Loudspeakers that Missed the Public Ear Thread

[Seth=L]

This thread is dedicated to speakers that where overlooked in the audio market. Bower & Wilkins Nautilus 802Ds would be an example of an excellent speaker that is the exact opposite of what this thread is about. Speakers that where excellent, odd, exotic, or just something that you like that seems to have never existed.


I'll start with my most recent find.

Enter the Acoustic Research SRA Classic 18 floor standing speaker system.

This series of speakers was produced by Acoustic Research, which was a division of International Jensen Inc. at the time, from 1992-1994. Soon after AR moved it's operations from it's Canton, MA facility to California. This was one of the last speakers AR produced in the New England tradition.

The Classic 18s original MSRP was $1300 per pair. There was one model below the Classic 18 called the Classic 12, and three above it, Classic 26, 30, and supposedly a Classic 36. No evidence of the Classic 36 existing is present other than it's mention in the user's manual to the speakers I just purchased. All the speakers in the series use an MTM driver arrangement for the tweeter and midrange drivers. The low frequency driver on mine is placed on the bottom of the speaker array. The models above this one place a second woofer on the top of the speaker for a mmtmm arrangement. Each speaker uses a sealed trapezoidal cabinet with heavy bracing to reduce cabinet resonance. A quick wrap of my knuckle on the side instantly confirmed this. Are they completely void of resonance, no, but for a speaker back in the early 90's with a suggest retail of $1300 it's well above average.

It seems these speakers never saw the light of day in an audio magazine, maybe mere mention, certainly no follow up review. It's very likely that few people know these exist.


Here are a few more shots of the rear of the speaker. With a specification tag and "Made in the USA" proudly printed on the secure tag.

I hope everyone get's a chance to share their rare speakers in this thread. Have fun.

 

[Soundman]

Nice find, Seth! I have some speakers from the early to mid 90's, but they sound terrible, unfortunately.

 

[Seth=L]

Thanks. What kind of speakers are those that sound terrible?

Remember, this isn't a time period of speakers thread. This is a thread dedicated to all speakes ignored by the audio community.

 

[Seth=L]

I'm very impressed with these Classic 18 towers so far. Will report more later.

 

[yettitheman]

I hope you keep these long enough for me to see them next time.

 

[Soundman]

Thanks. What kind of speakers are those that sound terrible?

Remember, this isn't a time period of speakers thread. This is a thread dedicated to all speakes ignored by the audio community.

Uh.....I'm actually embarrassed to say.....OK Sony. Hey, it was like 15 years ago. Live and learn I suppose.

 

[Davemcc]

There's always my old Sansui SP-Z7. Awesome speaker back in the day with their 15" polypropalene woofer, 4 way design with horn tweeter and supertweeter with attenuation knob. These things flat out KICKED A** in Gymnasium sized rooms when driven by my old Bryston 4B.

 

[krzywica]

There's always my old Sansui SP-Z7. Awesome speaker back in the day with their 15" polypropalene woofer, 4 way design with horn tweeter and supertweeter with attenuation knob. These things flat out KICKED A** in Gymnasium sized rooms when driven by my old Bryston 4B.

Thanks for the contribution Dave, those are quite.....um.....well I'm notr sure how to feel about them exactly. Road Warrior comes to mind though.

So.....AWESOME!!

 

[Davemcc]

Thanks for the contribution Dave, those are quite.....um.....well I'm notr sure how to feel about them exactly. Road Warrior comes to mind though.

So.....AWESOME!!

I still have them but they have a couple of blown drivers. I haven't found a proper way to replace them yet. I'd like to find mids and horns that will sound decent with the exiting cabinet and crossover but I don't know how to do that, maybe just the horns, I'm not sure.

 

[Seth=L]

Maybe it's just the city I live in, but, I've seen a lot of older Sansui speakers with those weird fins over the tweeter and white paper cone woofers. A lot of people seem to like the one's they have.

 

[antiprnt]

AR Classics!

Nice post Seth. I've longed for someone on internet forums to post about the AR classics. I got into the home theater craze a couple of years ago and inherited a pair of AR classic 26's from my father. I've never thought anything of them until i learned more about speakers. It has always been underpowered but now i have a proamp on them, and should be giving them enough juice. I've never had new modern speakers to compare them with, so i still have upgraditis.

Have u had the chance to compare to them any modern speakers? I know the imaging on these are pretty damn good though. I would post a pic, but i need 4 more posts!

 

[Davemcc]

Maybe it's just the city I live in, but, I've seen a lot of older Sansui speakers with those weird fins over the tweeter and white paper cone woofers. A lot of people seem to like the one's they have.

If you happen to come across a set of Z7's with good mids and horns, buy them for me. Pretty please.

 

[Seth=L]

Nice post Seth. I've longed for someone on internet forums to post about the AR classics. I got into the home theater craze a couple of years ago and inherited a pair of AR classic 26's from my father. I've never thought anything of them until i learned more about speakers. It has always been underpowered but now i have a proamp on them, and should be giving them enough juice. I've never had new modern speakers to compare them with, so i still have upgraditis.

Have u had the chance to compare to them any modern speakers? I know the imaging on these are pretty damn good though. I would post a pic, but i need 4 more posts!

This is exactly the kind of response to this thread I was hoping to generate. As more people share what they've had experience with or own in detail it's more likely someone somewhere searching for any information about some mysterious speaker they just found will find this thread and learn something about what they've found. I found it frustrating finding next to nothing about those AR Classics. All the questions I had for folks on forums that had mentioned them hadn't been active for years!

