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Lovely pair of 303a's Washington area


owlsplace

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I've never seen this model before. They are RoyC's favs if I remember correctly... currently on the auction site... I wouldn't kick them out of the house :) ... I think I would paint the stand black though.

A beautiful pair LST's are on offer there also but I'll have to admire them from a distance due to financial constraints :huh:

No affiliation with seller ... current bid is $22.50 ... item number is 381238324395.

Roger

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Very beautiful--cosmetics were clearly given lots of emphasis with this model. I find it interesting that the woofer and tweeter seem, from appearance, to be altered from the traditional AR materials/construction, they even abandoned their custom paper for the woofer cone. But we see a traditional bullseye look on the midrange, that had not been present on lots of intervening models. i have to think this was done just to press an 'AR-trademark' button.

Agree with painting the speaker stands black. Would go much better with the 'red' veneer. Yellow clashes!

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A beautiful pair LST's are on offer there also but I'll have to admire them from a distance due to financial constraints

The LST auction is 171765043525; other than the ring mark mentioned, the veneer looks pretty nice.

The seller needs to pull those grills, so that we can get a look at the drivers.

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Those are indeed some very fine loudspeakers, and the attached link contains several insightful comments by Kantor.

http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/library/acoustic_research/ar_303_series/ar_303_series_other/ar_303_series_comments_from.html

Roger is correct about the veneer species (rosewood). A few other interesting details from glancing at the literature: these have multiple rear terminals for bi-wire and bi-amp installations; they use beefy 14 gauge internal wiring; and even in 1995 they came with a 5-year parts and labor warranty. That auction is one fierce competition - - I'm thinking it's like Pacquiao and Mayweather going toe-to-toe.

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That auction is one fierce competition - - I'm thinking it's like Pacquiao and Mayweather going toe-to-toe.

It looks like the high bidder is being suckered by the seller. One of the two main competitors has 100% bidding history with the seller. I would tell this to the bidder that is being manipulated except there is no mechanism on the auction to do this. So if any of you know who the bidder is you could pass this on. In the last 4 years 303s are more rare on the site than LSTs and they never in my experience have gone this high.

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That auction is one fierce competition - - I'm thinking it's like Pacquiao and Mayweather going toe-to-toe.

It looks like the high bidder is being suckered by the seller. One of the two main competitors has 100% bidding history with the seller. I would tell this to the bidder that is being manipulated except there is no mechanism on the auction to do this. So if any of you know who the bidder is you could pass this on. In the last 4 years 303s are more rare on the site than LSTs and they never in my experience have gone this high.

Shill bidding is a violation of the auction sites policy so you can just report it to them. Not aware of the actual value of these speakers as I don't remember any of these being offered -- maybe one pair a while back for local pick-up with no or bad photos comes to mind.

Roger

Added: Actually I just did that, reported shill bidder that is. Just curious if it makes any difference.

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(One of the two main competitors has 100% bidding history with the seller.)

I am not sure what you mean by that. Can you explain? Thanks. Bidding does seem odd on those.

They are a lovely pair and would love to own a pair of the rosewood someday. I have a black pair and love them.

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(One of the two main competitors has 100% bidding history with the seller.)

I am not sure what you mean by that. Can you explain? Thanks. Bidding does seem odd on those.

They are a lovely pair and would love to own a pair of the rosewood someday. I have a black pair and love them.

Shill bidding is usually suspect when you see lots of small bids looking for the high bidders limit which the auction site holds in reserve. This is one reason for using a snipe service.

You have to look at the bid history of each bidder to see it and it is not always obvious.

I doubt the site really cares about tracking down shill bidding since they are making more money the higher it goes anyway. If you are interested in the item it can be aggravating though.

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I doubt the site really cares about tracking down shill bidding since they are making more money the higher it goes anyway. If you are interested in the item it can be aggravating though.

Agree with Owlspace. This is largely a buyer beware environment with a little bit of safety net if one follows procedures. In this case the if high bidder is using the tools he has a basis for complaint and the seller would have to respond. Its a jungle out there and you're not home free if you win a fair contest. Speakers are notorious for being damaged in handling due to improper packaging.

Adams

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owlsplace, on 28 Apr 2015 - 1:16 PM, said:

Shill bidding is usually suspect when you see lots of small bids looking for the high bidders limit which the auction site holds in reserve. This is one reason for using a snipe service.

You have to look at the bid history of each bidder to see it and it is not always obvious.

I doubt the site really cares about tracking down shill bidding since they are making more money the higher it goes anyway. If you are interested in the item it can be aggravating though.

