![Heathkit Ar-1500 Manual Heathkit Ar-1500 Manual](http://www.oaktreevintage.com/web_photos/Salvage_Hi_Fi/Heathkit_AR-15_CirBd_85-164-3.jpg)
Thanks for the input, looking at the manual it looks like a couple of hundred pages. I am sure the AR-1500 is a fine sounding vintage unit. I have the complete AR-1500 manual available too. I just finished up a complete AR-1515 manual which is roughly a similar number of pages and foldouts (just shy of 300 pages including counting all the foldout pages, schematics, etc.).
Ar-1500 The Heathkit AR-1500 was introduced about 1972 as Heath's top of the line successor to the famous AR-15. Available as both a kit and assembled, the kit list price was $349.95. The walnut cabinet was $24.95. The AR-1500 made quite an impact when it was introduced. Here was a reliable, fairly high power receiver with an excellent tuner all for a reasonable price when purchased as a kit. I built one of the kits back in the day.
Pretty nice and unlike the AR-15 it could safely drive AR3a speakers. Heathkit AR-1500 I built one in 1972 also. They came out with an AR-1500A also later. Looks the same, just worked on the amp a little to make it more stable I think. I sold mine to buy a Kenwood KT 8007 and KA 8006. I liked my AR-1500.
The guy I sold it to liked it real well also. There is a picture of one on e-bay. The pictures are a little dark and it doesn't have the walnut cabinet.
I had a walnut cabinet for mine, I think they look 100% better with the cabinet. I have 4 of them now in different states of repair. The best one I have I am using right now, it works fine with a good phono stage and a good FM tuner, AM pretty good also.
I am not using the amp section as I need a lot more power than the 60 watts it puts out for my Pioneer HPM-200 speakers. I took the one I built back in 72 to a McIntosh clinic and it put out like 72 watts RMS. Most of them you buy now needs FM repair. The boards except for the main preamp board are all modular and I took the best of all the boards to make one good one. The units weight quite a bit. Some people think they are ugly and look like a table radio but I think they are beautiful with the champagne face. I have the AR15, AR1500a, AA15, AJ15 (separates) all are wonderful pieces of equipment of an era gone.
I built my AR15, AR1500, and last the AA15. My AR1500a has needed cap replacement as has the AR15 & AA15. The AR1500's FM has been rock solid through out its life. My AR15 has a tendency to drift in the multiplex section a bit every so often, as does the AJ15.
A simple adjustment takes care of it however. For what its worth all of my Heath Equipment has been trouble free through out its life so far.
Why, give that man a cookie you are 100% correct mrh it is a Sony TC377 with the head cover off. This is my shop / radio station system.
My AR1500a that you see here has garage duties as I am driving two sets of (JBL?) Plastic 8' two ways one in the garage and one hung underneath the back soffet of the house for the back yard. My main listening system is also all Heath also comprised of two AA1800's (250 wpc amps) two AA1600's (125 wpc) an AP1800 preamp, AJ1600 Tuna, AD1702 Xover, AD1703 EQ, AD1706 Dynamic Processor, I am a Heath Gear slut!:yes.
Click to expand.The AR1500 in 'working condition' is a very nice warm sounding amplifier (much like a Marantz of the 70's) with enough power to run most 6-8 ohm (even inefficient ones) speakers. The issue with the AR1500 was that it had issues running true 4 ohm speakers such as Acoustic Research AR3a speakers. The low impedance could be too much and often resulted in overheating and failure. The AR1500A was redesigned (especially the amp output sections) to handle lower impedance and would run the AR3a's with ease.
They were visually the same had identical overall sound. If you have 8 ohm speakers the AR1500 works fine and an upgrade to the 'A' is unnecessary. These fellas are getting pretty old and failures can be expected with non refurbished units especially with the 6000uf main filter caps and some of the caps on the amp output boards.
Common failure included the FM board the phono board but as these are modular can be switched out for a good one very easily. After 30-40 years of use the power on switch could become non functional. Mark's link above leads to a story about a performance of a Nicholas Cage piece, played by an automated organ, that will take 639 years to complete. This sentence caught my eye - 'The Halberstadt performance, by an automated organ, progresses so slowly that visitors have to wait months for a chord change.' As a guy with officially diagnosed ADD who can't sit through most movies in a theater and is ready to head for the exit after two hours of a baseball game regardless of the score, this ultra s-l-o-w performance and waiting a month or more for the next note would be exquisite torture for me.