Yesterday morning I woke up and decided that since it was about 13 degrees I'd go out and get myself a coffee. I set out in the cold, fired up the car and off I went. As I'm returning home I'm literally a block away from home when I see these "three soldiers" on the curbside standing tall. As I drive by they look familiar but the dark grills throws me off ....I slow down and pull over and low and behold ... 3- AR 3a's getting cold!
Here's the interesting part, As I look at these thrilled, I notice that 2 are in the Walnut finish and the 3rd is Unfinished Pine but varnished. I look closer and observe the Bakelite knob in the upper right corner with a spectral Plate/Switch from an AR LST. Flipping to the back side it appears to have the LST Crossover with the Large Fuse holder. I then notice the at the top of the back it is written AR 3F ? ( AR 3 front?)
It gets better. I remove the front grills, all intact not broken to discover (See below) - Tweeters in excellent shape along with midranges not missing and woofers all intact! (Tweeters appear to be later models as they have tabs for rear /internal connection and AR logo is molded in faceplate. Wires were run from front mount tabs to the "ears" protruding)
How cool is this - Never has this happened to me, but it gets me thinking.
Who had these? An ex - AR employee? A customer who special ordered from AR (Not out of reason as I live 12 miles away from the old AR factory in Cambridge) What was the application? A 3 speaker system with the AR 3F used as a center channel or perhaps an experiment or prototype by the ex AR person?
It even gets more strange. I lived across the street literally for 15 years and never saw a speaker come and go from this home as an elderly woman lived there. My neighbors knew that I was in the audio industry and a hifi nut but never said a word? (The woman passed away 2 years ago and my neighbors son moved into this home a year ago). He never said a word about old speakers in the home. This is a mystery as to how these appeared on the curbside ...... I probably will never know!
The plan is to remove all the drivers, check continuity and sweep test. I'll reform the woofs. I'll strip the cabinets and refinish as they are in remarkable shape and will clean up nice. I plan on stripping the unfinished pine cabinet and leave it in the " natural factory skin" as I think this will look cool!
Recap may be in order as well. I'll rebuild and clean up all the controls. They'll finally end up in my demo room in rotation and enjoy this find!
Never will this happen again! A trio of AR 3a for free on the curb!
I'll add to this thread as I move thru the restoration and add photos.
Update: All drivers are functional ! Confirmed that the AR LST transformer is mounted inside the cabinet.
Here's the interesting part, As I look at these thrilled, I notice that 2 are in the Walnut finish and the 3rd is Unfinished Pine but varnished. I look closer and observe the Bakelite knob in the upper right corner with a spectral Plate/Switch from an AR LST. Flipping to the back side it appears to have the LST Crossover with the Large Fuse holder. I then notice the at the top of the back it is written AR 3F ? ( AR 3 front?)
It gets better. I remove the front grills, all intact not broken to discover (See below) - Tweeters in excellent shape along with midranges not missing and woofers all intact! (Tweeters appear to be later models as they have tabs for rear /internal connection and AR logo is molded in faceplate. Wires were run from front mount tabs to the "ears" protruding)
How cool is this - Never has this happened to me, but it gets me thinking.
Who had these? An ex - AR employee? A customer who special ordered from AR (Not out of reason as I live 12 miles away from the old AR factory in Cambridge) What was the application? A 3 speaker system with the AR 3F used as a center channel or perhaps an experiment or prototype by the ex AR person?
It even gets more strange. I lived across the street literally for 15 years and never saw a speaker come and go from this home as an elderly woman lived there. My neighbors knew that I was in the audio industry and a hifi nut but never said a word? (The woman passed away 2 years ago and my neighbors son moved into this home a year ago). He never said a word about old speakers in the home. This is a mystery as to how these appeared on the curbside ...... I probably will never know!
The plan is to remove all the drivers, check continuity and sweep test. I'll reform the woofs. I'll strip the cabinets and refinish as they are in remarkable shape and will clean up nice. I plan on stripping the unfinished pine cabinet and leave it in the " natural factory skin" as I think this will look cool!
Recap may be in order as well. I'll rebuild and clean up all the controls. They'll finally end up in my demo room in rotation and enjoy this find!
Never will this happen again! A trio of AR 3a for free on the curb!
I'll add to this thread as I move thru the restoration and add photos.
Update: All drivers are functional ! Confirmed that the AR LST transformer is mounted inside the cabinet.