Ar9 Speakers Manual

Click to expand.AR in its heyday was a massive force in US hifi loudspeakers. At some point in the early '70s I think that they had a 1/3 market share in the US speaker market. Edgar Villchur and Henry Kloss pioneered production of the acoustic suspension design. I still use a pair of LSTs as my primary speakers. The AR-9 was the 'replacement' for the TOTL LST: Quite different in design, it is often considered the holy grail of AR speakers.If AR exists at all these days, it is not the same company; another firm bought the brand after the 'real' Acoustic Research went out of business and they sell accessories and inexpensive plastic speakers for computer and outdoor use.There is a vast amount of information about AR (and all the classic East Coast speaker manufacturers) on this excellent website:. Well worth a visit. A friend of mine actually has 2 pairs of original AR-9s.

The only issue is with the roll surrounds on the woofers and low mid drivers which are foam and will deteriorate over time and eventually fall apart. A few years ago he went and bought as many spare drivers as he could get hold of and now has them stored in a low temperature / humidity room. If you think this means he likes AR-9's then you're absolutely right. However, a couple of years ago he bought a pair of B&W800 Signature speakers and these are now his main speakers for critical listening. He has moved the AR's out of the listening studio and into the living room and the other pair are set up at his holiday house.As one who has heard AR9's many many times I regard then as a very fine speaker and in terms of dynamic ability, bandwidth and accuracy they are a 9.9 out of 10. The 800s are better speakers, being able to extract that last ounce of detail right across the specrum with transparency to die for but in terms of overall listening pleasure and the whole listening experience it's damn hard to go past a good pair of AR9's.

29 years has not wearied them and it takes a $20,000 speaker of today to rival them. Oh and did I mention the bass. Damn that bass. Click to expand.Better perhaps if you want to try and increase the perceived value of the ARs but not better in any real sense other than LF output. Actually, you may be able to buy a new pair of Cerwin-Vega speakers for $1000 that will even beat them at that. Overall, they would make for a close race in terms of sonics with some trade-offs both ways.Many current $500-1000 new speakers will wipe the floor with them in the ranges that the new speakers will reproduce.

It isn't a fair comparison at all due to inflation. Todays dollars will not buy a speaker cabinet or drivers of that size just in terms of materials and freight costs, but also there is a very limited selection in speakers of that size compared to what there was back then. The trend now is to make everything smaller.The speakers that I restored were the best 9's made, the 9LSi. They sold new for $2000 in 1985.

Acoustic Research Ar9 Loudspeakers

In todays dollars, that is $4000 as of early 2008. Even with the correct figures, the new technologies makes it an unfair comparison in reverse as those were not available in 1985 at these prices anyway. It's best to just reflect on what they were then.

The girls that I knew in high school are 25 years older now as well. Let's hope they faired as well.-Bill. I own a pair of AR9's and they do sound phenomenal.

I also own 1980 Klipschorns & 1969 Tannoy Monitor Gold 15's. I feel placement is key with the AR9's, among many speakers actually.

I moved them all over my listening room until I found a sweet spot that l liked. I actually prefer them for loud METAL and HARD ROCK than the Klpsch and Tannoy. Each speaker will have it's own sonic character and to me the AR9's are just as fun to listen to as the Klipsch and Tannoy or any other speaker i've heard. Highly recommended.It's pretty pathetic, but here's the corner of one of my rooms. I own a pair of AR9's and they do sound phenomenal.

I also own 1980 Klipschorns & 1969 Tannoy Monitor Gold 15's. I feel placement is key with the AR9's, among many speakers actually.

I moved them all over my listening room until I found a sweet spot that l liked. I actually prefer them for loud METAL and HARD ROCK than the Klpsch and Tannoy. Each speaker will have it's own sonic character and to me the AR9's are just as fun to listen to as the Klipsch and Tannoy or any other speaker i've heard. Highly recommended.It's pretty pathetic, but here's the corner of one of my rooms. Click to expand.Oh, yeah, totally worth it. ( it took about 4 days or so, to clean off all the horrible black/sticky goo, and place and glue the foams, this was the longest and hardest set to prep, of any woofers I have ever had)Great speakers, especially when you can buy them for under $1,000.00 fully restored, ready to play. And that will pretty much knock-out anything else for that price in new speakers, principally in the low-end power.

That's where small modern speakers fail to deliver, unless you use sub-woofers of substantial quality and power. And in that case, you are up to or over the cost of the AR-9's et-al anyway. Just my opinion, others like the newer speakers better. I am a fan of vintage, classic speakers.

I have heard some new speakers that are very, very good, but are priced so high, like over $20,000 a pair, most normal music lovers will never buy them. That's a bit much. In my opinion. I should have mentioned I had a local audiophile (that i'd never met) come over recently to listen to the Klipschorn and the Tannoys.

He told me he had Audio Research Preamps and Amps and B&W Speakers. He hadn't heard the Tannoys ever and it's been years since the Klipschorns. It was fun switching back and forth between the two. They both do sound great but very different. The Klipsch sounded more distant, but HUGE.

The Tannoys were more in your face but cohesive and smooth. After the 2hr listening session, the guy wanted to buy my MC30's, Tannoy's and Klipsch. I just laughed and said they're not for sale.

I'm only 36 for cripes sakes! I told him maybe in 20yrs or so.

I should have mentioned I had a local audiophile (that i'd never met) come over recently to listen to the Klipschorn and the Tannoys. He told me he had Audio Research Preamps and Amps and B&W Speakers. He hadn't heard the Tannoys ever and it's been years since the Klipschorns. It was fun switching back and forth between the two. They both do sound great but very different. The Klipsch sounded more distant, but HUGE.

The Tannoys were more in your face but cohesive and smooth. After the 2hr listening session, the guy wanted to buy my MC30's, Tannoy's and Klipsch. I just laughed and said they're not for sale. I'm only 36 for cripes sakes!

I told him maybe in 20yrs or so. Click to expand.Yes, that sounds like you had fun trying different systems.I have been preaching this idea for several years here on this forum. People should have several different speaker systems available to switch-in easily. That way you can hear different aspects of the 'reproduced approximate interpretation' of the music as made by different transducers.

At least 2 different, but good sounding speaker pairs. Better if you have even more.

Happy listening. R.E.I better get back to work re-surrounding 4 JBL woofers from a pair of 4315's. 2x 12', and 2x 8'.