tied to each other with speaker wire and ready to go into the trash can! The base plates identified them as AR94r’s. The horrible all-enclosing socks looked quite pathetic with tufts of material sticking out or hanging down, torn in places and discolored all over. One speaker appeared to have been standing in a very damp area for a considerable period of time, because the compressed wood was literally crumbling away in the one corner. Major structural repairs on the cards – I was too scared to inspect the insides and simply offered him $20 to take it away.

To add a bit of color to the background; these speakers' journey into Africa carried with them bit of additional American flavor; Dennis worked in the American Consulate in Cape Town during the 1980’s, and at one stage or the other the place underwent renovations, so he acquired the speakers at their garage sale. He used them until the early 1990’s when he replaced his complete sound system and then stored the AR94’s in the garage.

From the materials used it was apparent that the AR94’s were meant to be seriously low budget speakers, falling in line with Teledyne’s focus on the low cost market sector which they advocated at the time. The cloth socks I’ve already described; the construction was a cheap version of compressed wood, so brittle that when you rubbed the surface, pieces of wood and what looked like straw (!) came away under my fingers. Scary. Researching their restoration yielded useful details as far as technical requirements goes, but the cosmetic upgrades hardly went beyond washing the socks!

Initially I contemplated resurfacing the outside with new wood, but the speakers were already huge, bulky and very heavy, so I had to look elsewhere. A new version of sock was also a very definite NO, because I simply hated the look. This was one restoration which was not going to end up true to the original, and eventually I settled for stabilizing and smoothing the existing “wood”.

First step was to plug the bigger holes with wood filler, then bind the complete surface with a black base paint, and finishing off with three heavy coats of clear marine varnish.

I threw out the thick plastic bases, and replaced them with the thinner tops, also plastic, but now painted in a complementary black and screwed to the speakers' bottoms to give a much more elegant look. Red paint on the outer edges of the drivers finished it off in a quite dramatic way with the “covers” off.

A final touch was the introduction of proper old style grills true to the classic and post-classic AR eras. It was fairly simple to cut out a frame in MDF, and then cover that in cloth recovered from the discarded speaker socks. Never being praised as the regular neighborhood handyman, I did feel proud with the final result, despite the knowledge that it would have looked even nicer in wood colour tones rather than the very stark black. But then again, the originals, socks and all, was black to begin with. With the original logos long gone, I ordered a beautiful replacement set in classical AR brass from Vintage-AR for $14 plus $3 for shipping. In case anyone wondered, quotes for a locally engraved brass plate came to twice the price. What however really brought out the big smile was that mechanically these units were in perfect condition - drivers, cross-overs, the lot. So, apart from the cosmetic upgrade, nothing else was required for the AR94's to be moved into their final position.

Eventually hooking up the speakers to the Onkyo in normal hi-fi mode produced the characteristic clear and forward Polite Boston sound, not quite as laid back as the AR48’s, but the AR heritage was unmistakable. With the AR48's at that stage being crippled, and the AR3a's still far off on the horizon, the 94's became the hi-fi drivers for the time being, and after them doing duty for a month I had to admit that I had seriously under-estimated these seemingly cheap units. And so I suspect did the general hi-fi community of the Eighties - the AR94 demands a heap of respect and in the Spring of 2009 it simply was the best speaker in my stable.

They scored more points late 2009 when the Onkyo receiver's shortcomings started coming to the fore; several bouts of extreme clipping left no marks on the drivers (something which would certainly have blown the more fragile AR48's to pieces). These were seriously robust speakers, and earlier comments by others recommending AR94's for home theatre application started making sense. In a home theatre setup they easily handle music as well as anything out there, and as of December 2009 I was yet to find a need for a sub-woofer - the two 10-inchers in the AR94's were moving the pot plants in the room.

While I'm on the subject, as can be seen from pics on this page, an early room layout had a lush and healthy fern close to one of the AR94's, and within a month the branches and leaves on the speaker's side started to wilt and die! When I moved it to another part of the room, it recovered. Plants may like music, but ferns definitely hate the low frequencies.

