I've just pulled out my AR 6 out of storage. Normally I use big Advents and not afraid to play them loud as they handle it just fine. But I haven't used the AR 6 for about 10 years and forgot how much they can handle compared to the Advents. I'm guessing it should be same but I'd welcome any reassurance before I give them some good power. That is from people that have them off course. They sound great, it's been a looong time. 🙂
Good luck with that. 🙂 Even if they ever could play at whatever you consider loud, the suspension and foam is not what it was in 1970.
If you need speakers to abuse, sell those and get something more modern. I'm sure a lot of AR fans would love to have them.
Best,
Erik
If you need speakers to abuse, sell those and get something more modern. I'm sure a lot of AR fans would love to have them.
Best,
Erik
Nah, they're in perfect shape, I've changed the surrounds over 10 years ego to the material that doesn't deteriorate. Checked everything, the speakers are like new and all ready using them for couple of days at moderate levels. I NEVER abuse good speakers.
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One of my friends used to have the AR6 in some version. They work best close to the wall and with a 10 inch bass go very loud indeed.
TBH, they were a bit bright and harsh to my ears, but lively. Great value, for sure. And for a two-way, a great deal to enjoy. Very attractive styling, for one thing.
TBH, they were a bit bright and harsh to my ears, but lively. Great value, for sure. And for a two-way, a great deal to enjoy. Very attractive styling, for one thing.
If they play loud enough for you - without grossly apparent distortions- then is not the rest really just academic?😉
FWIW, when I was listening at closer to "reference levels", I always found most models in the AR line a bit more polite and restrained? than the Advents, and most of the models from the "Winslow Burhoe" heritage.
FWIW, when I was listening at closer to "reference levels", I always found most models in the AR line a bit more polite and restrained? than the Advents, and most of the models from the "Winslow Burhoe" heritage.
I think I got the hang of them again now after few days listening. I was talking about the "feeling" you get (at least I do) when turning up the volume till the sound starts to get little edgy as if the speakers were saying " I'm at my peak, no more please" 🙂 It was bit harder with these speakers since they have stronger mids and the transition is not so obvious like on the Advents.
As System7 pointed out the AR6 might seem to sound little harsh at first,I think that is because they're more lively (as System7 said) and up front. But aren't actually harsh as such otherwise there would be no way I could sit, listen and enjoy them whole day long. Just more mids I'd say compared to the Advents.http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/members/system7.html
As System7 pointed out the AR6 might seem to sound little harsh at first,I think that is because they're more lively (as System7 said) and up front. But aren't actually harsh as such otherwise there would be no way I could sit, listen and enjoy them whole day long. Just more mids I'd say compared to the Advents.http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/members/system7.html
You are describing the difference between 8" midrange and 10" midrange. Lows will be no contest. I think Steve has the AR 5 in mind.
It was a long time ago, and I did have the notion the AR6 had a 10" woofer, because otherwise it was the same as the 8" AR4, but maybe it was 8".
AR used various filters over the years, some overly simplistic like single cap IMO. The main points are in the one below which is a sort of hybrid of early and later models. The tweeter was very flat and ferrofluid in later models, and would do better than the Visaton TW70 I used for the sim which is not so flat. The Monacor HT-22 would probably be a good replacement for a broken tweeter.
What made them sound good was the tweeter had significant output to 1.5kHz, so dispersion (power response) was good. You couldn't push a dome tweeter this hard at low frequencies. And the acoustic suspension is a very linear way to damp a cone, so low distortion when loud.
You can find a lot of engineering drawings here:
Home Page | The Classic Speaker Pages
AR used various filters over the years, some overly simplistic like single cap IMO. The main points are in the one below which is a sort of hybrid of early and later models. The tweeter was very flat and ferrofluid in later models, and would do better than the Visaton TW70 I used for the sim which is not so flat. The Monacor HT-22 would probably be a good replacement for a broken tweeter.
What made them sound good was the tweeter had significant output to 1.5kHz, so dispersion (power response) was good. You couldn't push a dome tweeter this hard at low frequencies. And the acoustic suspension is a very linear way to damp a cone, so low distortion when loud.
You can find a lot of engineering drawings here:
Home Page | The Classic Speaker Pages
Attachments
I had the later AR18s. They were very dynamic and had great bass, but had a nasty peak somewhere in the high frequencies that reared it's ugly head on the odd track. They also lacked detail compared to more modern speakers. The midbass driver was run without a filter and the tweeter only had a cap and resistor.
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