I've had a chance to compare them to my M&K S-85 bookshelf monitors (not in a double blind or level matched test). I can say that I am enjoying them a lot and I would say they compare favorably to speakers in the modern market, even at the same MSRP that these had back in 92'. They are solidly built speakers, with a design a little ahead of the curve compared to a majority of audio manufacturers. They are definitely a serious hi-fi speaker system. I like these speakers a ton, and they'll probably be sticking around for a while as my primary speakers if that says anything about them.

 

[Seth=L]

If you happen to come across a set of Z7's with good mids and horns, buy them for me. Pretty please.

Sure thing. I've not seen any exactly like the one you pictured, but close.

 

[Vintage_Hi-Fi]

Here's another set of speakers from Acoustic Research in the early 90's this time it's the limited series.

Not only was it a Speaker line but a system. With matching power amp, pre-amp, and EQ.

Though they look like their electrostatic they're actually not.

They actually share a fair amount with the AR9 line from the late 70's and 80's. They have a 12" woofer, two 3" inch midrange drivers and a 1" soft dome tweeter. From what I've heard these speakers were to be the beginning of a comeback for AR, but sadly the market for true High end speakers and components was almost nil in the early 90's so after about a year AR ended production and moved on out to Californian.

This was AR's Swan Song and what a beautiful song it was.

 

[Seth=L]

I just finished doing about 40 minutes of listening tests with the Acoustic Research Classic 18s. To my ears they are the definitively better than any full range speaker I've owned in terms of dynamics (entire bandwidth). These speakers slam more than any I've ever owned. The attack of the bass with "Hotel California" live is unlike anything I've heard in my home before, even with a subwoofer. Due to the acoustic suspension design of the AR Classic 18s the low end rolloff is soft keeping it going audibly below it's 40hz low frequency extension rating. Sad to say, but the Yamaha RX-V3800 runs out of juice before these speakers stop taking it. I didn't get it to shut down, but I did hear it clipping audibly with transients and with Trent Reznor's constant electric noise.

There are some cabinet resonance issues that cause some slight coloring at mid bass frequencies. However the resonance issues could be resolved fairly easily. At the same time, previously owned and present owned floor standers I have have more cabinet resonant issues than these, so I'm going in the right direction.

In terms of high frequency handling, the tweeter are solid. No matter the level of output they keep composure. I did some listening with high frequency material from Cranberries - Faithful Departed album with some woodwind instrumentation that usually sets other tweeters into disarray. They aren't harsh, but they do seem pretty analytical, not really leaving anything out.

Detailed layering is something else I noticed when listening to Loreena McKennitt's "Marco Polo". Several instruments overlay but all are significant in this track. Speaker of lesser quality or entry level may still sound alright with this song but the convolution can prove difficult for speakers that are unable to present it. There's an underlying bass tone constantly present that could be drown out by the other instruments, but on the ARs it was always right there where it was supposed to be.

Imaging is narrow. Vertically and horizontally off axis tears up the sound stage. When listening to these I feel I need be as still in my seat as I do listening to Martin Logan ESLs. Lucky for me my couch is quite comfortable and the music is good.

My poor Yammy was uncomfortable to the touch after 40 minutes, but I don't blame the receiver. I imagine a 4 ohm rated speaker with this configuration gets a little power hungry at certain frequencies. In all likelyhood it probably spends a little more time around 2-3 ohms than the Yamaha would like for them to.

Refinishing the cabinets would probably be a good idea in the near future. My current end cost in these wonderful speakers falls at less than $200. I'd consider that worthwhile considering they've taken the top spot for speakers owned. They are cool, different, rare, and best of all, absolutely phenomenal sounding full range speakers.

 

[Seth=L]

Here's another set of speakers from Acoustic Research in the early 90's this time it's the limited series.

The Classic and Limited lines came out at the same time actually. You are right, it was their last plug at true Hi-Fi. The Limited series was comprised of the Limited 3 which had a suggested retail at nearly $7000, as well as the electronics also pictured there. The Classic series began a bit off an addition to the line in 93, which I'm not even sure if they ever made it to shelves in stores.

In the Limited 3s, notice the use of dome midrange drivers. Those had to be state of the art at the time. I bet they sounded amazing.

Do you have any legacy gear you want to share your experience with? I'm guess with your user name that you do. Any AR stuff?

 

[STRONGBADF1]

Ohm Model C

The picture is of the model B but they are the same except the C's woofer is 10" and the B's are 12". Ohm is known more for there omni-polar designs but I really like these for almost forty year old design. Clean and balanced.


Production Period early: 1970's
Nationally Advertised Price: originally $400 per pair
Amplifiers Recommended: 15 - 75 watts
Impedance (typical): 8 ohms
Frequency Response: 47 - 20,000 Hz
Sensitivity @ 2.8 Volts: 87 dB
Sealed design

 

[Seth=L]

The picture is of the model B but they are the same except the C's woofer is 10" and the B's are 12". Ohm is known more for there omni-polar designs but I really like these for almost forty year old design. Clean and balanced.


Production Period early: 1970's
Nationally Advertised Price: originally $400 per pair
Amplifiers Recommended: 15 - 75 watts
Impedance (typical): 8 ohms
Frequency Response: 47 - 20,000 Hz
Sensitivity @ 2.8 Volts: 87 dB
Sealed design

Do you have a pair of those?

 

[Vintage_Hi-Fi]

Do you have any legacy gear you want to share your experience with? I'm guess with your user name that you do. Any AR stuff?

Well I do list my all components in my signature. I do have a pair of AR's some hulking AR9LSi towers which are simply amazing as well as two sansui receivers (Doesn't get much better in my opinion) and I am considering doing an overview of some of my components.