A common complaint with some Alnico speakers is that some of them become demagnetized due to age. A friend had AR5s that over time just got duller and duller. Output from the tweeters was dropping slowly over time. Capacitors in the xovers were changed the Lpads were removed but the problem persisted and was sourced to weekening magnets on the tweeters. Pity because ten years earlier they sounded stunning.
Having cut my teeth on the AR/New England Sound in the 1970s, I have developed a renewed interest in vintage speakers from that era. I recently bought the NHT C-3s, a three-way design very similar to those above. (NHT's founder, Ken Kantor, used to work for AR and the company still adheres to many of AR's design philosophies, including acoustic suspension.) I did not know about the AR 5s until recently and though that the 2ax was the only three-way option below the AR3a. In many ways, the AR5 was the best of both worlds. I believe more and more that at some point speaker design took a wrong turn. Rather than building on the strengths of AR and its progeny, it went in a direction farther and farther away from accuracy at higher and higher prices. This probably started with the inroads made by British loudspeakers into the U.S. market. NHT is one of the few exceptions. I feel that with the NHT C-3s I have come home again.
after saving for the AR3as i went to Laskeys intending to buy them, then the salesman said to me we have an EX display AR5s £100 off as they where closing their Oxford street branch n moving everything to Tottenham court road so i bought them instead, on the bass they are very good but mid range n high frequencies do not compare well with my AR9s but overall all AR speakers give a very satisfying sound n for rock music nothing comes even close to them
I SAW AR-5 BACK IN SPRING OF 1975 ( I WAS ONLY A HIGH SCHOOL YOUNG MAN, NO $$ ), PLAYING BASF RECORD ( W. GERMANY PRESSED, CLASSICAL MUSIC. DUAL CS-704 TT ). BLACK CLOTH GRILL, AND THE COLOR OF CABINETS IS WHITE, VERY GRACEFUL , A TRUE BEAUTY. . SALES SAID THEY WERE DESIGNED FOR THE MARKET OF ASIA. MADE IN HOLLAND. EVEN THE SHIPPING CARTOON VERY STURDY, NOT THE ONE THEY USED IN THE US DOMESTIC. IN THE SHOW ROOM I ALSO SAW AR-2AX, AR-3A IMPROVED ( MADE IN UK ), AR-4XA, AR-6, AR-7, AR-8 AND AR-LST II ( NO AR-LST ). AMPLIFIER, MAYBE PIONEER SA-9800 OR 9900, THE ONE WITH HUGE VOLUME KNOB, NO VU METERS. BUT THAT ONE IS NIPPON DOMESTIC MODEL, VERY RARE IN THE US.
the AR5s where the second brand new speakers I bought from Lusky's in Oxford street when that branch was closing down they also had Pots on them for the mid n top end frequencies the AR3 if i remember right did Not n i was always having them pots at least half way down as i was driving them pretty loud n treble is not good too loud still got them even i have been using the AR9 LS i bought years ago they are Massive but so is their sound quality both the 5s n 3As had some distortion compared to even the AR14s only two way units, n more so the AR9LS the Teletyne Acoustic research where Not up to AR standards n its the reason for the AR14s n later on the Amazing AR9LS But overall the Best speaker company on earth I also believe SHURE OVERALL THE BEST CARTRIDGE company on earth you may say its the American sound with more emphasis on bass n solid sound than European speakers n cartridges, some European speakers cartridges too (KEFs excluded) had a diabolical treble extremely hard n ear bashing non more so that the Celestions speakers n the G800 goldring cartridge God i had both on my first system n hated it so much the speakers went after 3 days n the cartridge after few weeks
I had a set of AR 3's back in the late sixties. 2 way - 8" woofer and tweeter. Sounded awesome, but took a lot of power to drive them! Not very efficient. Had a 50 watt amp and then upgraded to 100 - What a difference in the speakers!!!
The AR-3 model ALWAYS had a 12 inch woofer with treated cloth surrounds. The model was released after the AR-1W created such a stir because of its excellent bass performance in such a small box.
hard to tell on youtube, but great as you can hear everything,but my klh model 6 sound good an the ones when singer bought them too, more treble on those,an only ones i ever seen...
My second pair of new speakers where the AR5s from Lasky's in Oxford street as they where closing that branch down n moving everything to Tottenham court road bought lots of different models AR speakers SH, but i still kept the 5s even i do Not use them now not since i managed to buy a pair of AR9s LS the AR 14s where very good n so where the AR 38s on bass the 5s are pretty ok next to the 9LS But on mid range n distortion the LS are in a different world specially if you like loud Rock music worse pair of speakers i ever bought? the celestion 15s God i hated them the moment I took them home they where "rated" 20 Herts to 20KHerts what a joke them days the Frequency response ratting was, years later when they had to specify at how many Decibels the frequency response was measured at the Celestion 15s at Minus 7.5 decibels where rated at 75 herts would a been too embarrassing for them i guess id they measured them at 3.5 decibels IE FA bass But the AR9LS do have a very flat frequency response and at = or - 3.5 decibels they are as low as 28 Herts of glorious n very tight NO BOOM BOOM BASS (A 10 N 12 INCH BASS UNITS SEE TO THAT)mid range is an 8 inch unit
AR5s had ten inch woofers and was much less expensive than the 3A. Some prefer the tighter and more tuneful bass of the 5 as the 3A can sound a bit thumpy and rich. The AR5s were also 4 ohm designs and the 3As were 8 ohm.
