Refurbished AR4x review.

My friend Rodney, a semi local friend from AK refurbed some AR4x I had. I'm posting here first, and will follow later (hours, days, dunno) over at AK as I promised him. He wanted to hear the 4xs, and asked to borrow my ailing pair and single orphan. I explained the situation with them- intermittant L-pads, a bit of a twwack from the two working woofers, one dead woofer, water-damaged cabs.

Well, he bypassed the L-pads (stopped the intermittantcy), re-capped them, re-doped the surrounds (stopping the thwapping), resealed the drivers to the cabs, and then refinished the cabs with a sanding, steel wool, tung oil, and lots of elbow grease.

They came back amazing.

My first impressions with them are this-

The bass from these little speakers is quite amazing. These diminutive delights are much bigger than they sound- much, much bigger. I dunno how they did it, but for most recordings (bar the AC/DC), there was plenty of rich bass.

Presentation is great, separation very good, although with some recordings not as sharp as some of the upper-end speakers I've used recently. Imaging was good- but after hearing a set of B&W speakers earlier that day, I wanted a tiny bit more.

Voices came across, for the most part, very clean and warm, but I'd find a nasally effect on two or three recordings. Rodney agreed.

And on a Tom Petty disc, they became a bit painful- the recording was very treble-heavy, and the ARs, to my suprise with those cone tweeters, became a bit much to bear. Also experienced it to a lesser extent witrh a Neko Case recording. A turn down of the treble cured it for the most part, worked great on Neko, made Tom tolerable but still not as pleasant to listen to as I'd have liked.

My room is lively, so by adjusting your seat height, even by a mere 8 inches, the sound of the speakers would change noticeably- almost as if you had two different speakers going at the same time. Lower gave a heavier bass delivery, and a slightly laid back sound, all with a very well-blended coherency, move upper and definition increased, accuracy, separation, and the sound became much more forward.

I spun CDs from a Sony ES deck, and played FM through a Sansui 5900 tuner hooked to an outside antenna.

Power was an 80's black Kenwood integrated amp, at around 100 or 120 wpc (can't recall).

Speakers were off the ground, on stands, about 12 inches- I'd recommend a tiny bit more- and at an approximate 7 to 10 degree angle.

For what it's worth, the re-doping of the surrounds is crucial- as is the re-sealing of the drivers of the cabs.

I personally would install new L-Pads, instead of bypassing them- I was in agreement to bypass them at first, but I'd say one may prefer the control over the speaker, and it's worth the extra effort and money.

Overall, for a smallish speaker, the AR4x is quite a performer, sounding much, much bigger than they should.

No regrets here, though I think I may move them along within a few weeks, to make room for further adventures in audio.


Pics later this week.

A couple of notes- the AR4x were recapped and this made a big difference over initial sound. From laid back, warm, fuzzy, "wooly", to much more articulate and clean and more forward in presentation.

I don't always agree with re-capping, but certain speakers seem to benefit from it, such as EPI 100s, Advent 5002s and 5012s, and these ARs.

My room is new, and still lively, and will take a bit of time for me to tone it down. This will obviously affect the sound of the speakers. Your experience with these in your room will most likely present a different end result.

Placement of the AR4x can really affect the sound- like I stated above, even an 8"change was noticeable. Keep that in mind. I should experiment more with placement here.

This post has been edited by thedelihaus on August 06, 2007 08:10 am

looking forward to the pic's Paul. it will be interesting to see if you detect any change in the sound over a period of time, ie; will the new caps break in and some smoothness be imparted on the sound? also, how do these sound next to some of your other comparable speakers?

Rodney played them a good bit prior to them making it to my house. And I've been running them low volume for 10 hour stints, off the college jazz stations, which after years now of not being able to listen to, with my Radio shack antennae and the Sansui 5900, come in nicely.

The L-pad mod basically wires them full open- mostly a good thing. The speakers are overall a great speaker indeedy, with that bass suprising me every time, and the big sound that belies their diminutive sound.

