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Sonnar

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About Sonnar

  • Birthday 09/01/1960

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    Rome, Italy
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    Vintage Hi-Fi, Photography , Music

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  1. Curves are identical in the bass and midbass region, same or similar woofer , they 're absolutely comparable. Conversely, they 're very different in midrange and highrange, different loudspeakers, different crossover. As Tom Tyson said , the AR 3's tweeter " had a gently rising characteristic " , as everyone can see by the graphics , while AR 3a has a well-known gentle roll-off starting at 5 Khz . I'm not saying which one sounds better , but they 're surely different speakers, different sounding.
  2. These measurements were made in half space , absolutely comparable. They shows a well known rolloff in AR 3a's tweeter , and, opposite, a fast rising response in AR 3's tweeter .
  3. No, AR 3 sounds more transparent and sparkling, curves are very different in mid-high region.
  4. Many people knows AR 3a, and when they listen to AR 3 they says " midranges are gone ". Wrong. The real AR 3 frequency response is very different from 3a , quite opposite . Midrange is very quiet , understated , while AR 3a's midranges are very strong : however , while AR 3a's tweeter has a gentle roll-off , AR 3's tweeter has a rising response , exceptional sparkling highs never harsh, quite electrostatic . I think original Villchur 's AR are very different from AR of Teledyne era. Best wishes Adriano
  5. Thank You, Nes! Your AR-2 are very beautiful , and they're very good sounding speakers . I still use it, they have good sensitivity and are easy to drive . Excellent woofer, fast , full, clean sounding. I have also AR 3 and 3a , and sometimes I 'm thinking about a better extension on AR-2 highs, just adding a supertweeter , just like in AR-2a. Some Seas 1" soft dome probably will fit. Godd luck with Your project and enjoy it! My best wishes Adriano, Rome, Italy
  6. My mother and my father in 1959, AR-2 on the shelf. I still have it, finished on three sides, light color wood, golden thread grille. Low left, Heathkit FM 3A tuner. I 'm listening through AR speakers before my birth ( 9/1/60 ) ! Adriano
  7. Hi Frank, ciao! I 've been very busy late, two daughters graduating in law and in psychology, helping my wife in her business and my own business, that's enough to me...and sometimes I have fun times playing my eight AR speakers ! The Carver C1 is an excellent preamp, with a very good phono mm/mc inputs , very clean and neutral: I 'm so enthusiast that I m in serach of a PM 1.5 power amp, Bob Carver's machines seems very good to me . I still use my Crown Macro Tech 2402 and the QSC ISA280, but last fall I bought this little BGW 6500T Proline II from a recording Studio, they used it with two Ampex tube mono preamp and JBL 4333b as monitors. This tiny BGW is only 150 watts per channel on 4 ohms , and use hybrid Sanyo power modules , not a powerful brute, but what a fine sounding amplifier! Smooth, detailed richness of tones , silky but well extended on highs. I simply made a short video with my Samsung smartphone, saving on videos, and uploaded it , then I edited it with double-click option. All the best Adriano
  8. If properly restored, AR 3 is still one of the best sounding speaker ever made, surely needs some accurate works , but their excellent bass and smooth mid-highs easily outperform many modern expensive speakers. Yours are like mine, unfinished pine, plywood, I painted it and treated with glossy lacquer. Best wishes Adriano
  9. Check the pots and change caps in crossover: here are my AR 3 after a little restoration, including new mortite. Before they sounded very dull, one midrange and tweeters were mute. Very often the problem is on nonworking pots. Best wishes Adriano VID-20190510-WA0007.mp4
  10. Never seen in Italy although we were the most important market for AR outside U.S. . I remember a shy three-way , 8" woofer by Avid in mid '70s. In early '80s JBL made the L 86 with the same mid and tweeter of the L 112 and L 150 , but with an 8" woofer instead of 12" : but L 112 and L 150 made big sales while nobody cares of L 86 . In mid '70s , JBL sold in Italy more L 100 Century and 4311 than L 36 Decades . AR's and JBL's customers probably wants the best bass response their money could buy , and it seems a nonsense to have a speaker with expensive midrange and tweeter and a poor bass response by a small woofer . Adriano
  11. The most beautiful speaker ever made, the better sounding speaker ever made. Love it. Adriano
  12. Your words reminds me my Christmas of 50 years ago , 1966 , that Christmas morning I received a G.I. Joe ( by Hasbro ) with a complete U.S. Marine set, uniform, Machine gun, haversack, camouflage set, Jeep, tent, and I started to play with it while my father was listening his AR 3 , I remember Louis Armstrong and Bing Crosby singin' together , still I have that LP. Sorry for the little O.T. . Adriano
  13. You 're a lucky man! For 50 $ and an accurate works to restore it, You 'll have one of the best sounding speakers ever made. Congratulations ! Adriano
  14. der, differences between 3 and 3a are very subtle . I have 'em both and I love 'em both , and I 'm not able to say which one is better. Surely they 're the finest speakers ever made . Adriano
  15. I mean it's impossible to compare speakers judging through a recorded and reproduced track. It makes a sense comparing speakers live, a late production AR 3 isn 't so much older than an AR 3a, and if properly recapped they 're comparable. What is Your " live " impression? Cheers, Adriano
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