Acoustic Research AR-58s (1981–1983)
Big cabinets, big expectations, and almost certainly big foam rot.
Overview
The Acoustic Research AR-58s showed up in the early '80s. It was built between 1981 and 1983 by Acoustic Research, the same outfit behind the AR-3 and its descendants. It belonged to a large speaker family that ran from compact bookshelves to floor-standing monsters. At 898 DM it wasn't cheap, and it was aimed at German-speaking buyers who knew the AR name and wanted a heavy wood-enclosed system.
It shared a lineage with a long list of AR models: the AR-8s, AR-9, AR-14, AR-18s, AR-25, AR-28s, AR-38s, AR-48s, AR-90, AR-91, AR-92, AR-93, AR-94, AR-915, and AR-925. That is a full product family, not a one-off, and incremental model numbers often meant incremental cabinet size or driver configuration. The AR-58s sat in the middle-to-upper tier, likely designed for rooms that could handle both its size and its output.
Owners report (or at least, listings imply) that these are "GREAT HEAVY CABINETS". That phrase is both a compliment and a warning. Heavy cabinets usually mean serious construction, but in vintage ARs they also mean decades of foam degradation inside. Sure enough, a repair kit for an "11" Tieftöner" (11" woofer) is available for the AR58b and AR58s, priced at EUR 30.50 on eBay. If you find a pair of AR-58s, assume the woofers need refoaming. One listing says outright "BOTH WOOFERS NEED A REFOAM JOB, ONE TWEETER..." so unless they've already been restored, budget for the rebuild.
Beyond that, there is nothing. No specs. No frequency response. No driver count, crossover details, or sensitivity ratings. No reviews, no user testimonials, no technical deep dives. The Wikipedia page that should cover it doesn't mention the model at all. The parts sites list it only in URLs. That isn't rare for AR's later models. The era of Edgar Villchur and Henry Kloss had passed, and by the early '80s the brand was under different management, chasing market trends rather than setting them.
Specifications
| Manufacturer | Acoustic Research |
| Product type | Loudspeaker |
| Production years | 1981 - 1983 |
| Original price | 898 DM |
Collectibility & Value
There are no current market prices listed for working or restored AR-58s, only a EUR 30.50 repair kit for the 11" woofers. That points to surround deterioration as the dominant failure mode. Multiple listings note the need for refoaming, and repair kits exist specifically for this model and its sibling (AR58b), so any un-restored pair should be treated as a project. The heavy cabinets suggest solid build quality, but without verified performance data or collector demand, these remain obscure even among AR enthusiasts. They're not rare to the point of myth, but they're not sought-after either.
eBay Listings
As an eBay Partner, we earn from qualifying purchases. This helps support our independent vintage technology research.