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In Reply to: RE: Get a pair of AR3... posted by Scott Woebcke on August 07, 2010 at 10:49:44
For more than a decade my AR3a speakers were driven by a Marantz Model 18 receiver rated IIRC at 40 watts per channel. The Model 18 is a heavy monster so maybe it can deliver the needed current. In any case, that combination sounded fine. I still have the AR turntable with its Shure V-15 II cartridge, the Model 18, and the AR3a speakers. I haven't fired them up in several decades. I hope to find a place to set them up again, but all the units probably should be refurbished before I do that.
db
Follow Ups:
Back in the '60s, it was common to see dealers advertise "systems" that included AR-3s and Dyna Stereo 70s (35 wpc, at best). At that time I had AR-4s driven by a Stereo 70. From then to now I could not understand why anyone would recommend a 35 watt amp with those speakers.
Fast forward to current times; a friend found a nice pare of AR-3as and had them restored. To audition the restoration he connected them into his main system with Halo JC-1 monoblocs rated at 800 watts into 4 ohms. He stated he could not believe how well the speakers performed, unlike anything he'd ever heard from them in the past.
This is not to argue that your Marantz did not work. Only to suggest that you might be surprised with the hidden potential in your ARs when driven by more clean power.
"Great googlie-mooglie . . . is that a real poncho or is that a Sears poncho?"
I had a Stereo 70 around for awhile, and I can assure you it wasn't the equal of either the Marantz 18 or the MC 60. Watt ratings obviously just aren't all the same. The watts from the 18 and MC 60 seemed much bigger. This was a time when horsepower was wildly exaggerated, and maybe watts were too. I remember comparing the specs of a Pioneer receiver to those of the Marantz 18. Whereas the 18 spec was RMS wideband, both channels driven simultaneously, with very low distortion, the Pioneer's watts were some sort of music watts defined much less stringently. IIRC the MC 60 required .5 v input for 60 watts, the Stereo 70 1.5 v. Obviously very different gains.
But I might try my ARa speakers with an amp I have that's rated at 250 watts into 4 ohms, although I really want to use them with the 18, the system from my post doc days.
db
Absolutley, I also think that about 100 wpc is the minimum needed for AR 3 and 3a's to reveal their true potential.
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