Rear speakers

2009-09-02T08:23:00.055+02:00

Acoustic Research AR4xa

The AR used market in South Africa was getting extremely quiet, so in August 2009 I started advertising on Gumtree. Page hits were under average, but I did get a response in the first week from someone who wasn't sure about selling an inheritance set. A week or two later two more persons contacted me wanting to get rid of non-AR vintage pieces, and then early September 2009 I got a call from Neville in the Southern Suburbs. He had an early 1970's pair of AR4xa's, so I drove out his way a week later to have a look and listen.

Neville was somewhat of a vintage collector himself, as uneasy with the state and feel of 21st Century audio as I was. His living room was cluttered with a collection of amplifiers, receivers, speakers and other audio and video equipment, and of course the AR's. In fact, I got the feeling he was not showing all his cards and that more treasures were about - I caught glimpses of more speakers in passages mysteriously facing the walls! Anyway, the AR4's originally belonged to Neville's father who simply adored the speakers, and that then also explained the son's half-hearted willingness to sell. Another inheritance set, but this one had a further twist in the tale (sic); most amazingly the original owner's initials were also AR. His father passed away in 1999, and as the years marched on, the AR4s' cosmetic condition slowly slid backwards, up to the point where they were not always the set of choice. And it was clear why, because the grill material was in a sorry state, bits of walnut veneer were chipped off and elsewhere delamination was causing the veneer to lift away from the main body.

What did save this set was the mechanical performance; Neville hooked them up to one of his amps, and I honestly couldn't detect any false notes. In fact, I was surprised by the richness of the sound - strong evidence of AR's capabilities in extracting amazingly true sound even from a modest 2-way speaker. I didn't immediately make an offer, but went home to weigh up the cost of cosmetic repairs versus sound. I was wondering about my restoring capabilities, because first impressions of the speakers wasn't too good, and I still had no idea about the true condition of the drivers and the cross-overs. After checking prices on eBay, I made an offer of $30 the next day, to which Neville countered with a request for $10 more, so that's where we clinched the deal.

As for the speaker cabinets, the first step on the road to recovery was to re laminate all bits of peeling veneer. Here the recommended tool for amateur restorers was either a hair dryer or clothing iron, and hopefully one or both would be successful in reheating thirty year old glue. Failing that, the next option would be to re glue that area, and as last resort, completely resurface all sides with full veneer sheets. I have terrifying visions of veneer the size of serving trays falling off speaker boxes in a sticky mess.

The hot iron method entails pressing a slightly warm iron for two to three seconds a time onto a damp cloth covering the peeled area. Once the glue becomes pliable, the veneer is covered with wax paper and weighed down with a heavy object for 24 hours. The hair dryer method needs little explanation; on medium heat simply direct the nozzle at the affected area, and follow the rest of the hot iron process. I tried the hot iron method, but this was only successful in a few places, so after plugging holes and building up broken corners with wood filler, I glued down all loose veneer edges, and the final result was good enough to not further explore reheating processes. Fortunately all chips and holes were small enough not to require re patching with replacement veneer, because I was unable to source walnut veneer anywhere locally.

After completing re lamination, I had to repair the crumbling back panels of the boxes, because these were showing the same structural characteristics as those of the AR94's. Acoustic Research obviously had sound (?) reasoning for using specific materials, but the visual quality of what lay underneath pretty veneer or enticing body socks was simply unappealing. I used one coat of clear marine varnish to bind the surface, and then finished with two coats of lighter varnish. With all the built-up corners and edges, I did not want to risk my patchwork with the classic oil finish, but preferred to keep this restoration tight and together with a more durable and secure finish. Overall a brilliant result which actually turned out to be less effort than the AR94's.

