AR-3As: Marantz 2270, 2250 or Pioneer SX-850 Receiver?

[audiojones]

She's got her sights on the Pioneer receivers when we last spoke.
I can see if she can chime in here if anything has changed, or if she found a receiver.

That's great, SX-850 or higher will be perfect. Folks seem to forget these speakers were made long before the receiver power wars began and top of the line units at the time were in the 60 watt range. The 2270 is the exception to the rule as it's problems with that load are inherent in its amp circuitry.

 

[lbella22]

@GD70, thanks the jingle and appogies for the silence, new to the forum and didn’t have my alerts set quite right. Appreciate everyones time responding and input, interesting and helpful. Found a Pioneer SX -850 that I’m trying out. Generally listening at lower volumes and not too much bass, so far so good. @centsless, correction, ceilings are 25 ft. Likely to go ahead with the SX 850

Well I hope she found what she's looking for. I know this is kind of an older thread but I'll throw my 2 bits in here. I have had first hand experience with both of the receivers and the speakers questioned in the original post, in fact I purchased and brought up to snuff a 2270 specifically to drive a pair of AR3a's and it did not like them at all. I always run everything flat with tone controls bypassed and no loudness contour engaged yet the 2270 ran out of steam very early on during bass heavy passages and wasn't handing the load well even during easier to drive sections of music. I had two other 2270 receivers at the time (both in perfect condition) and they did exactly the same thing. They don't like hard to drive loads like the AR3a, something that was changed with the 2275.

By contrast I had a Pioneer SX-850 at the same time which had absolutely no problem whatsoever driving my AR3a's very well, in fact I used it to do so for years. I still have it but I replaced it with an SX-950 only because one became available and the extra few watts come in handy. The SX-850 and SX-950 have no problem driving tougher 4 ohm loads and I can tell you this from experience. The AR's get driven daily (sometimes quite hard) and neither receiver has a problem with this. I have had them apart since then to do other work on them and the power amp sections and power supply were right up to spec with no signs of overheating emitter resistors or regulating transistors / resistors where you would typically see signs of stress. Pioneer receivers from the SX-850 and up have four TO-3 output devices per channel (not two like many others do) and a very well designed power supply which explains why a receiver rated at 65 WPC is so much more capable than one rated at 70 WPC.

Long story short, don't use the Marantz 2270 to drive AR3a's, but the Pioneer SX-850 and higher is absolutely fine for driving them. If you are talking Marantz 2275 that's another story but not the 2270. Actually I think it's fairly well documented around here, wish I had known that all those years ago before I bought the 2270's but they were cheap back then and I got my money back!

 

[GD70]

@GD70, thanks the jingle and appogies for the silence, new to the forum and didn’t have my alerts set quite right. Appreciate everyones time responding and input, interesting and helpful. Found a Pioneer SX -850 that I’m trying out. Generally listening at lower volumes and not too much bass, so far so good. @centsless, correction, ceilings are 25 ft. Likely to go ahead with the SX 850

Hi lbella!

Glad to see you're progressing in your quest. We would love to see pics of your setup. Is the lack of bass your doing, tone positions, or the setup and room acoustics? AR3/3a's are known for great deep bass.

Glenn

 

[2chman]

Don't consider the pioneer to be in the same class as the marantz. It like a hamburger and a filet mignon, both may taste good but give me the filet (marantz) please.

 

[VINTAGEO]

I have been running my 3a's with a Sansui Eight believe it or not, and it works fatastically! There is a video on my thread comparing to my JVC AX-Z1010 and hard to tell them apart, ask GD he knows! Awesome speakers BTW!!!

 

[StimpyWan]

Can it handle a 4 ohm load which dips to 2.5 ohms? 130 or more watts/channel into that tough load and severely high current? If not it is simply NOT AR3a suitable. Yamaha does have separate power amplifiers which can and do fine, receivers, NO! Clipped amplifiers and their nasties don't treat those very difficult to replace drivers kindly. Also neither will the AR3a sound right on a AVR of anybody's.The bass especially won't sound correct.

I use AR58S speakers too. My Yamaha RX-A3030 A/V receiver has no issues driving them. It's specs are:

Rated Output Power (20Hz-20kHz, 2ch driven) - 150 W (8ohms, 0.06% THD)
Rated Output Power - 230 W (4ohms, 0.9% THD)
Dynamic Power per Channel (8/6/4/2 ohms) - 175 / 220 / 295 / 410 W

And all this NAD talk makes me miss my 3020 and 3140 amps. But, they got stolen during a move, along with my NAD CD player!

 

[rocknroll1]

I just switched my AR 3A's from my Marantz 2275 to my sx1250 and it made a big difference. Both receivers are recently serviced and in very good working condition. The sx120 gave a better sound stage and base is 100% better to the point that i adjusted it down on the sx 1250 where I was having to use loudness on the 2275. This is using a Cd for source. I would think TT would even show more improvement. I was happy with the 2275 and almost didn't try the pioneer but am glad I did.

 

[bobschneider]

I run my AR-3a from a modern Marantz PM-11S2 integrated amp, and it sounds great. As others have mentioned, this speaker is a particularly tough load for an amplifier. My amp is 110 watts/ch into 8 ohms, double that into 4 ohms. Any amp rated to provide twice the power into 4 ohms as into 8 ohms should be a good match for the AR-3a, as long as it also has enough power to drive the speakers as loud as you're going to play them.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

I use AR58S speakers too. My Yamaha RX-A3030 A/V receiver has no issues driving them. It's specs are:

Rated Output Power (20Hz-20kHz, 2ch driven) - 150 W (8ohms, 0.06% THD)
Rated Output Power - 230 W (4ohms, 0.9% THD)
Dynamic Power per Channel (8/6/4/2 ohms) - 175 / 220 / 295 / 410 W

And all this NAD talk makes me miss my 3020 and 3140 amps. But, they got stolen during a move, along with my NAD CD player!

\

Your AR58s is more modern voiced, so will sound better with a modern receiver. Is that rated output power all channels driven, 20-20,000 Hertz to be curious. Rated output power in RMS with the above rules matters here. Dynamic power per channel is not relevant.

 

[StimpyWan]

\

Your AR58s is more modern voiced, so will sound better with a modern receiver. Is that rated output power all channels driven, 20-20,000 Hertz to be curious. Rated output power in RMS with the above rules matters here. Dynamic power per channel is not relevant.

The power ratings I quoted are into two channels driven. And while I haven't seen the ratings for my particular receiver, for 5 channels, the later (and very similar) RX-A3060 was measured by Sound and Vision magazine at 102 watts X5. Not too shabby.

 

[VINTAGEO]

The power ratings I quoted are into two channels driven. And while I haven't seen the ratings for my particular receiver, for 5 channels, the later (and very similar) RX-A3060 was measured by Sound and Vision magazine at 102 watts X5. Not too shabby.

I have the 3060 and it's a new aged beast!! Its running 2 PSB Status Silvers, front, 2 Stratus Minis rear, and a C-6 center with NO issues!! These are not the easiest to push either.