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AR-2ax Loudspeakers and Ann-Margaret


tysontom

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I was searching for some images of Ann-Margaret and I stumbled upon a couple of images taken in 1978 in her home. The speakers in her bookshelf are painted to match the paint on the shelves. These are early AR-2ax or AR-2x models (1965-1970 versions with the old-style "AR" logo and "a").

—Tom Tyson

Ann-Margaret at home_AR-2ax, Left-Channel, 1978.pdf

Ann-Margaret at home_AR-2ax, Right-Channel, 1978.pdf

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On my iPad, I can't see an "a" on the left channel speaker. The right channel speaker appears to be totally obscured. If there is no "a," then these would be 2x's. Undoubtedly, this would be the highest profile ownership of the relatively rare 2x, ever!

This is amazing trivia. I wonder what the rest of the system was. Considering that these are 1978 photos that have 1965-1970 speakers with a film star who could obviously have afforded better, one wonders if the electronics and turntable were similarly "aged."

Interesting stuff. Only on this site, for sure!

Steve F.

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Steve,

The pictures were copyrighted in 1978, but they may have been taken earlier. Some others with known copyright dates were taken six or seven years earlier, so the pictures of Ann-Margaret in her den may have been taken in the early to mid-1970 period. The speakers could easily have been AR-2x or AR-2ax versions, but the grills and logo and "a" plate indicate that they likely were not AR-2a versions or the latest AR-2ax version built after 1970. My best guess would be the 1965-1969 2ax versions with the 6-bolt woofer, the 3.5 midrange and 1-3/8-inch tweeter. This was a fine AR speaker!

Ann-Margaret was/is a beautiful and talented woman, and all of this is nevertheless interesting trivia!

--Tom

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Ah the power of google images. I think this is one of the books on the shelf in the left speaker page. Cats book published 1965. Not sure if it helps in putting a date on the picture.

That's a cool picture anyway!

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A true beauty indeed, and interesting trivia to boot. After seeing Tom's spelling correction, I became a little curious about her name, and it turns out Ann-Margret is in fact her given name, but she dropped her Swedish surname (Olsson) for her stage, screen and singing (yes, singing .... who knew?) career. So in some ways, despite the hyphen, this starlet may have unknowingly become the trend-setter for many other one name female entertainers of the 60's (Cher, Lulu, Twiggy, Chara) and beyond (Madonna, Sade, Bjork, Adele).

As for the rest of her system, this magazine from two years later just might uncover the secret. For those of you with dusty stacks of High Fidelity and Stereo Review lurking about, maybe this issue can be found near the bottom of the pile (where other Playboys are kept with discretion). Also, it seems that A-M modeled for Pioneer ads, so maybe she received a big old SX-1280 in partial payment.

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A true beauty indeed, and interesting trivia to boot. After seeing Tom's spelling correction, I became a little curious about her name, and it turns out Ann-Margret is in fact her given name, but she dropped her Swedish surname (Olsson) for her stage, screen and singing (yes, singing .... who knew?) career. So in some ways, despite the hyphen, this starlet may have unknowingly become the trend-setter for many other one name female entertainers of the 60's (Cher, Lulu, Twiggy, Chara) and beyond (Madonna, Sade, Bjork, Adele).

As for the rest of her system, this magazine from two years later just might uncover the secret. For those of you with dusty stacks of High Fidelity and Stereo Review lurking about, maybe this issue can be found near the bottom of the pile (where other Playboys are kept with discretion). Also, it seems that A-M modeled for Pioneer ads, so maybe she received a big old SX-1280 in partial payment.

attachicon.gifA-M pboy.jpg attachicon.gifA-M pioneer.jpg attachicon.gifA-M AH record.jpg attachicon.gifA-M record.jpg

That picture of Ann-Margret on the cover of the 1980 Playboy Electronic Guide was apparently taken at her home as well. I only vaguely remember that guide. Looks as though there was no limit to the amount of equipment belonging to Roger Smith (husband of many years) and Ann-Margret. Attached are images (gleaned from the internet) showing the rest of that article and the $60,000 system in their downstairs room. It should be noted that the Playboy presented a 100% non-technical, glitzy presentation of equipment from what I can determine; the guide, even with its heavy advertisements, only lasted for about four years and was discontinued.

