PDA

View Full Version : Acoustic Research Amplifiers



dantheman91
21-05-2016, 19:38
Hello Guys & Girls

Need your help with this one as you dont see many well in this neck of the woods im wondering if their a worthwhile investment i have been offered an A03 for less then £50 :)?

Any Thoughts & recommendations much appreciated i know their are higher modals in the range..just cant find much on this one....:eek:

Martyn Miles
21-05-2016, 20:19
Not a 'real' AR Amplifier.
They lost their way with speakers and electronics.
The AO 3 was just another integrated amplifier...

Macca
21-05-2016, 21:31
I've got one but it doesn't work although it powers up. Not much help I know. They were well reviewed at the time.

dantheman91
22-05-2016, 09:21
I think i'll buy it anyway for the sake of it......looks very nice picking up Friday...

Thanks Chaps

Virtual-Symmetry
22-05-2016, 10:07
Yeh Dan you need the original AR Amp. there was a Receiver innit aswell. Take it from me they are good i used to have em both including the tuner from my magpie days

http://img.usaudiomart.com/uploads/large/641207-very_rare_ar_model_au_integrated_amplifier.jpg

dantheman91
22-05-2016, 10:33
Yeh Dan you need the original AR Amp. there was a Receiver innit aswell. Take it from me they are good i used to have em both including the tuner from my magpie days

http://img.usaudiomart.com/uploads/large/641207-very_rare_ar_model_au_integrated_amplifier.jpg

Is their anything you haven't had dude..? I guess the originals are thin on the ground ive always want an AR amp so this will be a start yes maybe a later design but their the same era as my AR20's so might match well...:)

Virtual-Symmetry
22-05-2016, 10:37
Ive had tons of stuff Dan, use to just buy everything i could to try it out. Yes they are thin on the ground, they always have been..

The AR 'LST' speakers were the ones to have but again very rare as are the smaller 'LST2'

As well as those wedge shaped things, Cambridge Audio did supply an AR badged {P35} in the mid 80's

Martyn Miles
22-05-2016, 14:40
The 'Acoustic Research Amplifier' was a real beast.
I wanted one...

Virtual-Symmetry
22-05-2016, 14:50
:eyebrows:

dantheman91
22-05-2016, 15:00
:eyebrows:

Beautiful.....:)

struth
22-05-2016, 15:01
Tidy amp Andre

Virtual-Symmetry
22-05-2016, 15:03
Na that's beautiful mate

:D

dantheman91
22-05-2016, 15:11
Na that's beautiful mate

:D

LOL....im guessing you dont see many of them too...

struth
22-05-2016, 15:13
Ah the missing link. Not a big Armstrong fan but they wer nice looking... You wont find many of those around.

Virtual-Symmetry
22-05-2016, 15:21
The Armstrong '400' series was Armstrongs first attempt at Transistor amplification, that design was a Germanium circuit. Not the last word in reliability, the following '500' series was pretty much the same amp circuit but Silicon design, i still prefer the sound & looks of the '400' tho.

dantheman91
22-07-2016, 15:54
Well i bought the A-03 Amp.....

I think it has a fault please tell me if its normal or if not what the fault could be I plugged a CD player into the CD input at the back but their is sound but its like reverb:scratch: echoy vocals not bass , guitar or drums its really weird I have the CD-direct on could this be bypassing the circuitry? Theirs no other CD input its not the CD player as its fine with various other amplification.

:scratch::scratch::scratch:

struth
22-07-2016, 16:02
try cd in another line. If cd is like that in another line in then its an amp problem . If another line works then its something in that line. Other thing is to try a cassette too in different inputs

walpurgis
22-07-2016, 16:05
Try another lead. Try another CD player. And like Grant says, try other inputs.

What you describe seems a bit like something being out of phase.

dantheman91
22-07-2016, 16:21
Tried 2 CD players with 2 different cables both work fine on Tape , Aux , Tuner but same result on CD-direct IE out of phase. :scratch:

This amplifier has been modified to 1/4 jack plugs at the back could this have something to do with it ive contact the last owner for a refund but no ball :steam:.

:scratch:

struth
22-07-2016, 16:27
Could be. Kinda depends whats been done, but should be fairly easy to put right Dan. Wiring could be cockeyed on that one. Meantime run cd out of the other aux. Just get someone to fix wiring when you get a chance

struth
22-07-2016, 16:32
Think the source direct is just bypass of tone controls, but if the cd bit was converted the wires could be wrong way round

walpurgis
22-07-2016, 16:48
Tried 2 CD players with 2 different cables both work fine on Tape , Aux , Tuner but same result on CD-direct IE out of phase. :scratch:

This amplifier has been modified to 1/4 jack plugs at the back could this have something to do with it ive contact the last owner for a refund but no ball :steam:.

:scratch:

If CD is OK through other inputs, it is likely to be something minor. Could be that somebody has had a tinker on the CD Direct input and cocked something up.

If it's an eBay purchase. The seller has no option but to take it back unless a defect was mentioned in the description. It would be 'defective' or 'not as described'!

Macca
22-07-2016, 17:28
Think the source direct is just bypass of tone controls, but if the cd bit was converted the wires could be wrong way round

Dan said CD Direct though which I believe reduces or eliminates the gain of the pre-amp section. I've had an amp with CD Direct and you could still use the tone controls - I think.

struth
22-07-2016, 17:33
Dan said CD Direct though which I believe reduces or eliminates the gain of the pre-amp section. I've had an amp with CD Direct and you could still use the tone controls - I think.

sorry.. CD direct; Cd direct creates a balanced signal from the input source to send directly to the amplifier i think.

struth
22-07-2016, 17:39
There was another one that just bypassed some of the amp...think it was pure direct or sommat

Macca
22-07-2016, 17:42
Just been searching and it seems CD Direct, Pure Direct and Source Direct all just bypass the tone controls. So I was talking bollocks. Precious little on the web about them though. Probably all on the dark net.

struth
22-07-2016, 17:46
Just been searching and it seems CD Direct, Pure Direct and Source Direct all just bypass the tone controls. So I was talking bollocks. Precious little on the web about them though. Probably all on the dark net.

guess it depends on the company, as to what name they use. There was one I cme across that did a balanced job on the cd input but dont remember which. If its had a conversion to a jackplug then Its possible that the wiring has been cocked up, or altered to use the jack

Sovereign
22-07-2016, 22:31
Hi Dan
The grand wazoo, also known as ChrisB or at the weekends I understand it's Juicy Lucy on TAS is able to help.
Let me know if I can help more.

dantheman91
23-07-2016, 11:27
Hi Dan
The grand wazoo, also known as ChrisB or at the weekends I understand it's Juicy Lucy on TAS is able to help.
Let me know if I can help more.

Hi James,

Would it be possible for you to contact him on TAS with my problem? See what he knows about this amplifier in particular no worries if not i will find a way to contact him....

Thank You
Daniel

Puffin
23-07-2016, 17:31
Someone's buggered the wiring up - an easy fix.

agk
23-07-2016, 22:58
Hi James,

Would it be possible for you to contact him on TAS with my problem? See what he knows about this amplifier in particular no worries if not i will find a way to contact him....

Thank You
Daniel

I think TAS is the same as TAoS or AoS Dan, you can contact him your own self. Pm 'The Grand Wazoo'.

struth
23-07-2016, 23:01
no, its tas.....the audio standad

agk
23-07-2016, 23:14
Poop. Does he not visit these parts no more?

dantheman91
24-07-2016, 06:31
Poop. Does he not visit these parts no more?

Afraid not Andy been at least 3 or 4 years since he was here....