The grill cloth on the speakers looked quite bad; one had a hole the size of a dime, and both were discoloured. Exact replacements sets were available for $40 a pair, but it seemed silly to pay the same price as for the speakers themselves. I still had the sock material from the AR94 exercise, and even though the original colour scheme was cream cloth against natural wood, black cloth on wood was not an uncommon AR setup either. Attention was also required to the logos, where the fully painted brass plates were both chipped and worn. Again not sticking to the original scheme, I opted for the alternative AR black text against natural brass. Now proudly performing duty as the rear surround elements, I propped them up on custom made stands in a wood finish closely matching those of the AR4xa's themselves. Looking good and performing admirably day in and day out without missing a beat.

FEEDBACK

Wow! My late father who passed away ten years ago at 85 years old would have been extremely pleased with this “miracle”, as much as I am – if not more so!

Ps. His initials were? A.R.

Kind regards,

Neville.

Center Speaker

2009-09-01T00:56:00.019+02:00

(1) Acoustic Research AR1ms

The 4th item into the bin, early February 2009, again by way of the auction site, was my first set of AR speakers, the AR1ms. Because of the weight/shipping issue, it never was my intention to import speakers from anywhere in the world, but this pair is about the size of a shoe box, and the indicated shipping cost out of New York USA was an acceptable $53, so I bid and won another bargain at $16. But yes, once again the shipping calculator snapped a mouthful out my budget, because the fee for stamps eventually rang the till at $75. I sent another educational lecture on eBay regulations and processes to the seller, and paid the cost, because I had a faint suspicion that they were quite scarce - in fact, in a one year period I only saw one other set advertised on eBay.

I initially planned to use them as rear speakers and build my own central speaker using AR drivers, but to be honest, I was quite apprehensive about the prospects of tackling the science of central speaker dynamics and hoping to match AR characteristics. It also made more project sense to use original vintage units, rather than gluing together a unit that historically never actually existed. Using two speakers instead of the normal single center speaker also isn't uncommon and could be done, provided the wiring is done correctly. As for available space around the TV screen the AR1ms set would fit in perfectly, and as a bonus they visually looked more than just acceptable.

I started off using both at the same time, but with the Onkyo receiver's continuous protection mode antics, I removed one unit just to play it safe as far as impedance goes. Once the Denon receiver came into town, these early 1980's speakers unfortunately started showing their age and the first surround was blown to bits. I changed the bad speaker for the surviving one, immediately ordered replacement surrounds, and started praying the remaining speaker will last at least one month! Hold out it did, but when the replacement surrounds arrived, they were the wrong size, and to top it off, the 2nd speaker also collapsed with it's old surround scattered on the floor. Fortunately I was reaching the final stages of restoring another set of medium-sized speakers, so there was no stopping the action.

(2) Acoustic Research AR4x
Got a call early 2010 from Mark in the Southern Suburbs about a set of old AR's he wanted to get rid of for a measly $40, and when I took a drive out there I was very pleased to see a set which could only be described as a restorer's delight. Tweeters were fully functional, and main drivers sported the old indestructible cloth surrounds - not one note out of tune. The cabinets had the usual scrapes and dings, but overall very acceptable and easily straightened out with the customary process of sanding, filling and oiling. Once complete, the luster of the wood was only matched by that of the 3a's - a rich glow that complemented it's surroundings. The grills had already been redone when I took over the set, but in a black cloth rather than the original off-white, so in time I'll replace those with my hessian stock. So one of these went up on the wall to replace the AR1ms as center speaker, and the other one went into storage, waiting for it's partners in a different home theater set-up.

The sound was very much different from the AR1ms, partly due to a completely different frequency range, partly I believe to the different cabinet material, and partly of course to the difference in size. The AR1ms had a sharper character compared to the rich and fuller sound of the AR4x's, but then that could also have been due to the deteriorating surrounds of the former. Irrespective of what came before, I quickly grew accustomed to the AR4x, so much so that I have now settled on the AR4 range as the ideal unit for surround or center speaker duty. And the 8 inch driver was adding its weight to the low-frequency circle already occupied by the six matching drivers in the rest of the speakers in the HT setup.