As for her singing voice, Ann-Margret had (IMO) a surprisingly clear and powerful voice, at least in her singing parts of Bye Bye Birdie. She apparently had nearly perfect pitch, but her voice was probably not her lasting legacy in entertainment. She was apparently 22 when she did the musical comedy (playing a 16-year old girl), and listening to her singing and dancing talent greatly surprised me.

--Tom

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Well that's certainly a period room - - a go-go 80's Los Angeles man cave, sort of. Not sure yet which feature I find most striking: the mirrored ceiling, the Scottish "Royal Stewart" tartan plaid carpet, or the sizable collection of what look like ginormous Beta tapes. Too bad there is no mention of the modest AR speakers in the upstairs system noted in post #1, but one other thing caught my attention. Despite the fact that Elvis has indeed left the building (R.I.P., 1977), it appears that Henry Kloss has not - - - isn't the Advent 750 projector (shown on the floor) one of his penultimate achievements in high-end consumer video products?

So very unlike most Hollywood couples, Ann-Margret and Roger Smith have been married for over 45 years. My strongest memory of him was playing private detective Jeff Spencer on the TV show 77 Sunset Strip; and probably my favorite image of Ann-Margret is this dancing scene with the King in the film, Viva Las Vegas. Tom has already noted that she possessed rather good singing skills, and I would give about the same rating for her acting, but when you see her dancing abilities, a more proper adjective would be "terrific".

For you gearheads, apparently Ann-Margret was quite the motorcycle enthusiast. As much as I like this picture on her beloved Triumph 500 Tiger, the pic of her tooling around the Hollywood lots on the Honda Super 90 (?) might be even better.

post-112624-0-90660500-1401479208_thumb. post-112624-0-11201100-1401479224_thumb. post-112624-0-24243900-1401480322_thumb. post-112624-0-96747000-1401480342_thumb.

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Well that's certainly a period room - - a go-go 80's Los Angeles man cave, sort of. Not sure yet which feature I find most striking: the mirrored ceiling, the Scottish "Royal Stewart" tartan plaid carpet, or the sizable collection of what look like ginormous Beta tapes. Too bad there is no mention of the modest AR speakers in the upstairs system noted in post #1, but one other thing caught my attention. Despite the fact that Elvis has indeed left the building (R.I.P., 1977), it appears that Henry Kloss has not - - - isn't the Advent 750 projector (shown on the floor) one of his penultimate achievements in high-end consumer video products?

So very unlike most Hollywood couples, Ann-Margret and Roger Smith have been married for over 45 years. My strongest memory of him was playing private detective Jeff Spencer on the TV show 77 Sunset Strip; and probably my favorite image of Ann-Margret is this dancing scene with the King in the film, Viva Las Vegas. Tom has already noted that she possessed rather good singing skills, and I would give about the same rating for her acting, but when you see her dancing abilities, a more proper adjective would be "terrific".

For you gearheads, apparently Ann-Margret was quite the motorcycle enthusiast. As much as I like this picture on her beloved Triumph 500 Tiger, the pic of her tooling around the Hollywood lots on the Honda Super 90 (?) might be even better.

attachicon.gifA-M and Elvis.jpg attachicon.gifadvent 750 TV.jpg attachicon.gifA-M bike 2.jpg attachicon.gifA-M bike 3.jpg

I agree with all you have said here; you are also right that Ann-Margret was a motorcycle enthusiast, probably brought on because of the Steve McQueen mystique, Elvis' love of motorcycles and so forth. Both McQueen (a true motorcycle aficionado) and Presley had Triumphs. Ann-Margaret seemed to be a determined, multi-talented, coordinated individual capable of handling a motorcycle quite well. That Honda was a "Honda Dream 305," I'm thinking, because it was a parallel-twin bike and not the smaller 90 cc single-cylinder versions, but in one movie she is seen standing on a bike out in Las Vegas is one of the 90 cc bikes. That Triumph 500 was a great bike; I used to ride Triumph 650s, and those were fun days indeed.

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