[Wanted - Pleated AR-1 / AR-1W Woofer]

thanks for the link - i'll bookmark it and see what happens.....

[Wanted - Pleated AR-1 / AR-1W Woofer]

As above - for an early AR-1 (s/n 480).

[Cabinet restoring]

Boiled linseed oil (which today is not really boiled, but is catalyzed using a petroleum distillate additive), combined with oxidation over many years, is what turns the original reddish tone of the walnut dark brown. How dark will depend on how many repeated applications of oil and how many years since. If you go to a museum and look at walnut furniture made in the 1800s or earlier, much of it will be almost black in color after 100 years of aging.

If you're working wood items that are potentially valuable antiques, you never want to refinish. I've seen family heirlooms reduced from $25,000 antiques to $500 used furniture because someone didn't like the dark wood and gave it the Formbys refinisher treatment. Though I doubt that AR speakers are likely to reach those lofty heights of desirability.

That's the rub isn't it - I have an AR-1 with a faded wood, some scraping and no grill - but it works perfectly - a perfect candidate for refinishing, but another part of me says to leave it be, that its current state is an honest representation of its journey and you can't roll back time - I don't think any route is wrong, per se, just different and driven by individual aesthetics (and of course the SO veto power for such visible objects) - since my spouse does appreciate the provenance of antiques (many AR products qualify) I have been able to make the patina as reality argument work and it continues to play loud in public view in the living room - score one for the home team.......

[Need help for AR-12 refurbish]

As noted earlier in this thread, several months ago I found a McIntosh 1700, ELAC Miracord 50H, and AR-12s. Early morning estate sale lines here in Austin are always a cultural experience and its a good excuse for breakfast tacos.

More often than not, its a bust but in this case the little cotton-top estate sale lady cared nothing for electronics; we exchanged $65 and contact info for whenever else she might run into these "heavy and messy electronic things with their cords" and I was out the door....

Receiver and turntable work fine - speakers are a mess -

• both woofers need refoaming
  
• both mids need refoaming
  
• only one tweeter works - and is an 8 ohm tweeter version - #200011-2 (other tweets from this line are 4 ohm - #200011-1)
  

However,

• cabinets are in beautiful shape
  
• foam covers are intact
  
• both badges are there
  
• I am a sucker for AR....
  

Anyway, am slogging through getting these back to functional and finally got time to post refoaming of AR-12 mids since is a bit out of the ordinary...

Foam was purchased at: http://www.speakerwo...com/default.asp

I purchased 2 of item number SWK3 with a 2 15/16 OD and 2" ID - is a good fit

First thing is to scrape off remains of the nasty black, semi-fuzzy residue adhering to the outer frame

Once that's complete you can better see the rotted surround

Next is to remove all of that rotted surround, the interface between the surround and the cone had become somewhat vague over the years, so cautious scraping and the leaving of a slightly less than pristine surface became the process and yielded the following

Time to place surround - the four tick marks provide the boundaries for best shot at centering

I use a flexible disk (this one cut from thin plastic container lid, for larger diameters I find posterboard works well) to hold down the inner surface over the cone. After glue is applied, the disk is put in place with a weight on top. I have found that the flexibility of the the disk exerts an even horizontal and somewhat downward force onto the cone that results in a tight, uniform seal.

Then I did outer rim-I do it in quarters (seems to work best for centering) and cut an arc from cardboard that matches the surround arc, apply glue, give the cone a good three finger push or two to center, place the cardboard arc over the surround and weight it down until glue cures. No pictures here.

Disk removed and outer rim sealed as well, mid ready to be put back in cabinet.

When I played them, there was sound: with the working tweeter, and a bad woofer the uppers and mids were clear and distinct. However, with the ferrofluid wrinkle and ridge in the new foam, who knows how close I am to what was original sound.

Nonetheless, if you need to refoam a pair of these and don't want to cut apart, custom fit, and then rebond a larger foam (some methods I have seen used on items sold on ebay) then this is one way to go.

Finally, a question, is there any advantage/danger in using the 4 ohm tweeters rather than a pair of new 8 ohm with close to same efficiency dome replacements from parts express? I don't hold any hopes for finding an AR-12 tweeter anytime soon and these seem to be my best options. Any helpful advice appreciated.....

[Need help for AR-12 refurbish]

Picked up this pair of AR-12's the other day for a song. Almost passed them by because they have been painted brown over the original walnut veneer so that they looked like cheapies. Otherwise in excellent shape and complete except for the rotted-away foam surrounds and dispersion rings on the tweeters. Got them home only to find that one of the midranges is dead. Took them both out to measure the resistance on the one still working. It metered out at 3.6 ohms. Does this mean the midranges were originally 4 ohm speakers or could they be 6 or even 8? Does anyone have any experience with these so that they would know for sure? If so please let me know. There is very little about this model online. Also, is it worth having just the one recoiled, or should I do both?

I have a pair that I just picked up at an estate sale - thrown in with other stuff I bought cause the little old estate sale ladies didn't want to have to carry them out if they didn't sell - on these one of the tweeters is blown and I am not going to pay $129 for a used one from a known ebay vendor - that kind of pricing defeats the "do it yourself" ethos that makes this fun, the mid-range surrounds are shot but both drivers are good, woofers will need re-foamed...anyway, as to impedences using my meter: Tweeter 6.6, Mid-Range 6.5, Woofer 6.7 - so, I will keep surfing ebay in the hopes of finding a more reasonably priced spare tweeter or will look for a pair of replacement tweeters and roll the dice....when i refoam I always do both, regardless....cheers