AR's line of acoustic suspension speakers were the first loudspeakers with relatively flat response, extended bass, wide dispersion, small size, and reasonable cost.

Edgar Villchur's technical innovation was based on objective testing and research, most of which was made publicly available as documents, specifications, and measurements—all of which were then new in the loudspeaker industry.

The small size of the high-performance AR-1 permitted by the acoustic suspension design helped usher in the age of stereophonic sound reproduction.

This model used the AR-1's acoustic-suspension woofer in conjunction with the first commercially available hemispherical ("dome") mid-frequency midrange unit (squawker) and high-frequency tweeter.

For nearly ten years after its introduction, the AR-3 was widely regarded as the most accurate loudspeaker available at any cost,[citation needed] and was used in many professional installations, recording studios, and concert halls.

[4] The company also established music demonstration rooms on the mezzanine of Grand Central Terminal in New York City and on a street corner of Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where the public could stop by and listen to its products, but no sales were made there.

AR continued to introduce new designs, and by 1966 the company had grown to hold 32.2% of the US domestic loudspeaker market, based on the IHFM and High Fidelity surveys statistics for that year.

On September 13, 1993, an AR-3 was placed on permanent display in the Information Age exhibit of National Museum of American History at The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.

A 24-pole hysteresis-synchronous, permanent magnet Hurst AC motor propelled the platter via a precision ground rubber belt to produce very low wow and flutter, exceeding the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) standards for turntable measurements.

Although Acoustic Research continued product development, by 1989, AR had dropped to fifth place worldwide, and Teledyne sold the company to their major competitor, Jensen Electronics.

[citation needed] In 2003, Audiovox (now Voxx International) acquired Recoton's US audio operations and continues developing and selling AR-brand speakers.