Dolby DTS Decoder

2009-08-31T17:31:00.007+02:00

In home theatre circles you get a lot of talk around what is true multi-channel and what is not (hinting at the possibility of inferior extra channels being derived from a basic 2-channel signal), and this could especially be true of some of the popular all-in-one sets people buy at the general dealer – and for that matter, several bargain priced DVD-players are also suspect. In the case of stand-alone decoders one should expect to have a definite advantage in true channel separation (but then also not so separate that your head swings around every time an engine starts up on the left), and again that alone is no 100% guarantee, seeing that some of the reviews of the modern units mentioned later are not all that favourable either. Confusing? Yes, and some audiophiles swear by separate decoders, and others scoff at the idea. I couldn't care; I needed one otherwise my vintage system was useless.

In the new item market, I managed to identify a suitable Chinese decoder marketed under two different brand names for about $120, but the shipping cost out of the East to Africa was inexplicably high. I also located another new item in Germany for a hefty $190, but with shipping cost added, that would also break the bank. Finally, I found several other guys in the East bringing out small USB-based decoders, but since these were driven by PC software, I couldn’t make use of those.

Even though in fair supply a few years back, to nowadays source a stand-alone 5.1 channel decoder able to handle the Dolby DTS/AC3 format (the current standard for all DVD’s) proved quite difficult, seeing that the multi-channel circuits are now incorporated into modern equipment. As for the used market, whatever came up for auction was snapped up in the blink of an eye, often by PC gamers looking to expand their sound experience. A really tough environment where I spent several months bowing out of auctions that easily ran into the $200-plus category - easily way above my budget. And then there were also those sellers (at least two) who reneged on completed transactions because they got the shipping costs wrong! But those deals getting cancelled was a blessing in disguise, because in both instances the items cost in excess of a hundred dollars, whereas the Marantz DP870 I finally acquired went for $46. The shipping cost of $75 was heavy, but at least that was what it was calculated as from the first day, so it couldn’t mess up the transaction 3 steps further down the line.

Despite all the various functions enabling one to do finer adjustments or to alter the output to one’s own personal taste, the workings of the decoder is fairly straightforward. Digital input is catered for in the form of either coaxial or optical posts, and output is simply the common analogue 5.1 setup (front, surround, centre and sub-woofer). I could be telling you that it’s performance is on such a superior level that when listening to the wind in the opening scenes of “War Of The Worlds” the Marantz lifts both separation and detail to the point where one can actually determine magnetic north, but in acknowledgment of my limited audio/videophile capabilities I’ll spare you the drivel and conclude with the summary that it processes digital Dolby into 6 clearly separate audio channels.

CD player

2009-08-30T12:24:00.019+02:00

Pioneer DVD-V7400

My 2nd purchase was a Pioneer DVD-V7400, rated at the turn of the century as the world’s best industrial disc player. With no-one else bidding on this one in December 2008 (there were another two eBay auctions running for the same item and at the same time), I bought a real bargain for $45, but there my short streak of good luck slipped out through the backdoor. The seller, a Russian lady in Florida USA, fed the wrong details into the shipping calculator, so instead of the advertised $55, I had to cough up $85! Ok, so under eBay rules I could force the seller to honour the original shipping cost, but I couldn’t risk a spiteful revenge in the shape of a DVD player classified as dead-on-arrival. I could of course also cancel the transaction, but the other V7400 auctions had already ended, and I simply couldn’t care to wait until the next Pioneer came along. To be fair, the damned thing was very heavy, so I suppose $85 was a fair call, and I paid up, but not without giving the seller a good paragraph in clear African English.

