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About Sonnar
- Birthday 09/01/1960
Profile Information
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Gender
Male
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Location
Rome, Italy
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Interests
Vintage Hi-Fi, Photography , Music
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Sonnar's Achievements
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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.
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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 .
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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
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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
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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
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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
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NATURAL PINE AR3 - Not sure what to do with them
Sonnar replied to JR IN DALLAS's topic in Acoustic Research
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 -
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
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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
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Stopped for toilet paper, found a pair of AR3's!
Sonnar replied to GD70's topic in Acoustic Research
The most beautiful speaker ever made, the better sounding speaker ever made. Love it. Adriano -
Stopped for toilet paper, found a pair of AR3's!
Sonnar replied to GD70's topic in Acoustic Research
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 -
Stopped for toilet paper, found a pair of AR3's!
Sonnar replied to GD70's topic in Acoustic Research
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 -
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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
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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