AR55

I pick-up a pair of ADD series AR-17’s from eBay a couple of months ago. The cabinets were in fair shape, but the foam grilles were gone and the original woofers also were gone - replaced with MTX woofers. Restoration Crossover: Replaced capacitors with new Dayton Audio capacitors. Woofers: Replaced the MTX woofers with AR 200045 woofers that I had on hand. Visually they are nearly identical to the original 200001 woofers. Additionally, the measured resistance of both the 200045 woofers and my AR-15’s 200001 woofers is 4.7 ohms +/- 0.1 ohm, so there is a fair chance that they also have very similar voice coils. Cabinet: The cabinets had no deep gouges or large chips, but the finish was dry with some water stains. Also, there were a few small chips in the wood veneer which exposed a little of the underlying particle board along the front edge and rear corners. I touched the chipped areas up with a MINWAX dark walnut stain marker. I then treated the cabinets with WATCO rejuvenating oil lightly wet sanding scratched/blemished areas. Grilles: I had foamspeakergrilles.com make grilles to complement the AR foam grilles of my other ADD series AR speakers - 11’s, 14’s and 15’s. The finished grilles are not a perfect match (the foam is more porous & the black is a little too glossy), however, they fit nicely with a good beveled edge and the recesses on the inside face for the drivers are spot on. I compared the sound of the refurbished 17’s to a pair of AR-28b’s, which are essentially updated 17’s in cheaper cabinets. The only thing 28b's lack is the 17’s 2-position High Level switch and the accompanying resistor in the crossover. With the 17’s High Level switch set to 0dB, it was difficult to tell the difference between the 2 models. Photos Below - 2 before, 1 during restoration and 3 after restoration:

I have just finished restoring a pair of AR-17's that had MTX woofers installed. I replaced them with AR 200045, 8" woofers. These were originally found in the LMR of the 9Ls & 98Ls. Their measured resistance of 4.8 ohms is the same as I measured for the 200001 woofers in my AR-15's. The finished speakers sound good. You may be able to find a 200001 woofer by also using the speaker model number in your search. The 200001 was used in the AR-7, 15, 16, 17, 18, 25 and 94 (not 94s). The 200037/210037 is also a good option and was used in the AR-18b, 18s, 28s, AV-18. I've seen these show up often on eBay. The 200050/210050 is another option and was used in the AR-28b, 25bxi, 38b & 38bxi. Hopefully this helps.

Gluing & stapling is probably not a bad idea. In my case I also reattached (glued) the red plastic trim ring the was originally stapled to the grill frame.

You may have already decided how to make your frame and attach your grill cloth. If you haven't, I would suggest making your frames out of dense hardwood and gluing the stretch cloth. I glued stretch grill cloth when I restored my AR-98Ls' and was very pleased with the results. See attachments. I used Amazing Goop Craft glue and paper clamps. I glued the sides first and then the top, bottom & corners.

DavidR is right. There is little chance of Audiovox ever truly resurrecting the AR brand. They now own Klipsch and I can't see them ever investing in a second full line of speakers.

With the exception of an AR-2ax and an AR-2 (AR used putty to seal the drivers), all of my other AR speakers are ADD series or later, and AR used foam to seal their drivers. I feel that the foam tape from Parts Express does just as good of job sealing the drivers as the original AR foam. As others have mentioned, it is a real pain to remove the tweeter from an AR-2ax the first time. How I managed not to break the plastic flange is beyond me. When I reinstalled the drivers in the AR-2ax, I made sure that I removed all of the putty residue, lightly sanded particle board bearing surface smooth and resealed the drivers with the Parts Express foam tape. I was pleased with the results.

The culprit may simply be a dirty switch. Try cleaning the switch with DeoxIT, and see that clears it up. My daughter's vintage Pioneer integrated amp was occasionally producing a crackling sound, and it turned out it was a dirty toggle switch. Sorry, I missed that Aadams already gave this advice,

In addition to reversing the tweeter polarity and adding 1.5 ohm & 2.5 ohm resisters, I believe that the 98Lsi crossover also deleted a 5uF capacitor that the 98Ls crossover had between the tweeter and the 3uF capacitor & 0.080mH coil. Attached are copies of the 98Ls crossover schematic, the 98Lsi crossover schematic and a markup of the conversion of the 98Ls crossover to a 98Lsi crossover (note that the yellow & blue wires were reversed between the 98Ls & 98Lsi):

They may very well be stapled. I have my wife's uncle's AR2 and the grill on that speaker was glued in place like the 2ax he also left with us. My nephew happens to have my dad's AR2's. I just checked with him, and he tells me that his grills are held in place with small staples. It looks like your best bet is to check for staples first.

