AR 18BX speakers: Upgrade or a good compliment?

[Keldog]

Hello. Newbie here. I'm a bit of a novice at vintage speakers as far as technical knowledge but know enough to prefer vintage over anything after 1985. My setup is nothing to brag about. Most of my experience is in collecting vinyl albums since I was 10. Between myself and my oldest brother, we probably have about 11,000. I believe the 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon theory applies to Frank Zappa.

My question: I've got a line on some AR 18BX speakers and going to visit them this week. Would these be good complimentary speakers to my Pioneer CS-511A's or should I use them as standalones for another system in something like my weight room?

Thanks for any input. I've learned much from this forum through just reading.

 

[swechsler]

What exactly are you trying to accomplish with a complementary setup? I'm not familiar with the Pioneers, so I looked them up. They look fairly "entry level"; I suspect the ARs will have a better treble and a tighter bass; although the Pioneers might go a little lower, it may not be that detailed (For example, when listening to an electric bass, you might hear the note but not the true sound of the string being plucked). If it was me, and the ARs are in good shape, I'd use them for serious listening and move the Pioneers to the weight room.

 

[Keldog]

Thanks for the reply. As I said, I'm a novice. I'm way more into instructing Taekwondo, Jiu-Jitsu and MMA than being an audiophile. Whatever the consensus opinion on my Pioneers, finding them for $20 and listening to a quality I haven't heard in years may have opened a door to a new interest. I haven't seen them in person yet and a quick lookup describes them as a bookshelf size. I'm familiar with AR's reputation but wasn't sure if they could be paired with the Pioneers or just become a primary speaker by themselves. I guess what I really needed to know is if some vintage speakers (of different brands) could complement each other or should just be left alone in pairs.

 

[4300]

The AR18bx was a less desirable version of the AR18. I've never heard them in person, but from what I've read, they weren't a high point for vintage AR. For as cheap as older acoustic research speakers can be found, I'd hold out for something better unless the price is great. Regardless, try them out. You may like them.

 

[Keldog]

The AR18bx was a less desirable version of the AR18. I've never heard them in person, but from what I've read, they weren't a high point for vintage AR. For as cheap as older acoustic research speakers can be found, I'd hold out for something better unless the price is great. Regardless, try them out. You may like them.

Interesting....I'm not real worried about them being upper crust ARs but more of an entry level introduction to them is enough for now. I'm driving an hour to look at them. Fortunately, they are included in a lot of vintage equipment (receiver, turntable, cassette deck, etc.) We'll see. Thanks again for the input.