A friend of mine recently gifted me a non-matching pair of Acoustic Research AR-1 towers that a moving company busted up pretty good. These were supposed to have a left and right pair and I've got either two rights or lefts.
I haven't tested them yet, but if the subs work I'm thinking about taking the plate amplifiers and side firing subwoofers and building new cabinets for them.
Basically free, other than time and materials dual 15" subwoofers!
If I decide to go forward with this project I'm assuming that as long as my cabinet volume is the same, shape doesn't matter that much?
The towers are pretty narrow and deep. I'm thinking more of a traditional cube style box. Would this be an issue?
I believe the plate amps have multiple hookup options and I'll probably break down and get a miniDSP for integration. Any other issues I might run into?
My other thought was to just build all new cabinets for the entire tower, their current state is beyond my realm of repair. But I figured two separate subs gives me more flexibility.
I haven't tested them yet, but if the subs work I'm thinking about taking the plate amplifiers and side firing subwoofers and building new cabinets for them.
Basically free, other than time and materials dual 15" subwoofers!
If I decide to go forward with this project I'm assuming that as long as my cabinet volume is the same, shape doesn't matter that much?
The towers are pretty narrow and deep. I'm thinking more of a traditional cube style box. Would this be an issue?
I believe the plate amps have multiple hookup options and I'll probably break down and get a miniDSP for integration. Any other issues I might run into?
My other thought was to just build all new cabinets for the entire tower, their current state is beyond my realm of repair. But I figured two separate subs gives me more flexibility.
1)The subwoofer section is acoustic suspension, so cabinet volume is the only concern, as the woofer amp is low passed at 100Hz 24dB/octave.
2)If that works better for your decor, OK. A taller box with the woofer at one end would give more location height options, which can be useful in reducing room modes.
3) Considering the passive upper portion of the speaker (5.25" cone midrange high-pass at 120Hz, 12dB/octave, 1" dome tweeter 2.5kHz high-pass, 12dB/octave) was designed for it's layout, if you retain the original mid/high driver spacing and baffle width as Dublin78 suggested, shouldn't be too much integration necessary, beyond some room EQ, time of flight delay compensation, and perhaps a subwoofer high pass filter to cut <25 Hz at high drive levels.
Of course, that assumes none of the magnets have shifted, drivers are not bent and amp and crossover parts aren't broken- hope they test out OK!
AR is of the manufacturers that put more emphasis on building acoustic suspension speakers when they were more popular items and also a smaller option, opposed to large monkey coffins in the 80s. They continued to make great sounding speakers into at least 92-93. I used to have AR 3 way towers that had sealed boxes and isolated mid range drivers. I'd be interested in comparing what I remember anbout them and apply way better amplification that I can finally afford now.
Rebuild them suckers $0.02.
Dont stray from original interior volume, while beefing up the wall thicknesses and bracing (only when and if required).
Not sure what happened to AR after the early to mid 90s. If they continued making good speakers. The market rode on the name itself and mass produced a heap of chain store junk in the later days.
Rebuild them suckers $0.02.
Dont stray from original interior volume, while beefing up the wall thicknesses and bracing (only when and if required).
Not sure what happened to AR after the early to mid 90s. If they continued making good speakers. The market rode on the name itself and mass produced a heap of chain store junk in the later days.
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I hope the moving company compensated the owner for something rare, beautiful, and special. There's an AR forum where you can learn more about the AR-1. I've had one since about 1965.
As for going forward, you have something quite special and if you don't know how to make the most of those woofers, somebody else will surely value having them. The woofers have a free air resonance around 13 Hz and in the absolutely solid box (over one cu foot) around 37 Hz. Wonderful subs, even today.
If you have the original Altec "Pancake" upper-range drivers, they may not meet today's audio standards, but they might find a home in a museum.
B.
As for going forward, you have something quite special and if you don't know how to make the most of those woofers, somebody else will surely value having them. The woofers have a free air resonance around 13 Hz and in the absolutely solid box (over one cu foot) around 37 Hz. Wonderful subs, even today.
If you have the original Altec "Pancake" upper-range drivers, they may not meet today's audio standards, but they might find a home in a museum.
B.
Making jokes about AR reflects a disdain for the historic importance of Villchur and his revolutionary speakers (and some would add, his remarkable belt-drive turntable too) or a lapse in caring much about the history of audio.
BTW, after selling AR to others (and ultimately terrible stupid corporation interests), he worked on hearing aids.
B.
BTW, after selling AR to others (and ultimately terrible stupid corporation interests), he worked on hearing aids.
B.
I'm not sure what 'the joke' was in the first place
, I didn't get it Anyway , here's my cherished AR wall clock still going strong on it's original movement:
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MikePP - it was shrubs' (1) comparison of the AR1 to such sad old stuff as clock radios and 8-track tapes and (2) his dismissal of sealed boxes ("acoustic suspension speakers when they were more popular items")* that ticked me off.
Also annoying me were posts treating the woofer like any other standard-issue woofer. Let's get back to considering the unusual design potential of a driver with a super-low resonance - actually below the woofer passband. You just can find 'em at your local Walmart or even Parts Express.
B.
* it looks to me that with esp. with DSP everywhere in quality systems, sealed boxes are displacing tuned contraptions like TH and BRs as SOTA. Sealed boxes are the natural home for motional feedback.
Also annoying me were posts treating the woofer like any other standard-issue woofer. Let's get back to considering the unusual design potential of a driver with a super-low resonance - actually below the woofer passband. You just can find 'em at your local Walmart or even Parts Express.
B.
* it looks to me that with esp. with DSP everywhere in quality systems, sealed boxes are displacing tuned contraptions like TH and BRs as SOTA. Sealed boxes are the natural home for motional feedback.
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Ben,
The OP has a very different AR-1 than the 1954 or your 1965 version, the post-1998 3-way "tower" version using a 15" side-firing, acoustic-suspension woofer powered by an internal 500W RMS amplifier is not very rare or special, other than they are also no longer in production.
Art
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Art - thank you.
I was confusing the milestone innovation of the 1954 AR-1 with this later unremarkable and unmemorable one, at least to me. Seems others were thinking of the olden times too.
Guess one relevant comment I made was that "after selling AR to others (and ultimately terrible stupid corporation interests)...".
But I'll stick with my other comments on respecting achievements of yesteryear from Ed Villchur and AR/Cambridge, MA.
And most of all, how happy any serious sub-woofer enthusiast would be to get their hands on one of those super-low resonance drivers to experiment with.
B.
I was confusing the milestone innovation of the 1954 AR-1 with this later unremarkable and unmemorable one, at least to me. Seems others were thinking of the olden times too.
Guess one relevant comment I made was that "after selling AR to others (and ultimately terrible stupid corporation interests)...".
But I'll stick with my other comments on respecting achievements of yesteryear from Ed Villchur and AR/Cambridge, MA.
And most of all, how happy any serious sub-woofer enthusiast would be to get their hands on one of those super-low resonance drivers to experiment with.
B.