I had no idea whether my version came from a museum, shopping centre, training room or TV station, but apart from missing the control button for the microphone level, it was in a very good condition and produced as good a CD sound as I could expect. The Pioneer’s overall sturdiness of frame and driving gear was legendary, and with less than 2000 hours on the clock (yes, it was running an internal “odometer”), it was a true component-for-life item with a motor and bearing guaranteed for 50 000 hours! And let’s be honest, it had a proper mean look with that square and deep body in Menacing Black…

Unfortunately the unit also had several not-so-good features, or to be more precise, a lack of features. For one it had no LED indicator, but that could be overcome by relaying all the track info to the TV monitor. The first really big obstacle was the discovery that even though the Pioneer sported any version of multi-channel output I could wish for (all running out through either optical or co-axial connections), it had no audio decoder feeding into analogue multi-channel RCA posts. And that’s what the Onkyo required as origin of feed. The solution obviously lies in the incorporation into the system of a suitable audio decoder which can process the Pioneer's signals. And so I moved on to yet another dark chamber buzzing with electronic black magic. This was old technology, so was the door still open? The struggle to source a suitable signal converter is discussed under "Dolby DTS Decoder".

Pioneer DVD-V7400
The third and biggest mountain to climb was the region lock. And this lock really was the king of all DVD locks - no easy code to key in or fancy little program to flash via infra-red. I tried them all, dudes, and none worked. Pioneer USA said it can't be done, forget it. I knew it was region locked when I bought it, but I read somewhere that it could easily be unlocked with the proper Pioneer code. So on and off I searched for the elusive code for a few months, until I finally accepted that there was no code for this particular Pioneer. I then sourced a UK site called dvdunlocks4u and they listed the V7400 as one of the machines their little programme could unlock. I bought this programme, lined up the player and my pc via infrared, and … nothing. Can’t say that this is 100% true for all makes, because I have seen reports of people being successful with this, but it definitely does not work for the 7400, so I have been misled.

Okay, no code, no software; so the next step was the dreaded option of chip replacement. Anybody who has had a look at the minute detail of components and circuitry involved here, will know that this is no job for the ordinary soldering-iron or the sticky fingers of an amateur. In October 2009 I finally located a Dutch company called JVB Digital who was advertising exactly this conversion for the V7400, either as DIY for $95 or as an in-shop conversion for $185. After I sent them an email to confirm specific details, the ad overnight changed to no DIY and the in-shop option jumped to over $444! Out of principle I refuse to deal with people who conduct their business in this manner, never mind how desperate I am to obtain their services, and in my mind it simply portrays just another dealer flashing impressive lists without actually having worked on the items. I don't care to find out whether their system works or not, and $444 anyway is a joke.

Late October I sourced a German converter, this time listing a plug-in for the V7300. My first info request in English was met with a thundering silence, so using a web translator I fired a concoction in German at them. Still waiting for reaction. By now I have resigned myself to the cruel fact that the Pioneer would remain stuck in it's original zone, so henceforth it will do duty as CD-player in the hi-fi setup.

Acoustic Research Inc.

2009-07-28T23:54:00.082+02:00

In September 1954, Edgar M Villchur, audio pioneer, writer, artist, inventor, researcher and audio-electronics teacher, unveiled the AR1 at the New York Audio Fair. The acoustic suspension design turned the audio world upside down with its superior bass characterics and minimal bass distortion, in addition to reducing speaker size by an astonishing 75% and going for a respectable $185. Initially Villchur had no intention of setting up his own factory to build audio equipment, because he believed that major investment would be required to produce his design, so he simply wanted to sell his patent, but then both Altec and Bozak laughed it off as impossible.

After mentioning his invention in class (an evening course called “Reproduction of Sound”), one of his students, a certain Henry Kloss, harassed Villchur to the point where they drove to the latter’s home in Woodstock for a demo with a butchered Western Electric. After convincing Villchur that they could easily build plenty of speakers in Kloss' loft in Cambridge, Massachusetts, student and teacher founded Acoustic Research Inc. on 10 August 1954. Villchur owned 51% of the company and filled the roles of president, patent-holder, and director of product development and promotion, while Kloss headed production design and operations. For that first year AR showed a net loss of $4,059, not having sold a single speaker, but in 1955 things improved slightly with sales of $56,773 and a net income of $1,587.

