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Scott Dorsey Scott Dorsey is offline
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Default ... anybody actually talk about hi-fi here anymore

Harry Lavo wrote:
"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message

I'll argue that back in the fifties, you could get more realistic sound
if perhaps not as dynamic sound, from the AR-3 system than from any of
the corner horns. Of course, you needed more amplifier power, which was
a sticking point back then.


I remember hearing my first AR-3 while at college....driven by a Dynaco 60
watt mono amp, with a PAS preamp and Bogen/Lenco TT (don't remember the
cartridge). Was owned by the fellow who ran the college radio station where
I was an engineer/announcer/dj. I remember in particular that it sounded
more realistic on nightclub handclapping....but the sound never really got
"out of the box". Of course, by then my main reference was my own
Garrard/Norelco/Eico HF-20/Jensen Tri-ax corner system.


Yes, the AR-3 is kind of a boxy sounding thing, and I think some of that
comes from the lack of real detail in the top octave, and some of it
comes from the woofer and tweeter radiation patterns not being matched
very well. And some of it just comes from the way monkey box speakers
sound.

Life's like that. You want realism, invite some real musicians over.

But, life today is a lot less like that than it was in the 1950s, in
part due to the work of Thiele and Small, who changed everything.

My dad's system, when one of the audiophile recordings of the day was
played, put the musicians in the room. I remember particularly the red
vinyl Audiophile Label "Red Nichols and the Five Pennies" and several of
Emory Cook's musical "Sounds of Our Times" recordings (not steam engines).
It ws not until surround came along (I'm a big SACD/DVD-A fan) that I could
consistently achieve such presence. With my stereo sytem, even with full
range Thiels driven by VTL's and playing very fine recordings (Jazz at the
Pawnshop, for example), it was only an occassional phenomen.


I think a lot of that sense of presence is due to the very narrow angle
of radiation, so you're getting less of a room effect than you would with
conventional speakers. This is a good thing, but frankly it seems a poor
substitute for proper room treatment.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
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Harry Lavo Harry Lavo is offline
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Default ... anybody actually talk about hi-fi here anymore


"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message
...
Harry Lavo wrote:
"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message

I'll argue that back in the fifties, you could get more realistic sound
if perhaps not as dynamic sound, from the AR-3 system than from any of
the corner horns. Of course, you needed more amplifier power, which was
a sticking point back then.


I remember hearing my first AR-3 while at college....driven by a Dynaco 60
watt mono amp, with a PAS preamp and Bogen/Lenco TT (don't remember the
cartridge). Was owned by the fellow who ran the college radio station
where
I was an engineer/announcer/dj. I remember in particular that it sounded
more realistic on nightclub handclapping....but the sound never really got
"out of the box". Of course, by then my main reference was my own
Garrard/Norelco/Eico HF-20/Jensen Tri-ax corner system.


Yes, the AR-3 is kind of a boxy sounding thing, and I think some of that
comes from the lack of real detail in the top octave, and some of it
comes from the woofer and tweeter radiation patterns not being matched
very well. And some of it just comes from the way monkey box speakers
sound.

Life's like that. You want realism, invite some real musicians over.

But, life today is a lot less like that than it was in the 1950s, in
part due to the work of Thiele and Small, who changed everything.

My dad's system, when one of the audiophile recordings of the day was
played, put the musicians in the room. I remember particularly the red
vinyl Audiophile Label "Red Nichols and the Five Pennies" and several of
Emory Cook's musical "Sounds of Our Times" recordings (not steam engines).
It ws not until surround came along (I'm a big SACD/DVD-A fan) that I
could
consistently achieve such presence. With my stereo sytem, even with full
range Thiels driven by VTL's and playing very fine recordings (Jazz at the
Pawnshop, for example), it was only an occassional phenomen.


I think a lot of that sense of presence is due to the very narrow angle
of radiation, so you're getting less of a room effect than you would with
conventional speakers. This is a good thing, but frankly it seems a poor
substitute for proper room treatment.
--scott


Very much agree with this, Scott. They obviously were designed optimally
for corner placement and that design plus the horn approach meant no HF
bouncing off the walls. Too bad we didn't start designing houses with
"stereo-ready" living rooms, or we all might have horn speakers today! :-)


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