lakecat

More like over $500 for a pair. You can use the 3a mid but have to add a .04mh coil to get the AR3 match according to Roy's instructions.

Hi...and I also got bad news on two AR3 mids...toast. With the competition to get these very rare mids, and prices they are getting online, you may want to look for alternatives...unless a kind soul here might have a pair...but I highly doubt it.

Very cool that you got to meet Roy. His unselfishness has enabled many people to enjoy and love the AR sound. I am working on another set of 3's....and only because this man had the patience to teach me much about the AR's. I look forward to meeting him one day...and buying him at least one beer..;)

Nice explanation on those 980's. Mine were set up in a 28' deep by 18' wide by 16' high cathedral ceiling room...and is sunken 3'. Tall windows on each end. The speakers were set up one pair at a time about twenty-eight inches from floor and six feet apart...just a hint of toe in. They were about six inches out from wall behind. I have to add that my friend that bought the 980's....and is s big ADS fan...still prefers his 1590's.

Hi Larry.....personally, I think it's the midrange in this speaker that makes it sound so good....plus matched to that good ole bass AR is famous for. I was like you when I heard it for the first time.....just shocked in good it sounded.

Hi...and yes I did before I sold the fives. I have a big great room so was hard to hear much difference...to me anyway. The series two's just had a slight edge in bass and sounded warmer...if that counts for anything. I had several people listen and they also could tell little difference. All ears from non musicians though...so not trained to hear the nuances. Just preferred the two's though.

It was Dave at DHS. Did a nice job for me. Alas........ I see even on this forum someone has to be negative when it comes to Bose.....lol....cracks me up! Feel better now?

I am curious about your tweeters in your pic.

The only thing artificially colored is his ego.....

That work looks nice! I wish I had the ability to do that. I sent mine to guy that does them up nice.

Hi Tom......My group of friends back in the 70's worshiped the 901. Hanging them from the ceiling in the corners and it was music heaven...:) Even the nightclubs had them hanging on the dance floors where we went to drink and dance with the girls. I drove mine with a Sansui 9090 that I still own. Always got a lot of critics but I ignored it....as it sounded fine to me. Amar gets a pat on the back from me....and I have two sets of the Series II Continentals as a tribute to him. Thanks for the cool picture of the 901.

(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) Thanks Glenn....I had some of the lambswool material here and saw the foam; if available; was going to be over a hundred bucks....so decision was more being cheap than anything!..lol. David...thanks. The grill material is the lambswool linen that is used for the AR3a. The veneer is the standard walnut that was sanded and stained with Howards....then two coats of satin poly sprayed. These speakers were a great discovery as I never even heard of the 12's until I saw these on CL. I did some research online and saw they were highly regarded so went to look at them. They were missing the grills and mids had the surround rot but woofers had been redone and cabinets were in great shape. Older guy had them that he had purchased new so original owner that was downsizing and moving. Best part...he had a $25 price tag on them!...:)

(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.) Dave...have pics buried in here somewhere but I did the grills to match the 3a. Foam just doesn't do anything for me and is fragile so thought I would keep in the family. Renewing pics in case anyone is interested.......:)

Hi David...not sure what lounge music means but when I finished them, I played them in my fairly large great room. I had them on the floor and about six feet between them. I remembered them being advertised as "rock" speakers....so I put Pink Floyd on... I sat about ten to twelve feet away....and was floored! It filled the room with great bass...the mids were just awesome...and you right...the tweeters brought everything forward. Even my son came to landing from his bedroom and asked what speakers was I playing? I turned the music down and asked why...and he remarked how good they sounded even in his bedroom!..lol. So he came down...and I turned it back up..and we jammed to the rest of Pink Floyd...both of us shaking our heads and smiling. I rate them over the AR5...but just my opinion. They sounded best right on floor. And Steve...refoaming the mids was pretty easy after you figure out to hold VC steady while you have it elevated. I cut wood tongue suppressors into three inch strips and used them to elevate and hold VC steady while glued the surround.

