teknofossil

Its all a matter of taste. If you find the sound pof the AR90 to be more to your liking then consider the trade seriously. -T

In my use of AR speakers I have always prefered the mid and HF controls at max. Has anyone simply bypassed the controls of worn units rather than replace them? Thanks, T

Thank you for the advice! -T

Thank you. Good advice. -T

Anyone know where to get replacement AR badges? Both were pilfered off my grills.

Hello all, a I am restoring (finally) my set of hacked up Ar5 speakers. I have theHivi Q1R tweeters to replace the originals. As many of you know these were suggested as replacements for the AR3a. So, my question is for use as replacements in the AR5 are there any recommendations for altering the 4uF capacitor in the original crossover circuit or the inductor recommended for the use of the tweeter with the AR3a?

I am looking for scans of the manuals for the DIY products offered by ACE. As one of my retirement projects I am putting together a library of schematics and other information of audio gear from the past. This will go on line as a on line resource of my own offering or if the Classic Speaker Pages internet gate keepers see fit to create a additional library / archive I will upload there. I know there are a lot of such collections on line. But I have a few that are tough to find. I am also open to sending files if anyone needs anything. Majority of my collection are amplifier, preamp and processor related. Oh yes. I have schematics on the ACE Zero Distortion preamp, a non kit preamp (model 3000 maybe?) and the 4000 sub sonic filter. I had a copy of the model 5000 subwoofer crossover but it escapes me at the moment. THanks. Tom

I have a form that I made from a good mesh AR3a grill to make a replacement. I put protective film over a undamaged grill and poured Durhams "Rock Hard" over it with a PVC pipe connector as a outer wall. I let the Durhams cure for a couple weeks before attempting to form the grills. These parts shown in the photo are actually formed from rain gutter guard material from Home Depot. It is very similar in appearance. This material I have is actually a steel alloy. Authentic AR parts were aluminum. If you (or anyone else) need a replacement drop me an message. All I need is the material and return postage. Tom Howe

I understand. Reveneering IMOP is the way to go. You will a very nice system when you are done. I suggest that you consider having the drivers carefully removed and stored away until the work is done and then the drivers reinstalled once the reveneering and finishing is complete. Best of luck! Tom

It isn't a difficult job really. Anyway, what is the shop going to do to them? It has been my experience water stains like that penetrate deep into the veneer. What are they actually going to do to the the staining? Sanding? Dark staining as camoflage? Just as a FYI material cost for veneer and finishing materials would run less than 100 USD. I'd estimate about 1 hour or less to apply the veneer unless the edges of the top require veneering as well. Where are you located? -Tom

That water damage most likely has soaked through most of the veneer. Is the veneer blistered is these areas? If not in my opinion you might want to consider buying some flexible veneer from Parts Express, Woodcrafters or Constantines (in FL). This product is available with a heat activated adhesive or the type that you use contact adhesive. If you look in the Bose section of Classic Speaker Pages you can see how the early Bose 901's that I brought back to life came out.

Sorry for the late reply. I'm onto other projects! Building another 901 will have to wait. If anyone wants to build another cabinet I have some 901 series 1 drivers I will donate along with the clone cabinet. Some of the old series 1 drivers have stiff surrounds that will need teasing.

Hello. Does anyone possibly have a schematic for this module that AR sold intended to upgrade the performance of the AR1 and 1w to a AR3 levell? I'm sure my responses will say it is the same as the AR3. Does the module duplicate the whole crossover or just the the high pass filter to the midrange driver? Thank you! Tom

These were original grills. Stained, rather badly. I assumed they were done. Then I read something on one of the car forums which led me to a test of fabric/ carpet cleaning products, the motivation was for old car restoration. One thing I did was I secured each panel to a piece of clean plywood. Otherwise the old Masonite will absorb the moisture on the cleaner and warp, plus the fabric wants to shrink a bit too.

I managed to clean the staining from the original grill cloth using Blue Coral "Dri-Clean Plus". It took 3 applications but the result is satisfactory. -Tom

After the stain and Minwax rub on finish have been applied.

