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AR 3a pick up


xmas111

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Absolutely beautiful job on that xo! I'm impressed! And I like the laminated schematic right there in the box.

The cabinet looks great. FWIW I had a similar experience with the front frame on a speaker being much lighter--think it was on a pair of KLH Model Fives. The nice bullnose frame was as light as pine after stripping. I thought maybe they used some other wood--maybe poplar--and stained it to match. No big deal. Real wood has lots of variations and that adds to its beauty.

Happy New Year!

Kent

sheesh! I just noticed you mitered the joints of the masonite box. Maybe you have "CDO" (that's like OCD but in alphabetical order--the way it SHOULD be) :lol: :lol: :lol:

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sheesh! I just noticed you mitered the joints of the masonite box. Maybe you have "CDO" (that's like OCD but in alphabetical order--the way it SHOULD be) :lol: :lol: :lol:

Yea, I always get carried away on these projects...... :wacko:

Thanks guys. It's been a fun project so far.

One speaker is all back together and sounds wonderful.

Using one of my Heathkit AR-15's I rebuilt last year to drive it. Plenty of power.

Now I've got to start on the other speaker. Probably take a week or so to finish it,

Can't wait to have both of them singing together!

I'll post pics went there both done.

Here's a couple pics of the finished speaker. Put all the drivers back in and painted the rims and screws with flat black paint so nothing shows through the grill.

A new grill (from Larry the vinage-AR guy on the bay) with new badge put in place.

The unrestored speaker and the restored one side by side.

John

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Ok, the second AR 3a is complete.

This one was in much tougher shape. The corners were really banged up and there were a lot of deeper scratches.

Overall I'm quite happy with the results considering these things are over 40 years old.

And for the bigger question......how do they sound? Fabulous to say the least!

They have a much different sound than the LST-2's but it's a very natural sound and I love it. I can't compare them to my AR9s' because AR9's are in a league of their own!

Like I mentioned in my first post I always wanted a pair of these babies....now that I have them, there not going anywhere anytime soon.

I want to thank all you guys for your help with retoring these. It was a project that was well worth it!

A couple pics of the two of them all finished.

Now on to a couple of AR XA's that need some TLC.

John

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi guys,

Earlier in my post I mentioned replacing the knruled nuts and screws with banana jacks and you guys recommended not to do it. Instead make some pig tails.So I put the screws and knruled nuts back in while rebuilding the speakers.

My biggest gripe with these things is they never seem to stay good and tight.

So I diecded to make some adapters so I could use banana plugs.

I couldn't find any 8-32 coupling nuts locally and I didn't want to pay several dollars to buy a couple.

I found these "Threaded Posts" at Lowes for 80¢ each. All I had to do was drill deeper into the post then tap the 8-32 thread deeper.

Then cut it to lenght with my dremel...about 5/8".

Had some old banana jacks laying around that had a 8-32 threaded post. Cut it off with about a 1/4" left.

Screwed the adapter onto the banana jack then removed the knruled nuts from the speaker and screwed on the jack....works like a charm and no more worring about the connection coming lose.

Anyway, just wanted to share that with you guys in case any of you were thinking of a way to use banana plugs.

Few pics to show the steps involed. Took about an total of an hour to do all four.

John

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Well guys my journey with the AR 3a's have come to an end......sorta

After reading a few post about making AR stands I decided to give it a stab. Woodworking cerainly isn't one of my strong points but what the hell, nothing ventured nothing gained.

Went up to Home Depot and bought some Red Oak and a dowel kit.

Came home and looked up the measurements for the original AR stands then realized the stands aren't square but a rectangle. Makes sense since the speakers are a rectangle.

Now came the problem...the slot cut in each horizontal piece had to be at a angle, not 90º. Sat for and hour trying to figure out what the angle had to be. Then went downstairs and cut a million practice pieces till it looked right. Turns out ~ 80º works out pretty good.

After cutting, sanding, assembling, resanding then staining with Walnut stain I think they came ok.

The speakers feel pretty secure on them. No fear of them tipping,( no kids here).

I have them set up in the kitchen beside my LST-2's for now. I'll have to decide what ones I want to keep there.

so the journey has come to an end...sorta.....now I can sit back, relax and enjoy them. Damn they sound good!

Few pic of the stands and everything else.

Want to thank all you guys for your help restoring these babies. It was worth every moment of it!

John

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Woodworking cerainly isn't one of my strong points

The results argue otherwise! Nice job. I've seen a couple of DIY attempts at the stands and your post is the first to mention the 80 degree angle. Gotta file that away.

Just for grins I looked on eBay for AR speaker stands and there's a pair. They look just like yours. Selling price back in the day was $7.50 each. The price today? $300!!! :blink:

You not only have the satisfaction of being able to say "I built those", you can also be proud of the big bucks you saved!

Backs of the speakers look great. I might be a bit concerned about any leverage applied to those extensions. As others have written, crimp-on spade or ring lugs make hookup a snap, but there IS something to be said for bananas. I just cobbled together some jumpers with female banana jacks and ring terminals.

Anyway.... beautiful work on the whole project!

Kent

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Ok guys, you convinced me to go with the pigtail idea.

Found some nice inline banana jacks. Used some ring connectors on the other end.

I'm liking this way better now that I have them hooked up.

I won't post anymore on this thread...I'll let it dead it's natural death..... :o

Again thanks for all your help guys with my restoration project! I'm loving these speakers more and more as I listen to them.

John

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  • 6 months later...

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