Nice work on the 12' s Glenn...:) I hope you found as I was pleasantly surprised to find out....how damn great these babies sound. Why a one year production is a mystery to me. They advertised them as "rock" speakers...and they are right. I have them stacked on my 3a's in bedroom with a recapped Sansui 9090 pushing them that I bought new in 1976. Had early Beatles on last night before settling down for dreamland...and even my wife remarked how nice those two speakers sounded...and they have been up there for over a year!..lol. We don't play it a lot....so it seems each time we do....it's like...damn!...that sounds good!

SpeakerWorks that was mentioned above has the exact size foam needed. Has the slight roll and not flat but my mids sound fantastic.

Thanks for lesson Roy as I didn't realize you meant that way.

{It is best to think of it as an AR-11 tweeter, which is more than adequate for the AR-3a...but like the AR-11, AR-9 series, HiVi, and any other tweeter of modern construction, the MW tweeter's response will require a crossover modification to properly integrate with early models (3, 3a, 5, 2a/2ax, LST, and LST-2). No tweeter of modern construction has the natural roll off characteristics of the early AR dome tweeters.} Roy.....educate me a little on roll-off. I always read it as a short coming on the 3a and other models and why a super tweeter was added to some peoples units. If the new tweeter doesn't have that "roll-off".....isn't that a good thing?

Roy...as always...thank you for taking the time to test this new tweeter for all AR lovers out there. Having all these options was but a dream until recently. Kudos to Frank for finding this.

These AR3's may be a little difficult for a person that knows little to repair on their own. Not being mean but they look to be nice and deserve to be fixed correctly. You can't listen to five or ten different people on here to fix them. One thing you can do is gently scrap away the black paint from your tweeter and mid leads on speaker in front. Take one of your speaker wires from amp or receiver, turn on unit and turn volume up slightly, and touch your tweeter leads on front with speaker wire to test tweeter to see if it works that way. Then do mid speaker the same way. If you hear sound from the drivers, then it is the potentiometers on back are in need of replacing or cleaning. The tweeters are usually good but mids are known to fail so this test will tell you what needs done next. Where do you live? If you were close to me, I would just have you bring then over. Roy and RaRa are two well known members as well as Kent that will give expert advice.....but they may need more work than you could probably handle. Also....that rubber diffuser ring on woofer is fine. It has cracks from age but doesn't hurt it.

I don't use the tub water to clean in. I spray the grill liberally with Fantastic and then brush well....THEN....dunk and swish them around in three inches of warm water with shampoo added....then quickly rinse them under spout. Then I lay them flat on towel...with another towel on top...and add a piece of wood and weight on top. Let that dry completely. If I am in a hurry, I will get out hair dryer and dry them. I have used spray Spic&Span and Fantastic on the grill material....but the trick is getting them nice and wet and using s soft brush on them real well before dunking in tub....:)

I see your grill has wider sides than the 2x did so don't be afraid to clean them. My 2x was only slightly less then a 1/2" on sides near top.

Please be careful when cleaning like I suggested. I was cleaning the AR2x's grills this weekend and the sides are thinner than what is on the 3a's, 3's...etc. I dipped it into the tub on three inches of water and when I lifted it to rinse under tub spout, one side bent and cracked...sigh. Sooo...maybe just spray, brush, and rinse under tub and pass on dipping in tub. I should have noticed how thin the sides are on the 2x but wasn't thinking. Not sure how wide the 4 grills are on sides.....so be careful.

I clean the grills by spraying lots of Fantastic on them and brushing lightly with a soft brush. I then drop them in about three inches of shampoo water in tub...swish them around a little...and then run them under tub spout running warm water at full strength to clean them. Then I lay them flat on towel and add towel on top...and lay a board on them and add weight. I let that dry naturally. Comes out really nice. That tub water is usually pretty dirty so a lot comes out.