briodo

I'm sorry to go elementary on you but have seen some posts on reworking these speakers. Have you done a wiring polarity check all the way from amp to drivers on both speakers? That will definitely make a difference. There is a free polarity checker app for iphones I have used to verify polarity as well. Plays a recorded MP3 tone and allows visible depiction of + or - phasing on each driver. I think it's called Speaker Pop. I have multiple amps running speakers in different rooms and use that app to get polarity correct across the suite of speakers. My wife loves that (just kidding)

Welcome to the forum. While the AR discussion site has a wealth of information, most of the technical documents for the AR family is in the library found here: http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/library/acoustic_research/ The AR303 schematics are there under the 303 series found here http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/library/acoustic_research/ar_303_series/ar_303_series_schematicsser/ar_303a_schematic.pdf Good luck with your project!

You mention refoaming, but nothing on capacitor replacement. This issue is what my AR9's had before I replaced the capacitors. Essentially night and day in sound performance. Amp is not enough to blow the windows out, but should give you reasonable sound at low volumes. i would check the caps have been replaced and wiring is correct before changing amp.

My experience to a T. The bass was still great but the mids and highs were muddy and ill defined. I almost sold my AR9 speakers until I found this website. It took me a long time to rework them as I had to learn how to refoam drivers, find the right capacitors, then sand and reoil the exterior cabinets. it is worth while. I still get a grin every time I fire them up, every single time...

Great find, very impressive speakers when restored. A key point from AR_Pro is the speakers should not be used until they are restored to avoid further damage. The foam surrounds on the woofer hold the speaker coil in careful alignment to the magnet surrounding it. Without foam the coil will scrape against the metal causing damage which is difficult to repair. Think of a piston which is cushioned by air within a cylinder where the surfaces should be close, but never touch. No foam means the surfaces can touch. A little use, maybe no issue. A lot of use without foams leads to scraping of the voice coil, leading to more extensive repairs... Take your time, ask lots of questions, and you too can become one the forum members with great pictures and stories shared about your restoration.

I'm not sure why, but that many AR drivers and wood cabinets gets me a little excited... They look spectacular, and while I can't read the review, it appears they may have sounded as good as they look. Would be fun to audition the set.

Your work looks spectacular, and the crossover is so familiar to those dealing with the LSi family after AR went to the printed circuit board design. Good news: so much cleaner design. Bad news: pain in the butte to recap when required! With the right amplifier, those speakers are amazing!! Listen to Eagles Hell Freezes Over version of Hotel California and tell me these speakers can't fill the room!

Great article and amazing slice in time for a host of equipment vendor names, many no longer with us. I had forgotten those were the days when a magazine could actually contain 200 pages! Impressive amount of analysis and statistics, which is more difficult to find today unless going into the more expensive realm of vendors. The AR98LS is an impressive speaker to boot... They did an incredible design to deliver a four way in a very small package. Looks great except for the cheezy plastic front. What happened there?

These are one of my favorite speakers. While hearing is so subjective, my ears know what they like. AR10π have the uncanny ability to disappear into the music in the same way AR9's do. I found a pair many years ago that I gifted to my eldest daughter who appreciates music the way I do. They never fail to impress me on how beautiful they sound every time I visit. Beautiful work restoring them to their original beauty

Really the important question is the foam grill intact? 🙂

Great pictures, I have never seen an AR woofer that was shiny. It appears to be original based on tag, is the shiny surface an added coating?

During a search for more info on them I found this observation from Andrew over at Audikarma: https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/acoustic-research-ar-8-what-are-these.388524/ The AR-8 was AR's entry into the rock speaker market and was voiced to emulate the west coast sound made famous by JBL. Longtime AR customers considered this model to be boomy and unrefined, and JBL owners liked JBL's version of the west coast sound better. In the end, no one was really happy and the AR-8 was not a big success, it lasted only a short period of time. If you are looking for a comparison, the AR-8 sounds most like a JBL L26. That said, the AR-8 is a fun speaker to listen to, and some folks really like them. Andrew I found it interesting that AR would voice a speaker to match a specific type of sound VS accurately reproducing the original signal, which was one of the reasons I bought mine back in 1980.

