david

Always replace as a pair, otherwise your Left Right will be thrown out of balance. I replaced an AR92 tweeter with NOS driver and it sounded very slightly forward more brighter than the original in the other box. Just laziness and getting time to replace the other one and seems a shame!!! Ideally pairs it is!

Keno, I believe the AR12 tweeters are totally unique to just that speaker model. So if you ever see any up for sale jump on them. I am not sure about the mids - they were a gel cooled design and might also be used in other models in that line. Even so, drivers for the AR12 hardly ever come up for sale. You can try ar_vintage on Ebay. com (might be vintage_ar) he carries a good inventory of used parts and NOS and will advise. Cheers David

Hi larrybody and all You seem to have the neat looking foam grill which is a lot cleaner and tidier, and more in keeping with the 1970s, than the cloth grill. The AR 92 has a 10 inch woofer and when I get time i will swap those replacements out to see if it makes any difference to the bass response. Overall I am very pleased with sound and money spent. Hope the documentation is useful. Will also need to take out those wood strips (carefully!!) so the substitute grills can fit better. Haven't gone into the insides! The back is speckled like most models from that era. Cheers David (You don't have to have a monster amp to get good levels out of them either)

Here is the Owners Instruction Manual! As you can see I have got the speaker stands round the wrong way! Story of my life. Cheers David

Hi, as a keen reader of these pages and other AR12 owners messages and thoughts, I would like to share the AR12s I was fortunate to acquire in 2014 from the UK Ebay website. They came in the original AR cardboard boxes, which were quite large! Also the original metal stands as shown in the photos. The DIY replacement foam grilles were disintegrating and as can be seen from photos, the previous owner when he installed these, basically glued in some small wooden strips to keep the foam proud of the tweeter and mid drivers. The mid drivers were in need of refoam. The wooden cabinets were in superb mint condition and highly polished. The woofers had been replaced with non-AR 10 inch. These were a pair of "managers specials" - manufactured in the UK - and purchased by one of the managers [Mr Weiger] working at AR. They came with a bit of documentation [in-plant shipping tally/ one of the labels originally glued to the back of each spkr showing serial number (matches tally sheet) and finish (walnut)/ various labels "Genuine Wood Veneer" etc] I have attached. Also attached are photos of the speakers, the full Owner's Instruction Manual (pages 1-27 plus covers) a colour two page publicity and spec sheet from AR, a photocopy that has turned a bit greenish due to age of another version of this and various price lists for the AR range from 1976 and 1981. I hope thiese images will upload OK but if they don't this time I will try again later. The photos show the AR12s following refurb of the mids (which was very tricky) the purchase of replacement grilles from vintage_ar. The speakers work great but the bass response isn't tight or fast enough I think because it really needs the original woofers to be refitted. I will try a pair of woofers from an AR90 at some stage.the tweeters of the AR12 I was told by vintage_ar are unique to this model - luckily these work fine, but I also have 3 more in a box just in case! plus two spare mids - just in case!) I have them in the middle of the lounge (not against a wall) and they sound great in that position even if not ideal. I also have AR91, AR90 and the AR162 "Spirit" model. The sound quality is -I am feeling - somewhere between the AR 90s and AR162 - the latter which are good looking tower boxes with coupled 8" woofers and are lively entertaining speakers with great presence and sensitivity if built to a budget in the last years of the company. I would say the AR12s are in the same mould if more refined and more audiophile with of course much better build quality all round. Cheers David Here goes with the attachments

Hi Lakecat, I see you went for linen oatmeal grills - that looks great. The cabinets look really good - oiled? What is the veneer? Walnut or teak? The original woofers is something I have to do to get that bass you describe. Cheers David There hasn't been a pair of AR12s come on the market EBAY UK since mine popped up about 4 years ago. Quite a few AR2a, AR3a, AR4, AR6, AR92, AR90 and others but no others from the AR12 range to my knowledge.