They are probably glued. Paragraph 2.3 Removing the Grill in the "Restoring the AR-3a" writeup describes a couple of options for removing the grills. I used the drywall screw option and was able to pop the grills off without damaging them. See link below or get to it from Featured Items on the Classic Speaker Pages homepage. www.classicspeakerpages.net/library/acoustic_research/original_models_1954-1974/original_models_schematicss/restoring_the_ar-3a/restoring_the_ar-3a_full_pd.pdf

The 200040, 10" woofer used in the 38s, 48s, 48b, 30, 48bx & 48bxi has a voice coil DC resistance rating of 6.5 ohms +/- 10%. The 200004, 10" woofer used in the 2ax (later version), 8 (ADD version),12 & 14 has the same 6.5 ohm resistance, so I think that this would be a better match for the 200040 then the 200033. In addition to checking eBay & other sources for the woofers by the 200040 and 200004 driver numbers, I would suggest that you also search by the speaker model number. Many times when speakers are parted out, the listing will only state the speaker model number and not include the driver number.

The 9Lsi's retailed for $1,950 a pair in 1986, which is less than $7500 in today's money. I have never auditioned a pair of speakers that retail for less than $10k that I felt were better than my 9Lsi's. The Martin Logan Renaissance ESL 15A and the Revel Ultima Salon 2 retail for $20k to $25K. When I listened to them, I felt that they both had a comparable bass response to my 9Lsi's and more detailed, particularly in the midrange. Did I compare them side-by-side with my 9Lsi's? No, I didn't. If I had, I may not have reached the same conclusion.

I attended a guest lecture given by Paul Klipsch back when I was in college. He was in his seventies by then. He started out his lecture with an impressive discussion of the engineering principles of the folded horn in the Klipschhorn. Then after a brief discussion of the design of Klipsch’s other speakers, his lecture took a bizarre turn. He went into a near tirade bashing acoustic suspension, Edgar Villchur, AR and Advent. He came across as a bitter old man that was envious of AR’s and Advent’s success. His and others inference that Edgar Villchur was unqualified because he did not have an engineering degree is ludicrous. Many significant inventions have been created by individuals who lacked a college degree in their chosen field. Let’s not forget that a couple brothers with no formal engineering training went from manufacturing bicycles to inventing the airplane. Villchur, like the Wright Brothers, was not only extremely creative, but he was obsessed with solving something that alluded others. He researched their work, attended pertinent engineering lectures and experimented religiously until he perfected his inventions. Now, are there speakers that have surpassed my AR-11’s? My AR-98Lsi’s? My AR-9Lsi’s? Of course there are. I have auditioned a few of them, but I can guarantee that the Harbeth Monitor 30.2 and many of the other extremely overpriced speakers praised by Stereophile are not in that group.

I own the 9Lsi, but I never had the opportunity to listen to the 9LS. I can say with some certainty, though, that the 9LSi is the better speaker. This is based on comparative listening of the 98LS and 98LSi, which has the same crossover upgrade as the 9LSi. You can hear a slight harshness/brightness in the upper midrange of the 98LS that is not present in the 98LSi or the 9LSi. Now the bigger question. Is the 9LSi a better speaker than the 9? Hard to say. I’ve never directly compared the two. I listened to the 9 in a dealer’s showroom years ago and felt at that time it was the best speaker on the market. Of course I wanted it, but I was a college kid and naturally I couldn’t afford it. Years later I luckily acquired a pair of 9LSi’s from a guy’s uncle that was downsizing. To me its sound is on par with my memories of the 9 and is more forgiving in its placement. I have never felt that my 9LSi’s needed tweeter or midrange controls. My listening room seems to be well suited for the speakers. That said, even though my hearing still reaches 12,000 hertz it’s down more than a few db at the high end, so last year I did what some would deem sacrilege. I boosted the treble control on my preamp 4db. It sounds right to me, but my 32 year old daughter, who owns my original 98LS’, thinks that they are way too bright now. I probably would when I was 32 also.