Initially the audio world was unsure what to make of Villchur’s invention, as it took some time for everyone to realise that rather than just being 2nd rate stand-ins, these small units were actually rendering obsolete the existing fridge-like behemoths of the day. In 1956 they moved from Kloss' one-story loft to the now famous address of 24 Thorndike Street, a four storey building. The workforce grew from 6 to 50, and sales jumped to $383,258 for a net income of $26,418. But by then differences on policy issues had caused too much friction between the two founder members, and in February 1957 Henry Kloss walks out with Malcolm Low and Anton Hofman to form KLH.

Even though Villchur bought out all Kloss' shares, the latter retained the right to employ the acoustic suspension concept in his own works, so that helped establish KLH as another respected member of the Boston sound clique. Abe Hoffman took over as company vice-president and treasurer, with Harry Rubinstein the new plant manager, and even though the split left some scars, it did little to stop Villchur from finishing Kloss's work on the AR2 and launching it in March 1957. Smaller and cheaper than the AR1, the first 1500 units sold at a loss, but eventually total sales for that year hit an astonishing $973,262 and a net income of $37,160.

After introducing a prototype at the Chicago Hi-Fi Show, Villchur finally on October 3 at the 1958 New York High Fidelity Music Show unveils his next revolutionary speaker, the legendary AR3, sporting not only the now familiar acoustic suspension woofer, but also the world’s first commercial dome mid-range driver, and the world’s first high frequency dome tweeter. Dubbed the star of the show, it's heritage was quickly confirmed when the authoritative "Consumer Reports" rated both AR1 and AR2 best in class in November 1958. Within a month of its launch, AR had more than 500 confirmed orders for the new speaker.

Villchur took the AR3 on tour throughout the United States in the early 1960's, staging a total of 75 “concerts”. In addition to the speakers, he also took an Ampex tape deck, two 60 Watt Dynakit amplifiers, and a range of live performers, amongst others the Boston Fine Arts String Quartet. Each performance was fairly simple; the sound of the live musicians was alternated with the pre-recorded echo less music of the same work and band. Labelled the ultimate subjective test of audio quality, these switch overs could for the most part not be detected by the audience, which would of course include both members of the press and audiophile masters of the day. Villchur reasoned that “I thought these concerts defined what we meant by high fidelity”.

For the next ten years the AR3 would undisputed reign as the most accurate loudspeaker available at any price, becoming the ultimate reference in any audio environment of note. Its contribution to audio development was rated so high that on 13 September 1993 the Smithsonian Institute placed a speaker on permanent display in The National Museum of American History. The AR3 in addition played a leading role in that other very lively speaker debate of the 60’s, namely the battle of the West- and East Coast Sounds (the latter is also referred to as the New England- or Boston Sound). This debate is still very much alive, and participants classify both old and new US-produced speakers according to these criteria. These terms were born from the notion that speakers produced in the West (JBL, Altec Lansing, Klipschorn) put you right up on stage, whereas the group produced in the East (AR, KLH, Large Advent) put you somewhere in the middle of the audience. In the East they listened to classical and jazz; speakers with a flat response, mellow, laid-back, and refined. In the West (California) you had the birth of pop/rock and the speakers was forward, dynamic, a punchy bass, loud, and coloured. AR of course insisted that their reproduction of sound was accurate, so it did not matter whether the music originated with a philharmonic orchestra or a progressive rock band. That said, we have to accept that modern speaker characteristics have undoubtedly followed the West Coast philosophy, up to the point where audio is now caught up in a Neolithic boom-box era.

