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Schoongemaakt en getest , klinken super. Zien er ook nog heel goed uit ophalen aub
That’s fair to slightly ambitious at €150 unless these are confirmed fully sorted and cosmetically excellent. The best price signal I can find puts a clean AR-38S pair around roughly €120–€180 in today’s money, with excellent examples sometimes asking a bit more, so €150 lands near the middle rather than as a bargain.
The upside is the usual AR charm: a smooth, easygoing vintage balance with solid bass for a bookshelf design, and they can sound very rewarding in a small to medium room when healthy. The main buyer check here is condition—these old ARs often need foam, crossover attention, or driver originality verified—so if the cabinets are clean, the drivers are original, and they play properly, this is a solid buy rather than a speculative one.
Independent perspective — not a price guarantee. Always verify condition, accessories and provenance before purchase.
Acoustic Research (AR) emerged from Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1954, founded by audio pioneer Edgar Villchur and his student Henry Kloss. Villchur, an inventor, researcher, and educator, developed the groundbreaking acoustic suspension loudspeaker principle, patented in 1956, which enabled compact speakers with deep, distortion-free bass. Their debut AR-1 model, unveiled at the 1954 New York Audio Show for $185, revolutionized the industry by shrinking enclosure sizes by up to 75 percent while delivering superior performance, setting the stage for AR's rapid ascent.
The brand focused primarily on loudspeakers, pioneering acoustic suspension designs like the AR-1, AR-2, AR-3 series, and compact bookshelf models such as the AR-4, which appealed to students and families. AR expanded into turntables, including the enduring AR Turntable still prized by vinyl enthusiasts, alongside other stereo components. This emphasis on innovative speakers with flat response, wide dispersion, and extended bass defined their catalog, prioritizing engineering over aesthetics.
AR commanded peak dominance in 1966 with over 32 percent of the U.S. loudspeaker market—the largest share any hi-fi company has achieved—earning reverence for natural sound reproduction and robust build quality. Now owned by VOXX and shifted toward lower-end accessories, its vintage products remain collector icons, embodying mid-century high-fidelity excellence for discerning buyers seeking timeless accuracy.
See all Acoustic Research listings on RADAR.
