Looking for Speakers with Good Bass

[shacky]

They are 3's. I see some of your posts say 3 and some 3a. They are different but both are great!

I just got my 3's back from RoyC. He refinished them and repaired stiff midrange surrounds. They were in rough shape when I got them. I recapped but they still sounded like a$$ and I know they shouldn't.

Now they are sonic bliss!!! Now that they have Roy's magic touch they sound better than my 3a's but I think it's mostly due to my 3a's having original tweeters which Roy tells me are mostly all not performing nearly as they should. They don't hold up as well as the red/orange tweeters on the 3's - like yours.

You have some very fine speakers there. Surprised you still feel need for sub but it does sound like you love your bass :thmbsp:

Your 14's should also by nice speakers. Overdriving bass with loudness and bass cranked up could be the culprit to their bottoming out but I still wouldn't rule out suboptimal drivers.

I like a little added bass tone even on my 3's or 3a's. No loudness but bass to about 2 o'clock.

 

[shacky]

Since your woofers are obviously refoamed I wonder if previous owner recapped them while they had woofers out ?

 

[Jet757f]

They are 3's. I see some of your posts say 3 and some 3a. They are different but both are great!

I just got my 3's back from RoyC. He refinished them and repaired stiff midrange surrounds. They were in rough shape when I got them. I recapped but they still sounded like a$$ and I know they shouldn't.

Now they are sonic bliss!!! Now that they have Roy's magic touch they sound better than my 3a's but I think it's mostly due to my 3a's having original tweeters which Roy tells me are mostly all not performing nearly as they should. They don't hold up as well as the red/orange tweeters on the 3's - like yours.

You have some very fine speakers there. Surprised you still feel need for sub but it does sound like you love your bass :thmbsp:

Your 14's should also by nice speakers. Overdriving bass with loudness and bass cranked up could be the culprit to their bottoming out but I still wouldn't rule out suboptimal drivers.

I like a little added bass tone even on my 3's or 3a's. No loudness but bass to about 2 o'clock.

Well I'm confused because I really wouldn't know the difference between AR-3 and AR-3a. I have looked at some of them on Ebay and these do look more like AR-3s.

I probably don't need the subwoofer with these speakers but for some reason the subwoofer plays very well with these. It has a real nice sound just seems to deepen the bass a little bit more.

Where is Roy C located? I would like someone to refinish these speakers.
I would try it myself but I'm not sure if I would have to sand all the way down to the bare wood.

I did put the white grills on and my wife likes them which makes a big difference.

 

[Jet757f]

Since your woofers are obviously refoamed I wonder if previous owner recapped them while they had woofers out ?

I'm not sure but Orange County speaker has all the info on these.
I know he mentioned doing the L-pads and something about Alnico woofer.

Does the serial number tell me anything about these?
One of them is C-41472

Update: Reading on the Classic Speaker forum they are saying the letter "C" indicates AR-3.
AR-1 have the letter "A" and AR-2 the letter "B" since the AR-3 was 3rd speaker in the series it was "C"

 

[shacky]

Try posting the serial number on Classicspeakerpages.net. It will give an idea of what year they were made - that's all. Also check this out - it's for the 3a but many similarities with 3 - the pots for example are identical.

http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/IP.Board/index.php?showtopic=4095

I don't know what Orange County does with AR resto. If they replaced original reostats with L-Pads it's OK and more reliable but to be correct they should have included 25 OHM resistor to mimic the original reostats - especially on the midrange drivers. Otherwise the L-Pad changes the crossover freq.

I think they are reputable place so hopefully they did this. Just ask them what else they did and for specifics.

 

[shacky]

Well I'm confused because I really wouldn't know the difference between AR-3 and AR-3a. I have looked at some of them on Ebay and these do look more like AR-3s.

I probably don't need the subwoofer with these speakers but for some reason the subwoofer plays very well with these. It has a real nice sound just seems to deepen the bass a little bit more.

Where is Roy C located? I would like someone to refinish these speakers.
I would try it myself but I'm not sure if I would have to sand all the way down to the bare wood.

I did put the white grills on and my wife likes them which makes a big difference.

Check out the link I just posted - you don't want to sand too far as it is veneer bot solid wood - execpt for the front edge.

Roy is in NY State so shipping may be high - but he's worth it if he has the time.

They are definitely 3's BTW. Now if someone wanted to they could upgrade the crossover to the 3a's but that's a big step and if you like how they sound not necessary.

Your woofer's having new foam surrounds may increase bass bloom - a good thing :yes:

Do some reading here and at CSP's and you'll soon be an expert :thmbsp:

 

[shacky]

Here's my AR 3



And 3a



The 3a has different midrange measurement but look identical. New smaller tweeter was an improvement but they don't hold up at this age. Mine have the later smooth woofer with foam surrounds. Very early 3a's had the woofer from the 3. Crossover is more complex and crosses over at different frequencies.. AR continued making the 3 after the release of 3a - for several years.

Both could be called a two way with supertweeter.

 

[shacky]

Suggest you start new thread on your AR 3's in Speaker section. You will get more views/feedback I'm sure.