And also because he hasn't done much reading about modern loudspeakers. The AR3 was one of the most important speakers in loudspeaker history. It introduced the dome tweeter and midrange, and the acoustic suspension woofer, which allowed for the first time deep bass extension in a bookshelf-size speaker. More important, it established uncolored sound as a primary criterion for speaker evaluation, rather than the boomy, screechy "West Coast" sound popular at the time. As it turns out, modern developments in bass reflex design have pretty much supplanted the pure acoustic suspension approach to bass reproduction, and the AR3 is actually quite colored by current standards. But it was definitely a breakthrough design, and sold by a company that put Consumer Protection on the map before the movement even developed. They refused to price maintain their products, and sold at razor-thin margins. Plus, they had a 5-year unlimited warranty that was unheard of at the time. My first speakers were AR4's that I got at a steep discount through a Washington D.C. mail order house. The lack of dealer support pretty much doomed the original AR operation, but they were a milestone in speaker development and acceptance I restored a pair of AR3a's several years ago, and you can see how they measure here:
MurphyBlaster Productions
Not so great, due mostly to cancellation effects between the tweeter and midrange. But these shifted as you moved around, and the overall sound was quite smooth, though muted in the mid-highs. And they went down to 32 Hz.