By 1966 Acoustic Research Inc had grown to be the largest loudspeaker manufacturer in the USA, holding more than 32% of that market, which was the largest market share ever enjoyed in audio. And that was also the signal for Edgar Villchur to get off the bus – he had long surpassed his original wish to publicly establish an audio truth. He sold all his shares to the huge aerospace conglomerate Teledyne in June 1967, leaving behind a legacy never again matched in the world of audio. The inventor moved on to establish the non-profit “Foundation for Hearing Aid Research”, and from his work there came the multichannel compression design in 1973 which is the current industry standard for modern hearing aids.

The first 5 years under Teledyne, 1967 to 1972, brought more good fortune. In 1967 AR launched both the world's first high-current amplifier, the AU, and the successor to the AR3, the even more successful and higher rated AR3a. The AR Receiver followed in 1969, and in 1970 came the Tuner with class-leading sensitivity and performance. To broaden it's footprint in Europe, AR opens a factory in Amersfoort, Netherlands in 1969, and another in Bedforshire, England two years later. The biggest success story of that period however was their outrageously successful turntable, the XA. Initially known as the TA, Villchur started work on this as early as the late 1950’s, and finished the design just after the launch of the AR3. Initial calculations resulted in an introductory price of $58, but that was way too low, so they had to push it up to $78, complete but for the cartridge. Villchur was hoping that in its lifetime it would sell about 50,000 units; come the 70's AR was selling more than 50,000 per year! In 2008 it was calculated that to commercially re-introduce the XA today will give you a unit price in excess of $1500, so it is easy to understand why properly refurbished units are rated as good as anything out there. AR had thousands of TA orders immediately after announcing the launch in 1961, and the replacement model XA in 1963 was to become the reference turntable of the time, one of the biggest money spinners in the AR stable. It was to remain the world's all-time bestseller until the Linn Sondek LP12 came along; itself unsurprisingly a well-engineered clone of the XA (the Linn was introduced in 1972 and is still in production).

In that same period both sales and profits doubled, but market share started dropping because of a very quickly expanding audio market. More manufacturers were now bringing out excellent equipment, all competing for the same cake, so Teledyne decided that it was time to focus on the lower-end sector. They brought in a new management team, and with that most of the old Villchur crowd left the house. AR continued to be a force and a well respected name deep into the 1980’s, the biggest producer of loudspeakers in the world, but the slide had begun, and in 1993 Teledyne, who couldn't find a solution to counter shrinking market share, sold the company to International Jensen. The new owners that same year closed the doors of the famous Massachusetts factory and moved everything to Benicia in California, so that brought to an end what has become known as the Classical and Post Classical periods.

International Jensen themselves ran into financial difficulties not much later. After being put up for sale in 1995, Recoton in August 1996 acquired the Jensen consumer division, which by then included the famous American brands of Advent, AR, Jensen, NHT and Phase Linear. Early April 2003 Recoton Audio Corp was forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and into full bankruptcy proceedings on April 8, 2003. In the aftermath of the slaughter, Audiovox paid $40m for the rights to use the names of Advent, Jensen and AR on loudspeakers and electronic products, while Thomson SA bought the rights to use them on accessories. Thomson that same year formed a joint venture named TTE with the giant Chinese company TCL, which would be responsible for producing the TTE brands, making TCL the world's leading TV manufacturer. Thomson initially retained licenses and brand control, but subsequently also transferred product marketing to TTE in 2005. This non-USA journey of the Advent, Jensen and AR names however came to an end in December 2006 when Audiovox acquired the accessory rights from Thomson (excluding those that covered TV's and communications products), so both audio products and audio accessories finally ended up in the same AR stable again. The “new” AR has throughout all this turmoil established itself as a serious competitor in the current US electronics market, even regaining some exposure on the global front, covering a wide spectrum with its products produced in the Far East.

Will it ever reach the same levels of respect and cult status that the old firm has earned for itself and its products? "Never" probably is too final a judgement, so let's simply proclaim that the King is dead, long live the King...

[to continue]

In Woodstock lab, 1997

At home, Woodstock, 1997

Stereophile interview, 2005

AR3 in Smithsonian Institute

Restored AR3a

28 July 2009