Acoustic Research AR-3st
Very little is documented about the Acoustic Research AR-3st. The record shows it was not a complete loudspeaker system. It was a separate super-tweeter unit made to augment the AR-3. A 1963 edition of HiFI-Stereo (1963, p.89) listed it as a "Model AR-3 super-tweeter with enclosure and crossover network," measuring 5½ inches across one dimension, and described its radiation pattern as figure-8. The same source rated its peak audio power handling at 20 watts and said it needed a 10-watt amplifier to drive it. That means it was meant to run from its own amplifier channel, not just sit in parallel with the main speakers.
The AR-3 had been Acoustic Research's flagship since 1959. Hirsch-Houck Laboratories praised it as producing sound "more true to the original program than any other commercially manufactured speaker system," and AR repeated that claim in its own advertising, including a notice in Audio, December 1967, p.57. The AR-3st appears to have been offered as an optional extension for listeners who wanted high-frequency response beyond what the standard AR-3 delivered, presumably for early quadraphonic experiments or for those who felt the AR-3's top end needed reinforcement. Beyond its listing in period equipment directories, almost nothing else is recorded about it - no production years, no price, no surviving reviews of its performance.
- Type: Super-tweeter, separate enclosure with integral crossover
- Radiation pattern: Figure-8 (dipole)
- Peak power handling: 20 watts
- Required amplifier: 10 watts (separate amplifier channel)
- Intended use: Add-on to AR-3 speaker system
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