I hit my vintage gear quota for 2021 but this appears to be a heck of a deal. Quantity 4 AR-8's, in Denver area. https://denver.craigslist.org/ele/d/littleton-acoustic-research-ar8/7374964296.html I have some AR-7's, these appear to be very similar with 10" driver VS the 8 on the AR-7?

sorry to ask, but are the old ones defective or missing? The foam surrounds can be replaced, unless the coil is open or driver is missing... There was another thread from awhile back where someone found a pioneer driver with same dimension and sound.

Yep, what @lARrybodysays. I was wondering when the XLS line would come up in this thread. I have two XLS 2002, one each for my AR9 and AR9LSi. There are some who believe sound reinforcement amps are subpar, but they sound pretty darn good to me.

Really nice restoration on the cabinets. It's wonderful to see how something so beat up, water damaged, and degraded can be brought back to such lovely condition. Kudos to you on the restore.

Great to hear and congratulations on the find. You got yourself one heck of a deal! Just a suggestion based on personal experience, and you will see across the forum, the crossover capacitors in most AR's eventually degrade. Since you know how to remove the 12" subs, it is certainly worth your while to check to see if someone upgraded them in the last decade or so. If they are original, chances are good they need to be replaced. And it's well worth it. Enjoy...

Those are absolutely stunning. Not sure where along the production process AR went to using a poly coat on these speakers, but I can share my experience with the ones I own. Mine are a later model pair of AR9LSi which required complete strip of the poly coat due to it beginning to lift on the Walnut wood underneath. After stripping the polycoat, I used a simple oil stain rather than redoing with a poly coat. I love the way they look. Mine used a circuit board crossover, which was a first for me with any AR. Made it rather interesting to rework the caps. Like @harry398 says "If done right, they will be incredible speakers. And I mean Incredible". Amen on that one Also wanted to let @frankmarsiknow I have a home for wayward LST's if he decides to "upgrade" to the AR9LSi 🙂 Some pictures of my LSi project here: AR9LSi Info Needed

Agree with Stimpy, the cap degradation impacts the sound in ways it is hard to describe. 15 years ago I was ready to sell my AR9's due to poor sound quality. Then I found this forum. They are back to my favorites. While adding a tweeter can help with a specific frequency band, there is a lot of excitement in the bands covered by the upper and lower midranges, which is where things can become what I would call muddy. The cap replacement ensures they are back to original spec.

I have a pair of them I have never had to open up, an earlier owner did the refoam. They sound simply amazing for such a small speaker. The connector swap is a great idea.

I'm in agreement after several weeks of listening. I simply can't tell the difference between the two.

I've had to do this on a pair of Acoustic Research AR2AX and ADS L570/2 tweeters. The AR's had black caulk on the tweeters, the LS570/2 just used a sticky, foam like seal. I placed a small piece of wood under the back of the tweeter and then placed the scissor jack from my wife's car, into the speaker cabinet under the wood. Slowly and gently turning the screw brought the jack up to the wood and broke the seal between the cabinet and tweeter. Once a corner started to move, I was able to remove the tweeter with my hands. Take it slow and make sure you are not pressing on the cabinet for obvious reasons. The jack did not align under the tweeter when I started, since a scissor jack tends to be longer as stored, but slid under the wood as the head of the jack went up. A small bottle jack would work as well and might fit into a tight corner where tweeters are sometimes placed. I have to credit my wife for figuring this one out.

On AR91 vs AR 58s, it is a valid question and needs more listening to provide an answer. In the case of the AR58s in question, it may no longer be a valid comparison. The crossovers are from an AR91 with -3/-6db attenuation on tweeters/mids, along with a brace I added since AR91's come with more bracing. My observation is they may be more AR91 than Ar58s at this point. I adjusted the mid and tweeter to -3db which can't be done on a AR58s. The default AR91/AR58s attenuation setting is overbearing to me from a sound experience. I do have a Soundcraftsmen equalizer, but will admit the switches on the back of a speaker make it fairly easy to get close to what sounds right. More listening must be done and I hope to provide feedback on an A/B experience in the future. The question becomes, are the switches taken out of the equation?

Thanks for that tip Frank. This is the first time I've had two AR's that are as close to identical as AR58S with AR91 xover and the AR91's. Honestly I admire someone like yourself who took years putting their system together and finally finding Nirvana. It's clear you have built a truly unique system that we all secretly yearn for!! Will try out the stacking using a Crown XLS2002 running the 2 pair in series which should produce 375 w/c at 8 ohms. Not quite the same as the famed Phase Linear, but will be fun to try out.

Agree it would be the correct way to address the top. I've decided to use them until I get ambitious enough for that project!