Negatives are at times they sound a bit "boxy" to me- I'm spoiled with DQ-10s and DCM Timewindows though.

Suprising me the most, however, is that cone tweeter. It's a good one, with great range, and I can't quite tell, either a very revealing sound or one that can't handle the highs- it gets very crisp on some recordings, and at times harsh.

I must factor into this the livelyness of my room, though.

These will go back to rodney- he's helped me with lots of things, and it's my way of saying thanks.

So far I'm preferring the EPIs, BA A70s, ADS L570 IIs, and I suspect I'll prefer the Dynacos as well. It will be tough weeding through those lovelies, but the goal is to keep one or two only.

I'll keep the reviews coming- here first, at my favorite site, and then after a short delay, to my friends at another.

Remember, folks, this is just my opinion, and there's nothing at all that's terrible or even kinda bad about the AR4x speakers. If I had a place to store them, they'd be kept, but alas, they will not be used, as intended, if they stay here, but only collect dust and nicks and scratches.

And my choice betwixt speakers is only my personal choice, that reflects what my ears find pleasant, what my room interacts well with, and other factors as well.

your mileage hopefully will vary.

Your thorough review motivated me to hook up my AR-4x's to my Sansui Eight. I was looking forward to something nice but sadly, my pair will need a restoration. My L-pads are shot and I've got a blow tweeter.

I've heard AR-3's and I thought them to be exceptionally musical.

Sam, if you got patience, I may have a spare tweeter for you. It's at Rodney's- he'll be down in 4 or 5 weeks.

I'd have a hard time letting something like a 3a go. The AR4x are very great speakers for their size, but the AR 3a outclass them for sure.

Thanks thed! You are the man! I've been reading up what you and Duffinator have done to your 4x's and I've got to decide whether I am going to take the plunge and do a proper restoration. Seems like a lot of work for a result that is very good but short of great.

If I decide against a restoration, my working parts will go to an ST'er in need!

Keep me posted.

I find the ARs to be a great speaker, one that's sound belies it's size.

Perfect for a cramped living room, bedroom, office or dorm.

If space permits, save th' pennies and go for 3as or something more substantial.

In all honesty, 4axs are dang good speakers. But if you gots the rooms, go bigger...

Anyhoo, worth a restore. don't let these ARs go the wayside. That, my Socal friend, would be a crime. Restore them, and pass them along, at least.

Worth the effort.

Remember- I'm comparing these to modern B&W, ADS L1230s, BA A150s and A200s, Dahlquist DQ-10s, and the ilk.

This post has been edited by thedelihaus on August 08, 2007 08:47 pm

THED: That means a lot to me that you respect the AR-4x so much. Even though mine are officially project speakers, I'll won't give up on them so fast.

Good to hear it, Sam.

send me your address in a pm if you want that tweeter.

Thed, if the AR-4x tweeter is still available, I'll take it. I'll send you a PM.

I was testing the AR-4x's and (gulp) prepping them for sale when I fell in love with the sound. One of them has a good set of drivers so I got a good impression of the sound. The other one has a blown tweeter. I was still able to get a good idea what the sound should be and I like.

So, I've decided to restore them and keep them, provided Thed still has a spare tweeter and I can persuade him to part with it!

Bump!

I just found an orphan AR4x with the intention of turning three into one good pair. My new one turned out to have a silent tweeter. I re-tested the original and found the tweeter to be working after all! The L-pad was not making contact. Lovely sound on my test amp. I'll eventually pair with my Sansui Eight and that will be awesome.

I still would like to make one good pair but I can't figure out how to get inside. Thed, help!

have you tried The Classic Speaker Pages? its the source for all things vintage AR.
http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/IP.Board/

Dingus, thanks for the link. I'll take a look.

I managed to pull on eof the grills off. It was glued on. AR's look like junk inside but they sound good. I guess that is what counts.