Hello all. Sorry for the delay updating this project. Time is limited when you are juggling a job and caring for a ill loved one. Well as it turns out last year I saw another series 1 cabinet on Ebay in what looked like bad shape. So, I bought it. Yes, it was in poor shape. A few hits with a rubber mallet and the damaged top popped off, much to my surprise. I made a new top panel from MDF then veneered before installation. After cleaning up the glue from the butt joints and gussets I bonded the new top panel in place in place. So I now the cabinet I built is an orphan.

Hope everyone is enjoying a nice weekend. I noticed over the last few weeks the Forums have been down. Anyone know what is going on? -T

Hello all, to all you people that do your own surround replacements I was wondering if anyone knows what happened to MSound and/or John McPeak the company's owner? His kits were great, he delivered them promptly and in my experience always the correct foam surrounds for the make and model were delivered. I know John changed his email at least twice and stopped selling through Ebay some years back. Thanks, Tom H.

Hello. There were 2 versions of the original Allison 3 crossover. Later model had separate input terminals for the woofers and midrange /tweeter section. Separated this allowed the Allison 3 to be bi-amplified . Jumpers were in place for single amplifier use. Allison 3 systems produced after the company rose like a Phoenix may have used a different crossover since the drivers were likely somewhat different than those made decades earlier in Natick and Roy Allison, who designed these systems may have different ideas on crossover design. I have not seen a schematic for this newer design.

Ok, with your supplied info the differences between these two mids is basically the damping applied via ferrofluid. Other than the diffuser grill assembly, any idea as to the differences between the mid units used in the AR10 /11 series the AR91 and the AR92? Damping?

Hello all, This tuner listing popped up on my Facebook audio related feed. I guess FB ferrets this info out via your activity and suddenly these items for sale show up. Since its an AR tuner I thought I'd pass it along. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/496342270953782/ There are other Acoustic Research speakers here that might interest some of you AR-oh-files: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/112781448736001/search/?query=Acoustic Research&vertical=C2C&sort=BEST_MATCH I have no connection to any of these listings. I am addicted to buying old audio crap. (which is better than my brothers collecting habits: Sunbeam Alpine and Tiger sports cars, Lancia's and lots of tools that he almost never uses) Good hunting! -T

I was wondering how the 8" Dayton full ranges would be. https://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-ps220-8-8-point-source-full-range-neo-driver--295-346?gclid=Cj0KCQiA2ITuBRDkARIsAMK9Q7Mt6U3spv6JCqCR-geVkYvIN-g38UhGG2P2wKmDWAqCcQZSrHcp3DwaAi5QEALw_wcB It would need level reduction and a proper crossover to properly mate with the AR woofer. Also, I see that Steve at Decware created some sort of a transformer based correction device mated with the previously mentioned Dayton that according to his posted details correct the response of the driver dramatically. https://www.decware.com/newsite/FRX.html I think not...... -Tom

Interesting, those AR-1 systems. My question is "why"? Why are AR-1 systems worth so much? Is it the novelty of the fact they are the first of the "new" generation of speakers? Certainly by today's standards they are inadequate in the upper ranges. If I was inclined to spend 3 to 4 thousand dollars on a vintage AR system it would be the LST or a truck load of AR3a systems which are a better system by all standards above 575 hz. Below that there isn't any real difference, sound wise. Just as a benchmark here my uncle passed away in 2015. He had a huge collection of audio and electronics related items that went through an estate auction. Someone on these pages bought a single AR-1 at a radio swap meet for I believe was around 50 bucks. His story was the seller at the swap meet said it had come from my uncles (Ben H Tongue of Blonder Tongue Labs) estate. Also, somewhere in his home was the Jantzen 4 element ESL tweeter array. He told me decades ago the AR1/Jantzen array was THE system to own and was considered the ultimate system of the time. I think I saw the tweeter array in one of the photos. Someone missed out!