Stimpy

Thanks for that. I agree, "a great job", and I never knew who authored it.

Per the AR schematics, the upper drivers of the 9, are in phase with it's woofers. The 90s are opposite; the upper drivers are out of phase to their woofers. I wonder if this is due to the height differences between the 2 speakers? The taller AR9 presents the upper drivers in a bass peak, so those drivers are in phase to one another. The upper drivers, of the shorter 90s, fall into a bass null, so they require the out of phase wiring, to match and balance to one another?

Oh, beautiful cat...!!!

My 90s have the factory foam inserts around the tweeters and dome midranges. It's still very much intact. No signs of dissolving or crumbling. I've never had any issues in removing it. I always take it off, when working on the speakers. The black and wood veneer meet along a very sharp edge. No transition. Very well done. One tidbit, the sides of the cabinet are fully veneered, even around the woofers. AR painted the side areas black, directly onto the veneer. Front and back are unfinished plywood. When I refinished my cabinets, I removed the side paint. I couldn't stand to paint over the veneer. Too nice to cover up. With the sides grills on, the speakers still look stock. I can't help with the badges. Mine are just "AR" badges, and not "AR90" badges. That's direct from the factory, which is how I purchased my 90s. It's hard to find custom, premade foam, that would fit our drivers. Gasket foam can be found at Parts Express, Midwest Speakers, and Simply Speakers. Most now comes in a roll, and you hand apply it around the woofer cut-out.

The AR90s used a flat black front and rear finish. The sides and tops were true veneer. Mine were veneered in walnut. Unfortunately, the 90s were plywood under the black; no veneer. I'm not sure if other finishes were offered for the veneer? As to the dark brown ARs, I know the AR92s were brown, and I think the 91s were as well. If I ever refinish my 92s, I'll probably go with flat black, to match my 90s. Good luck with the restore. Plus, congratulations!

Awesome, glad they were miswired...! Also, the tweeter circuit is 3rd order, with 18db slopes. I believe everything else was 2nd order. Not that that clarifies much. I posted a few years back concerning the woofer phasing on the 90s, and why they differed from the 9s. No one knew why the 2 weren't matched? Still strikes me as strange. Maybe I should rewire my 90s and see (hear) what happens?

Yes, DSP test tones, from YPAO in my Yamaha RX-A3030 AVR. Once completed, bass much better. I've never traced the actual wiring, but I do plan to do so. I've been using AR-58S speakers, and new to me Martin Logan ElectroMotion ESL's, so my 90s haven't been used lately. A shame too, as they're fine speakers. Oh, the Red Dot is positive...!

Antique stores must be the place to hunt now. I found a pair of unmolested AR-5s for $75.

With Yamaha amps, changing the Impedance Selector switch from High to Low, limits current delivery into the low impedance load. This switch is a protection device for the amp, and does not improve performance, switching to the Low setting. Sound quality will suffer in the Low setting. Good judgement, careful use of the volume control, and the Impedance Selector set to High, is your best bet.

Hope this works. A very detailed wiring diagram of the AR90 crossover boards. Download from the linked thread. Thanks to DavidR for posting it.: AR90 Wiring Diagram pdf

I totally agree. New caps made a world of difference on my 90s. Also, to the OP, double-check the wiring. My woofers were wired wrong, from the factory. At least I think so? My AVR reported the speakers as being out of phase, and having it correct phase, restored my bass! As to amps, I use an Adcom GFA-5400. It works great on the speakers. Warm and spacious. The 5400 provides over 200wpc into the 90's impedance load. Plenty for me!

Well done...!

That's not too bad. That dent should pull out fairly cleanly. Also, from experience, if your 90s have any black/red Callins capacitors in your crossover, please replace those at least. Those Callins caps do not age well. Good luck!

We really need a "Like" button...! Well done...! But, does the train cause Doppler distortion, as it travels around the room, during a movie...?

At one time, I believe it was Simply Speakers, that had those tweeters and midranges on close-out sale. While no longer listed on their site, maybe a call, to find out if a few are still available, would be successful? Good luck.

I use an original generation Schiit Audio Saga tube preamp. Great features, with multiple inputs and outputs, switchable between tube, SS buffer, or passive outputs. Relay switched volume control too. Plus, I swapped the Wima coupling capacitors for Mundorf Evo Oils, bypassed with AudioCap Theta caps. Oh, it uses a single 6SN7 tube. Very musical, with a wide and deep soundstage. All through AR58S speakers. Saga+

Thanks David! I guess I thought Bennic made the Dayton caps, since they had similar appearances. Guess not. FPP XPP

Solen or Bennic...?

Thanks! I was definitely shocked and surprised by the find and purchase! Now, if a pair of AR-9's would pop up like that too, I'd be in heaven. Maybe I need to check back in at the antique store...?

Last year, a pair of AR-5's popped up on eBay. Nothing unusual, other than the fact the speakers were just a few blocks from me! I believe the asking price was $375. I watched them for a few weeks, then they disappeared. I figured they had sold outside of eBay. Well, a couple of months later I stopped at my local deli for supper. While waiting for the food, I walked across the street to the local antique store. Imagine my shock when I saw the eBay AR-5's sitting in the corner of the store. I asked the clerk about them, and he said he couldn't sell them on eBay. He'd received nothing but low ball offers. I asked how much, and he answered $75. I said sold. Afterwards, he thanked me for not haggling about the price!

This thread had discussions about eliminating the 2500uF cap. Personally, I wouldn't, but an owner can experiment...!

The tweeters were made my MB Quart, and were specific to the 810s and 910s. They're no longer available new. There's some discussion in this thread, covering the same issues. Maybe it'll help? 810/910 Tweeters Good luck.

Nice. I'd love to find a pair one day too...! Also, just curious. I believe you used Dayton poly caps on the upper board, except for the UMR. There, it looks like you used Mundorf E-Caps. Was that to keep the UMR dome in check? Not too bright or harsh? Plus, I like that you rotated inductors as well. That's supposed to cut down on cross talk distortion. Well done.

Oh, I forgot to add, Vintage-AR sells a pre-cut kit. A little pricey, but worth it if you want something easy to install? Vintage-AR