Hi Lakecat, I see you went for linen oatmeal grills - that looks great. The cabinets look really good - oiled? What is the veneer? Walnut or teak? The original woofers is something I have to do to get that bass you describe. Cheers David

Hi Steve F. I am not the expert to answer this highly pertinent question. When I sourced some foams for my AR12 mids from either Simply Speakers or Springfield (can't remember!) I enquired about whether it was necessary to do anything about the ferro fluid (which they actually sold in a small bottle!!!) but they said it wasn't essential and the mids were probably OK without doing this. Phew! That was a relief! But I have a sneaking suspicion that the condition of the fluid/mids affects the output of the mids and if the fluid hardens or dries up it's going to affect the overall sound of the speakers. Philips used in their older speakers from the 70s and 80s tweeters used a ferro fluid which tended to harden and dry up and then they just stopped working. However, must say the mids are now singing loud and clear WITHOUT topping up the ferro fluid or even looking at it! In fact, to my mind the clarity and tone in the midrange is one of the best charactetistics of my AR12s. Hope this helps, but get advice from more expert AR fans. Cheers David

Hi Lakecat, I thought they sounded more towards the lounge music than the bigger AR9 range. They had a very nice tone with a good level of detail. Above all quite forward. In that respect they are very similar to the late Teledyne "Spirit" range which I know audiophiles do not regard as AR at all and certainly not classic soeakers, but IMHO the tall 162s sound very pleasant indeed with a whole range of music. My Sansui 661 receiver is quite happily driving the AR12s on stands. I get the distinct impression this range of speakers were designed with the needs of compact living in mind and could (on sturdy ones!) be used on a bookshelf or an alcove situation. I have retrofitted grills on a frame obtained from vintage_ar which look very smart but not half as good as the original 1970s "cool" foam grills when they were new. Cheers David Hi GD70 That's a neat way of doing the mids! Will try it - I fiddled with toothpicks working round the edge in stages which is clumsy and doesn't help centering. I need to find some original AR 8 ohm woofers that will fit. Have you any pics of the woofers especially the back and serial number? Did you get all the foams from the same place? Cheers David

Thanks for all these pics and guidance. Will do likewise with that paperwork. Cheers David

Hi GD70 That's a neat way of doing the mids! Will try it - I fiddled with toothpicks working round the edge in stages which is clumsy and doesn't help centering. I need to find some original AR 8 ohm woofers that will fit. Have you any pics of the woofers especially the back and serial number? Did you get all the foams from the same place? Cheers David

Hi Roy, I don't think there is a direct replacement. Springfield or SimplySpeakers supplied to me an equivalent which with a bit of adapting fitted OK. However. It is the actual process of fitting that is difficult due to the small size and angles on the surfaces. My problem was holding the cone in position to allow the adhesive to set - as the cone has a tendency to sink deep into the assembly ruining any seal and pulling off the new foam. My improvised solution! I held the cone in place with several toothpicks and worked around the edge gluing the new foam in two or three stages. I would wait for one part on the edge to dry and then work round to another section. After gluing a couple of sections like this the cone was fairly well held up to the required position. The two important aspects to keep checking while you do this and double check at the end is 1. cone moves in and out smoothly no rubbing 2. the new foam is a perfect seal all the way round Finally - and Larry at vintage_ar is quite right about this - why go through all that time and trouble only to ruin the job by reusing the old gasket seal on the driver to cabinet which has to be air tight to get the "AR sound"? Use a new gasket or buy sealing tape (or compound) to get that air tight seal when replacing all the drivers. Cheers David

Hi Glenn, will do later on with pics of the speakers. The foam gaskets on the midranges are fiendishly difficult - also an odd size. Simply Speakers (or Springfield?) USA supplied some foams which worked well after a bit of snipping to fit.# The other aspect to these is the magnetic ferro fluid which can be topped up by keen restorers. In my case I ignored this and actually the mids sound OK. Just now some spare drivers cropped up on UK Ebay, a pair of tweeters and pair of mids, so of course I jumped on them. The seller told me they had come from cabinets in great condition (no or very poor grills) and again with replacement Eminence Beta woofers (will compare their specs with the AR12s sent to me) somebody had substituted for the originals due I suppose to nothing else but foam rot which is easy to repair. It's funny that owners who do that refer to it as an "upgrade" but personally I feel from all points of view, authenticity, sound and looks, it's a down grade. Need to clear a few bits and pieces away then will upload those documents and pictures. # I should have made a careful note of how these AR12 Mids refoam went as it was fairly improvised involving several stages rather than completing the job in one session, also using toothpicks at one stage to position the foam while it cured! Ha ha...

Hi I am looking to get back to original 10" woofers in otherwise mint AR12s which currently have a different brand if woofer fitted. Would a pair of AR92 woofers (200033) go in to the AR12s? If not what is the nearest match? Original AR or otherwise. I love the sound of the AR12s but feel unmistakably that the bass isn't tight enough and is letting them down. Would appreciate any advice on this. Just how rare are the AR12s? These came from the UK factory as a special order for one of the managers - lots of factory paperwork, original stands, mint cabinets, I restored the mids and purchased new grills from vintage_ar USA so worth going extra mile for the woofers. Cheers david