AR98 LSI

[OneTonScoutII]

As was mentioned, those speakers will dip down pretty low impedance wise at some frequencies. The lower the impedance, the closer to a dead short so the amp's protection circuit is doing exactly what it's supposed to do. This was the case initially with a Double Advent system I had in the mid 70's. For optimum performance they were to be wired in parallel and although each speaker cabinet was rated at 8 ohms, they were actually closer to a nominal 6 ohms so in parallel, the amp saw 3 ohms on occasion. My "dealer" at the time let me take equipment home to try out over a weekend and several power amps could not tolerate impedance that low and shut down. As you are experiencing, this manifested when the volume was turned up but low level listening was fine. I lived in a house back then where loud music was de rigeur and it took several auditions to find an amp I could afford that would not shut down. Early on, the service department of the shop I bought the Advents from suggested a load resistor on each speaker to bring up the impedance but that made me blow tweeters.

What was the amp that you settled on?

 

[orange]

Hi,

i have AR 98LSi speakers fully re-caped. i love the way sound , real nice to my ears and they look nice, but i have a bit problem. My set up can drive them past 12 o'clock volume on me pre-amp. My amp simply clips and there is no sound.
i have pioneer SX-1250 which can not handle them. then i got accuphase p-300 amp and accuphase c-200 pre-amp . I got them re-caped and readjusted. same results. recently i got PL-400 and i'm thinking about rebuilding it with White oak kit. Do you guys think it will be able to handle my speakers??. if not what else can i do? what amp should i look into?

thank you

LESS GAIN AT HIGHER VOLUME

 

[62vauxhall]

What was the amp that you settled on?

It was not a power amp I wound up with but an integrated - Kenwood Model 600. The dealer special ordered two for a customer who in the end only took one. I wished to move up from an integrated not get another one so it was with complete skepticism I took it home. But surprise, surprise, used it for 28 years.

 

[sebtus]

My speakers reacted the same way before i rework the crossover. I was hoping that it would fix my problems but it did not. They sound better afterwords. Which is a big plus.

 

[laatsch55]

Nice to know it wasn't for nothing...

 

[stuwee]

Hello sebtus, welcome to PHX , those AR's are very sweet! Congrat's, while I can't back it up with charts or graphs, most speakers of this type will hit the 2ohm mark at low frequencies at high power...your big Pio was not designed for that, just enjoy it at reasonable volume for now...treat the old lady kindly!

A wopl seems to be a good choice for you, either 400 or 700 depending on the size of your room and your sickness for concert volume levels , if you don't like the looks of the PL gear, there is always Pass Labs for almost insane money that will handle any load and power requirements you ask from it in a sleek package.

Have fun! Keep us informed!

 

[sebtus]

Hello stuwee. i like vintage style amps. silver face and big uv meters. i am trying to build myself a niece vintage setup. All the peaces i get usually require fixing or at least service. Fixing it and bring it it back to life is actual very satisfying, i have all the tools i need to get the job done, access to all kind of equipment, enough knowledge to brake things lol. Whatever i own, i worked on, and it drives my crazy when i have a problem and i cant figure it out.

My speakers sound really nice and for the most part i don't listen to loud music, but sometime,s when the family is away, i do.. and then i wish i could get a bit louder. i got that accuphase p300 especial to drive my ARs. i waited 3 months for the main caps to arrive and after all the work and $$ invested i still do not get the results i was hopping for.. very disappointed

 

[stuwee]

Since you have such a wonderful Accuphase in house and money invested in it, something is not right. It should handle the AR's just fine. I'd search out a tech to go over it or help you.

My old Martin Logan Sequels were a wicked load and a buddy had a nice P-300 , I almost bought one because it was so sweet and powerful but, a 30+ year old amp needing $$'s thrown at it and no tech out here in the desert? ...I bought a big Yamaha MX-800U rated to 1ohm and believe me in my 20' X 26' room, the Sequels would cause it to cut out for a second. Wish I still had it now in my smaller room with the Summits.

Speakers like yours put special needs on an amp, and it's not just the ohm load, specs never tell the tale, your AR's and my ML's are similar on paper but, far different in the real world. I'm not knowledgeable enough to advise you more than I'd look into a through redo on that nice Accuphase buddy

 

[JustMike]

I see you have a pair of Cerwin Vega 120's. Those have a sensitivity at 97db and are also 4 ohm.
The AR's are 87db and 4 ohm. Both rated at 250 watt.

How does the amp react on the CV's ?

 

[sebtus]

I am deployed right now and i cant do anything. To be honest i dont remember how cv were with my p300. I did tried them with pl400 after a full recap and i blown cv fuses two times lol,and that was that. Im coming home soon and i will get back to it. I have 3 Rtr and pl400 to work on . Plus i have to figure out my ARs. I will keep you updated.

I miss my stereo.....
View attachment 28994

 

[Northwinds]

I am deployed right now and i cant do anything. To be honest i dont remember how cv were with my p300. I did tried them with pl400 after a full recap and i blown cv fuses two times lol,and that was that. Im coming home soon and i will get back to it. I have 3 Rtr and pl400 to work on . Plus i have to figure out my ARs. I will keep you updated.

I miss my stereo.....
View attachment 28994
View attachment 28995

I run 5A 250V fuses in my D9's, have yet to blow a fuse even with a 700 at near full song

 

[tivali]

Closer to 2 ohms in some instances.