AR surround

My original AR-9's from 1978 also do not have the foam inserts, but my AR-90's do have them.

Wonderful restoration, Chris. Enjoy them! One question: What is your technique for popping out those detentions in the midrange domes?

Yes, one has to wonder if there was a very bad run of those 6 uF Callins caps...a manufacturing "excursion" as it is often called. The ones I took out of my AR9's measured 26.8 uF and 28.0 uF.

Doug, Here is my agony and ecstasy of reworking my AR90's from 2017. It particularly focuses on the difficulties I had with getting the UMR to sound to my liking. Hope you find it helpful along with the many other threads about working on the 9 series.

Chris, I second Stimpy's sentiments about the new NPE's not sounding as good as the original Unicon NPE's. I replaced the Unicons in a pair of Boston Acoustics A70's with new NPE's. The result was absolutely awful. I mitigated the issue by adding resistance and F&F bypass caps; but I should have just let the Unicons be.

Yeah, the tech part of my brain told me that a restoration was doable. The financial part of my brain said that the cost might justify the results. But my back said...no way! LOL

Carl, may he rest in peace, told me that capacitors needed to be +/-15 order to produce a noticeable difference audio wise. I've used that figure as a benchmark, but it's moot because I replace all the caps when recapping speakers since I'm in there anyway.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention . One has to wonder how those domes get pushed in. It must be the handiwork of young fingers. The water damage doesn't look too bad...It doesn't seem like it was in a flood, but closer inspection is probably necessary. This guy isn't far from me, but with AR9's, AR90's, and AR91s in the house, I don't have the space.

I thought that the UMR on the AR-90 was the same as that on the AR-9, but the one in the AR-91 and AR-92 is somewhat different even though it looks it the same. Is it that one can use the UMR from the AR-91 and AR92 in the AR-9/AR-90, but not the other way around?

It's interesting that you got a huge variance from spec with those 6uf caps. I also got similar measurements with the 6uf caps taken out of my AR9's back in 2017. (See chart.) I'm suspecting that those particular caps had a serial defect. Are you satisfied with the performance of the UMR given that you used an Erse poly film cap in the 24uf spot? I initially tried a Solens poly film cap, and then later added a F&F bypass cap, both which yielded horrid results. Then I went to a Jantzen poly with F&F bypass which was slightly better. Finally I gave up on using a poly cap in th

Glad you got this! Even the classic AR's benefit from big amps. It was readily noticeable when I upgraded from 40 wpc to 200 wpc to drive my old AR5's. No doubt the 3a's are even more impressive.

This is a good idea Lance. But I think if I were going to go this route, I'd first try it on an inconspicuous area such as the bottom of the grill. Then I'd check to see how the isopropyl alcohol does at removing the indelible ink. If 70% isopropyl doesn't work, then 91% or even 99% denatured alcohol should certainly do the trick. But I would make sure that these higher concentrations do not damage the chrome finish. I know what you mean, David...You'd never remove the chrome from a vintage MG.

Beware as he's obviously lurking...like many of us. Geez Frank, you're old! I won't have my Golden Jubilee until June 2022. And yes, they were my beloved AR5's which fortunately remain in the family.

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.