Acoustic Research AR-1 Find Today

[VintagePlus]

Picked these up today 10 mins from my house. Any AR gurus have any advice on restoration and general knowledge of these?

 

[SmitterDave]

You hit the jackpot!

Pair these up with the JansZen 130's and you have a great vintage system.

 

[StimpyWan]

Wow! Congratulations. You just bought a piece of loudspeaker history. The first acoustic suspension loudspeaker. I wouldn't touch those without having expert advise on how to proceed. Ask at the CSP Forum. Many AR experts there!

http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/IP.Board/index.php?/forum/3-acoustic-research/

Good luck.

 

[VintagePlus]

Thank you. Have not even tried them yet but did pull one midrange to confirm and they are Altec 755A.

 

[Brad Muller]

Scroe!!!!!!

 

[oldskl]

That's a lot of money sitting there.

 

[Apolek]

Wow. Nice find.

 

[Audio Fan]

Indeed, quite the score. Looking forward to following your restore. These are the type of rare finds that keep me looking, congrats.

 

[tyella]

Well done!! I assume you know their value. If you plan to sell them, you should probably do nothing to them. If you plan to keep them you'll probably want to seal the woofer surround and recap. But I am definitely NOT an AR guru, so apply grains of salt to my words. Congrats on this fine score!

 

[Tube Sound]

Gorgeous Dallas. A great day in your audio hunts. Congrats!

 

[nolasally]

I'd flip those like a good stack of flapjacks. Pocket some good pocket change and a nice set of speakers to boot.

 

[VintagePlus]

Thanks for the responses. I tried them out and had no sound from the midranges. A quick turn of the potentiometer on one brought the sound back but the other will not return no matter how much turning. I guess I am in for a good old fashioned AR pot cleaning.

 

[VintagePlus]

I'd flip those like a good stack of flapjacks. Pocket some good pocket change and a nice set of speakers to boot.

I have lots of speakers and am looking forward to restoring and keeping.

 

[GD70]

Thanks for the responses. I tried them out and had no sound from the midranges. A quick turn of the potentiometer on one brought the sound back but the other will not return no matter how much turning. I guess I am in for a good old fashioned AR pot cleaning.

Yes you are!
That's the first thing I would do on these. The early pots are a little different than the more commonly found ones on the AR3a, 4&4x, 5, 2a etc... So if beyond use after cleaning you'll need to replace it with one of the more common pots unless you are very lucky to find an original one in good working order.
I would not touch the crossovers, most likely have the oil caps.
Otherwise, how far you want to take these regarding the cabs and restoring them is up to you.
No matter what, you struck gold!
Congrats, Glenn

 

[bambam428]

Very cool, congratulations. I'll be watching the restoration intently. I'd also love to hear the story of how you got them and any history the seller was able to relay.

 

[don philipe]

So, where did you find them?

 

[nolasally]

Craigslist. My guess would be they had no clue what they had and were merely listed as AR speakers or just big ole speakers

 

[mark warren]

great find!

 

[kirk57]

It depends on your financial situation.

If original and working, those are worth far more to collectors than they are worth as loudspeakers to be used in your home, kind of like early Marantz gear.

 

[VintagePlus]

Can the pots be disassembled and cleaned just like the later model AR's?