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Better sounding AR-2AX or AR-4X ?

Mark Davis

Mark Davis

Active Member
I am looking at some older Vintage Speakers and I wanted to get some input.

I know the AR-3A is the prize but out of my price range.

They say the AR-2AX was the close to the AR-3A.

I have also heard the AR-4x might be the best of them all.

Looks like the AR-4X is readily available all over the place.

The AR-2AX not as much.

Opinions.
 
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Sound signature will be similar, the 2ax being a three way will have better midrange, and deeper bass with the 10 inch woofer vs. the 8 inch. The 4x is an excellent two way though. Much depends on room size too. The 4x will do well in 12 X 12 size rooms, the 2ax will fill larger rooms better.
Keep in mind, both may have corroded pot issues, and need a recap.
 
GD70 said:
Sound signature will be similar, the 2ax being a three way will have better midrange, and deeper bass with the 10 inch woofer vs. the 8 inch. The 4x is an excellent two way though. Much depends on room size too. The 4x will do well in 12 X 12 size rooms, the 2ax will fill larger rooms better.
Keep in mind, both may have corroded pot issues, and need a recap.
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I
 
The 2ax tweeter does go down the slope as age does its work.
best sounding : the 4ax
best bass rendering : 2ax
 
Pesonal preference, but the 2ax goes lower and otherwise sounds similar to the 4x/4ax.

4ax has better tweeter than 4x.

AR5 is better than either, but hard to find. AR6 and AR7 (and first two versions of AR18) are better than any of the 4s, and are fairly common.

Obviously just my opinion. Others will certainly differ.
 
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GD70 said:
Much depends on room size too. The 4x will do well in 12 X 12 size rooms, the 2ax will fill larger rooms better.
Keep in mind, both may have corroded pot issues, and need a recap.
Click to expand...

Glenn is right, a lot of it depends upon the room. I auditioned a pair of the 2-ax and I have a pair of 4-xa, but the 4-xa sounded better for me so I did not keep the 2-ax. My room is about 10 x14 and the 4-xa speakers sound wonderful. They are a great size for small rooms and have that natural AR sound.

I did recap the speakers but I did not need to replace the pots on the 4-xa— mine do not have any! The 4-xa have a toggle switch for the tweeter, while the 4 and 4-x speakers have pots. The 4-xa may be the easiest to restore because of that, all you need to do is replace one cap and re-dope the surrounds (although some 4-xa have foam surrounds).

Although all of the AR speakers mentioned will sound wonderful!
 
Patrick_W said:
I did not need to replace the pots on the 4-xa— mine do not have any! The 4-xa have a toggle switch
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The very earliest AR-4xa speakers were nearly a direct carry-over from the AR-4x, and still had real walnut veneer, cloth surround woofer, and in fact used the same A-P pot found in earlier AR's. Later 4xa issues eliminated the pot for the switch; replaced the cloth woofer with the universal 8-inch foam woofer; and replaced the real walnut for faux vinyl. In later versions, tweeters were sometimes back-wired.

AR-4xa x-o with pot.jpg

4xa rear pot.jpg
 

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My AR 4-xa speakers have real walnut veneer, cloth surround woofers and the toggle switch in the back. I remember delving deep into threads on CSP about the 4-xa and the consensus seemed to be that they were made in evolving iterations with some posters speculating that they were made with what was on hand. If a batch of the cloth surround woofers were on hand they used those.

I like the toggle switch over the pot, as it was one less thing that I had to contend with when I updated my speakers.

Regardless they are a very nice sounding speaker for their size—perfect for smaller listening spaces.
 
I used to own the AR-2ax and the AR-5, now owning a pair of AR-4x speakers. The 4x is a very well balanced small speaker and as others have pointed out, fit in a smaller listening space. I thought the 2ax and 5 were power hungry, both went away in 1974 for a pair of JBL L100s (perhaps a mistake).

I recently picked up a nice, minty pair of DLK model 1 last year and they can give the 4x a run for the money.

If I were to get another AR 3-way, it would be the 5.

The AR-4x sold for $57 in my 1969 allied catalog in oiled walnut. The 2ax was $128. The AR-5 was not yet available.
 
Patrick_W said:
...the consensus seemed to be that they were made ..... with what was on hand. If a batch of the cloth surround woofers were on hand they used those.....I like the toggle switch over the pot, as it was one less thing that I had to contend with when I updated my speakers.
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Yes, I think you are right about both of these statements - - there were a few iterations of the 4xa, and as long as the tweeter switch offers distinct levels of output, it's not a bad idea to avoid those pesky pots. Pic attached shows some various drivers.

AR-4xa cloth, foam.jpg
 
Here are photos of my 4-xa. I feel they have the best of the 4-x and 4-xa: the new tweeter and the toggle switch for the tweeter, but also walnut veneer and the cloth woofers. I love them and won't be giving them up any time soon.


IMG_2605.JPG IMG_2603.JPG IMG_2604.JPG
 
Patrick_W said:
the new tweeter and the toggle switch for the tweeter, but also walnut veneer and the cloth woofers
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Yeah, those look really nice with all of the features you mentioned. Drivers and grilles look great, but I've never seen an 8-inch AR woofer that uses eight (8) screws for attachment. Are those just added wood screws?
 
I added the extra screws where the woofers had holes for them. I became a little obsessed about making sure the I had a tight seal. Probably unnecessary.

Back to the OP's query, you can see I vote heartily for the 4-xa!
 
I have been enjoying the 4xs driven by tubes (mostly an ST-70) for about a year now. They need a bit more power than the PP EL84 Magnavox can supply but it’s still a musical experience. These speakers are a great match with tubes, although they sounded good with an NAD amp too.
They are great sounding speakers with a balanced, natural sound that is very musical.
They need to be on some heavy stands to sound their best. My go-to stands for monitors is these 24” one offs I have had for 30 years. Sand filled, they weigh well over 50lbs each. The smaller stands are 16” high and much lighter weight, so it’s not a fair comparison. Still, I tried them and the speakers sounded very colored and didn’t image at all. The sound was what one would expect from old bookshelf speakers, which the 4Xs are. I’ve experienced some classic Rogers monitors (ls35a and JR149) and prefer these. The low end is open and very natural sounding rather than bloated or goosed to sound like there’s more than there really is.
The upper mids are a bit colored and slightly prominent which is well documented.
On the proper stands, the sound is crystal clear with tight low end and excellent imaging.
These were recapped, the pots cleaned and deoxed which are working well and I doped the cloth surrounds with the kit off the big auction site.

I really like the Irish linen grills with the walnut.
 

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Johnny_Law said:
Having had all three (3A, 2ax, 4x), you can't lose. All great. (All benefit from re-capping.)

Can't help but upload a pic I snapped of my 4x. I had these before the 3A or 2ax and absolutely loved them.

View attachment 1806333
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Hi, Im just getting into putting together a 70s vintage system and found this thread after searching for some info on Ar's I found nearby on FB. Im not speaker savy but Ive narrowed it down to: Advent Original Larges' (fried egg tweeter), Dynaco A35 or A50, or Ars. What do think of these? https://www.facebook.com/marketplac...wse_serp:0b6ceef8-7d3d-4292-8f0a-1ccc98b4a35c
 
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