Pascal, If you can't find an original pair, you may want to consider having a small steel fabricator make a set for you. Below are a couple of pdf's of sketches that I prepared for the fabricator based on the original frames. In the picture below the stand in the middle is original and the ones on the right and left are custom made. I paid the fab shop $125 US to make the pair about 5 years ago, which isn't too bad considering I paid $40/pair for the originals back in 1979. AR-11 Stands Dimensions.pdf AR-11 Stands Isometric.pdf

I not sure opening up the dual dome assembly is a good idea. The lead wires from the tweeter are not just soldered to the tabs that are screwed into the face plate. They are also glued in place. Removing the cover plate could easily break the leads.

I have never found an answer to that question. I replaced the foam in my 9Lsi's base chamber about 10 years ago. The porosity of the foam that I used is definitely not fine - probably close to 30 PPI. I feel that my speakers' base response is deep and clean, so I think that I guessed correctly. If you are interested, Vintage-AR (eBay) sells a foam chamber precut kit for a rather pricey $100. I don't know, however, if their foam is any closer to the original AR spec then what I used.

The 8" lower midrange (200045/210045) for the AR-9Ls, 9Lsi, 98Ls & 98Lsi may also be worth considering as a substitution for the 200001. The spec for the 200001 calls for a measured DC resistance of 5.0 ohms +/- 10%. I measured the resistance of spares I have of both 200045 and the 210045 and they all fell between 4.6 ohms and 4.8 ohms, which falls within the 200001 spec.

Something else to keep in mind when storing drivers is moisture. Excess moisture can be a big contributor to the deterioration of spiders, cones, surrounds, etc. I live in North Florida where during much of the year the outside humidity is over 80%. Even though I store my spare drivers in a conditioned room and have the HVAC system set to keep the inside humidity below 60%, I still place a small silica gel pack in the box.

The AR-25 and the AR-28b are essentially the same speaker. They have the same drivers and each comes with just a single capacitor in the crossover (6uf vs 5uf). The AR-25 has a slightly greater internal volume, but that is about it. So I would expect that they sound about the very much the same. As I stated earlier, I have compared the AR-28b to the AR-15. I found the AR-15 to be a much more accurate speaker then the AR-28b, so I would expect the same results when comparing the AR-25 to the AR-15.

The Speaker Exchange option looks like its a replacement for the 8" midrange in the 4 ohm, AR-9Lsi & 98Lsi, and probably would not be a good option for the 15. The Simply Speakers option may be OK. The specs are similar to those of 200001, but it has a poly-cone and probably has a stiffer suspension. I would still recommend trying to see if you can find authentic AR woofers. The same 200001 woofer that was used in the AR-15, was also used in the AR-7, 16, 17, 18 and 94 (not 94s). The 200037/210037 was used in the AR-18b, 18s, 28s, AV-18. I've seen these show up often on eBay. The 200050/210050 was used in the AR-28b, 25bxi, 38b & 38bxi.

First of all, I would not recommend modifying the AR-15 crossover. I have both the AR-15 and AR-28b, which are both 2-way speakers with 8" woofers. The 28b has a very simple, one capacitor, crossover, while the AR-15's is quite complex. I have compared the two side-by-side and the 28b's sound does not come close to the sound of the 15's. I know part of the difference is the dome tweeter in the 15's, but I believe the crossover has an even greater impact. As far as woofer options, the 200037 is a good alternate to the 200001. The 200050 is also an option. You asked for a spec on the AR-15's woofer. Attached are specs that I pulled from the archive drawings. One is a little hard to read, but it should help. 8-inch_Woofer_Spec-AR-15.TIF 8-inch Woofer Spec-100037.TIF

I saw a pair of AR Classic 30's sell on eBay for $900 a couple of years ago. Since yours are in "mint" condition and have spare drivers plus the original boxes, you very well may be able to get more.

Midwest Speaker sells a replacement tweeter for the AR-5 on eBay for $69.95 each. I can't say if it is better than the Hi-Vi tweeter, but it is another option.

If you plan to refinish your AR-12's, note that the veneer used by AR is fairly thick and can be easily sanded if you are careful. I picked a pair of AR-15's on eBay that had been painted black and they turned out to have a beautiful veneer under the paint. Why anybody would have painted them in the first place is beyond me. The attached photo shows one speaker still painted black with the other refinished. There have been a number of refinish options discussed in the forum. I used Watco Danish Oil. Wet sanding the first coat and adding 3 additional coats.