Thanks.....but I see two bidders being crazy. Which do you suppose is the evil one? The 10 feedback score or other? I can't tell. I hate sniping also....had Bose 901 grills I needed on the bay and stayed at 19.99 for seven damn days......so I put that offer in and a reserve for 51.55. Got sniped with one second left for 52.55...grrrrr. I at least made him pay up!......but damn...been looking for those grills for five months.

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A beautiful pair LST's are on offer there also but I'll have to admire them from a distance due to financial constraints

The LST auction is 171765043525; other than the ring mark mentioned, the veneer looks pretty nice.

The seller needs to pull those grills, so that we can get a look at the drivers.

I did get him to pull the grills on the LSTs. Looks like at least three tweeters were replaced with unknown back-wired drivers. He was having problems getting additional photos up.

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...

Thanks.....but I see two bidders being crazy. Which do you suppose is the evil one? The 10 feedback score or other? I can't tell. I hate sniping also....had Bose 901 grills I needed on the bay and stayed at 19.99 for seven damn days......so I put that offer in and a reserve for 51.55. Got sniped with one second left for 52.55...grrrrr. I at least made him pay up!......but damn...been looking for those grills for five months.

The alleged shill bidder would be the one with 42 feedback score. The bid history shows a bid history with only one seller which is not totally damning in and of itself but ... The high bidder is obviously willing to go $700 plus so even if the shill bids were removed you can bet the high bidder will still be willing to go to that level. I think the last pair I remember was offered at $500 with local pickup. I believe these are rarer than 3's so who knows -- 4's and 2;s are going in the $400-600 range these days ;)

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I love eBay sellers.

The guy can manage to get closeup photos of both inspections stickers, but not those replacement drivers!

Yeah, always a crap shoot ... the seller apparently thinks the drivers are original ... finding that many functional original drivers would be a challenge. Not sure if the Hi-Vi's are a suitable option. Then again, are all the other drivers working?

Probably should have started a separate thread on this but this pair is mid-74 production and averaging out the numbers it looks like about 40-50 of these were produced per month. If the numbers held to that rate total production was less than 3,000 units. I am assuming Roy Allison designed this model.

Just heard back from the seller and he is thinking of ending the auction and either relisting or looking for original drivers.

I see that a nice pair sold for £800.00 recently across the pond which comes in quite a bit less than the current bid on these. Serial number in the 3600 range which blows my previous production guesstimate out of the water. The seller referred to them as having teak floor cabinets :). Speaking of teak, I saw some Brit AR-7's that sold in that finish a while back. Teak must have been more popular in Europe.

Roger

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His description update now reflects the communication that you've had with him.

With a limit of 12 photos, he might want to ditch the multiple pictures of the back panels, badges, & inspection stickers, and supply clear photos of all the drivers with the closeup option enabled.

Re-listing the speakers with good photos, a more detailed description, and a lot less hyperbole wouldn't hurt.

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Someone has completely lost it: 231548242665 at US $2,999.99 or make an offer.....


Presenting a beautiful example of a pair of all original Vintage Classic AR3 speakers.
Purchased from the original owner.
These are about as clean as they come.Cosmetica are amazing. One side just shows some fine fingerprints.
Serial Numbers : C 62828 / C 62484
There are intermitant spots and sweet spots on the Tweeter and Midrange controls. Normal for this vintage. So if you wish those could be serviced or used as is.Woofers are fine.
I will not remove the grills due to possible damage. They are just to nice to take a chance.
Each epeaker has 4 small screw holes on the rear from being wall mounted at one time with small brackets.
I'm am selling the as "AS- IS " for Parts / Not working because we absolutely cannot accept returns on these speakers.

There will be a $50 per speaker charge for properly packing each speaker using thick foam wall board and a double walled box. BUY IT NOW voids these fees.

Shipping show is for one speaker. Please do not pay until an invoice is sent with revised double packing and shipping fees.

International bidders PLEASE inquire first. We will ship to certain countries USPS Express Mail

All reasonable offers considered.

Whoeha!

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Someone has completely lost it: 231548242665 at US $2,999.99 or make an offer.....

Whoeha!

AR-3's with screw holes and a corner chip, not even sequential numbers, plus no international shipping ... I predict they will sell for a lot less :)

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A 'make offer' listing gives the seller total control. It's never a deal until you accept an offer, unless someone meets your extra-high-in-your-dreams listing price.

It's a great way to gain information. You can see what the highest offers are, then start an auction around there.

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