AR surround

I have AR9's, AR90's, AR915's and AR48's. I prefer the AR9's by a large margin. They are driven by 200 wpc Lexicon amps...I wouldn't consider anything less as these speakers seem to need to be played loud in order to flourish. Of course, when listening in surround sound I get to use the 9's, 90's and an 915 as well! Occasionally, I'll swivel the chair around and listen to just the AR90's. I haven't listened to the 48's in years.

David, When I click on the photo link, I see nothing.

As DavidR said, I had my my Mundorf E-Caps all matched. (Remember that I am using AR9's as fronts and AR90's as surrounds, so I wanted all of the caps matched.) Carlspeak once told me that we probably cannot hear differences in caps unless the values differ by 15% or more. But some of us, including me, are more anal about it and prefer closer tolerances. Now that indeed is interesting because using Solen MKP on the UMR 24uF spot produced incredibly horrid results on my AR90's; and almost as bad on the 9s. I'm very happy to hear that you are very pleased with the recap. I too would consider going to CSA Clarity, but the expense and time for redoing 5 speakers (2xAR9, 2xAR90, 1xAR915)...ugh! I have experienced that as well. The stereo sound field is quite enveloping. When sitting in the sweet spot, the AR9s can produce what seems to be surround sound fed the right material.

Yes, as many of you recall, those Solens ? beat me into submission!!

Nice project r_laski. I too will be curious as to what you think of your "new" AR9's after you've listened to them for a while. I particularly had problems using poly caps in the 24uF series spot on the UMR and eventually went with Mundorf ECaps bypassed with 0.01uF F&F caps.

I replaced the Unicon caps in Boston A70's with Dayton NPE's. (Note that there is only one cap in this 2-way Boston.) The result was not good compared to the Unicons...harsh mid/upper range. I had to add 1/2 ohm of resistance and a subsequently a Dayton F&F bypass cap to restore the tonal qualities of the speaker to my liking. I conjecture that the ESR of the stock Unicon capacitors is higher than that of the Daytons. Just communicating my experience in case you don't like the results with the Daytons.

I have never cared for the presentation of the AR9's when placed right up against the wall. Mine are both 5 ft away from the back wall, with the left speaker a foot from the left wall, the right speaker two feet from the right wall and both toed in. They sound great and I never have been disappointed with the bass in this configuration. My only complaint is that they seem to demand to be played loud to demonstrate their virtues.

AR really liked your Dad. What great gifts! Oh and the quad system with four AR3a's has me drooling.

Try adding 0.01uF or 0.10uF Film and Foil bypass capacitors across the Mundorf E-Caps. These are cheap...on the order of a buck apiece. The shipping will cost more than the caps, so I suggest you by a few of each to see which ones you like. These will get that last ounce of grit out of the midrange. https://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-dffc-001-001uf-400v-by-pass-capacitor--027-450 https://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-dffc-010-010uf-400v-by-pass-capacitor--027-452 Also, try adjusting the attenuation switches to -3dB on the tweeter and -6dB on the UMR. Keep the LMR switch at 0dB. Let us know how it goes.

Yes, they are dinky compared to those on the 12" woofers in the AR9. But they do seem to get the job done anyway.

Nice! Glad that you like the sound. What kind of sources have you been using? Any manipulation of the attenuation switches, or are you listening to them "flat"? And you know that I've been waiting since January 2017 for you to do this recap. LOL

Maybe we can have a CSP convention at @frankmarsi house to hear his double stacked LST's. People probably would not want to leave and it would be like Woodstock with traffic jams up and down the street. LOL (Just joking Frank.)

I agree with ar_pro. Do the work in situ. Look at all the "stuff" I was able to put into an AR915 (UK version of the AR91) without removing the board. (I had a bunch of surplus 24uF Solen poly caps, so I cobbled four of them together to make a replacement for the 100uF NPE. Totally unnecessary as opposed to installing a new 100uF NPE, but as some on this forum are aware, I had a serious vendetta against those Solen polys.)

I've always wondered about the need for these spikes. My AR9's stand on a carpet with thick foam base on a concrete floor. With my installation, I wonder how these spikes could possibly help because they aren't "coupled" to a wooden floor as they would if in the living room. Right? (That's one of the few advantages to having one's system banished to the basement.) Also, regarding the foam around the tweeter, I installed some aftermarket felt from vintage-ar: https://www.ebay.com/itm/ACOUSTIC-RESEARCH-SPEAKER-AR-9-AR90-AR91-AR92-AR11-AR-10PI-TWEETER-RINGS/192715894526?hash=item2cdec32efe:g:vnEAAOxyhodRzaLC:sc:USPSFirstClass!07869!US!-1 Did it make a difference? Perhaps, but if so it was subtle. I never tried installing anything around the UMR. As I noted in another post, I'm extremely happy with my AR9's right now and hesitant to fool with them any further.

I'm very happy with my AR9's since they've been recapped (Poly caps except the UMR which are Mundorf E-Caps + F&F bypass caps across all caps) and I went to fancy cables that were gifted to me. But the thing that made the greatest improvement was moving the speakers away from the walls and toeing them in a bit towards the sweet spot. That works for me in my room and listening location but it may not work for others. Since the "digital age" I have never liked the AR9 or 90 with the UMR controls set at 0 dB. I prefer -3dB on the 9s and -6dB on the 90s. Even with the UMR attenuated, I still use a bit of EQ when playing classical music through these speakers. Regarding the AR5's for classical music, I had a pair of them as well as AR3a's. My preference for classical music was always these classic AR speakers, but they are bit reticent for my taste when it comes to jazz/pop/rock. I've never heard the AR LST, and I speculate that it excels with all genres because of the multiple tweeters/midranges.