Acoustic Research Model 29
The archive hit a dead end on this one.
Overview
No Acoustic Research Model 29 has turned up in the archive's research corpus. It isn't in period catalogs, service manuals, or any of the standard reference collections that document the company's sprawling output from the 1950s onward. The number "29" does show up in AR's orbit in two ways, though, and both can mislead.
The first is a shelf stand. In its August 1965 issue, Audio (p.89) ran a product preview of an Acoustic Research two-shelf stand measuring 29 inches tall by 39 inches wide, available in walnut or cherry finish, unassembled, priced at $30. It was an accessory, a piece of furniture meant to hold components or speakers. It was not a loudspeaker or electronic component with a model designation. A casual search or a half-remembered catalog glance could easily pin "29" on the Acoustic Research name and imply a product where none exists.
The second source of confusion is more persistent. The Heathkit AR-29 was a 100-watt stereo receiver from the Heath Company, marketed in system bundles alongside Acoustic Research loudspeakers. HiFi-Stereo (August 1971, p.71) described a complete system pairing the Heathkit AR-29 receiver with two Heathkit/Acoustic Research AS-103 speaker systems, a Garrard SL-95B turntable, and a Shure M-91E cartridge. The whole package was priced at $807.74. The AR-29 designation belonged to Heathkit, not to Acoustic Research, but the two brand names kept showing up together in period advertising and system bundles, and that has blurred the lineage in collector memory.
The archive's research on Acoustic Research covers the AR-1, AR-3, AR-3a, and AR-LST, from the AR-1 of the mid-1950s through the AR-LST. A "Model 29" appears nowhere in that documentation. There is no schematic, advertisement, review, or owner's manual for it. That strongly suggests AR never used the designation for a commercial product. Collectors who think they have an Acoustic Research Model 29 are most likely looking at either a Heathkit receiver misremembered as an AR, or AR's 29-inch equipment stand mistaken for a model number.
If documentation surfaces that contradicts this assessment, the archive will update this entry. For now, the Model 29 is not a lost classic or a forgotten prototype. It is a collision of catalog numbers and brand associations that never became an actual product.
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