lARrybody

My AR 4X's had the Chicago Industrial wax block capacitor with the inductor coil mounted on top. I discontinued it and pushed it back slightly to make room for a 20uf Dayton polypropylene capacitor. I installed new L-pads with the 25 ohm resistor. I wound up installing new linen grill cloth. Used Parts Express caulking strips to seal the tweeter and woofer. Did not touch the cabinets for they were in excellent shape. Both warranty cards are still attached. Drivers dated 1968. What a wonderful gift. Truly a gift that keeps giving.

That last picture looks just like a AR 4xa. Maybe someone here has a extra spring or potentiometer. How close is a spring from a ball point pen? Maybe it’s time to think about a some L-pads. Good luck. I am sure with a little infinity it can be repaired.

Reading this thread go me thinking what version of AR 6's I have. These particular speakers were advertised on the local shop goodwill as AR 7 speakers and that's what I thought I was buying. When i went to pick them up they turned out to be AR 6's. Here is a picture of one of them next to a AR7. Quite a difference. They have basically been waiting in the wings because other projects are always put ahead of them. One woofer pulled, fiberglass removed and there is the crossover. These must be earlier versions with the woofer dated September 29, 1971. Not the grill cloth you would expect to find, but I believe it to be original. Would these woofers be considered 200001-1 even though they have alnico magnets? Gabriel, my opinion is to either clean the Potentiometers up or replace with others, but definitely don't eliminate them. I am glad they are back together and you are enjoying them. Keep looking and you will probably run across the correct woofer (200001-1 with the square ceramic magnet and flat dustcap), and you probably easily can get your investment back on the cloth surround woofers. Keeping them in good shape will allow you to pass them down to the next generation. Mine deserve better than being in bubble wrap and stored away.

Noha, those are some fine examples of Euro AR5's. I have two pair that look a lot like yours, except I have the brown grills. I wholeheartedly agree with Stupidhead about using the Boston Acoustic (filled filet) type of surrounds. No my 5's don't have them because they came to me with fresh surrounds installed. Here is a picture of some I used on some 2ax woofers, which are pretty much the same as the woofers used on the 5's. The inter roll edge is sloped allowing low frequencies to exit the cone much easier, thus better sound. My first set have front wired tweeters and midranges. The resisters were added by the previous owner to tone down the L-pads he replaced the original pots with. The woofers are the early ones, thus the different dust cap. My second set has a rear wired midrange and tweeter (which is a replacement HiVi driver). I plan reverting them back to front wired drivers. I have found original drivers from a set that was being parted out. The tweeters both test good at 6.8 and 6.9 ohms and have a date of December 7, 1971 stamped on them. Both have tinsel leads that may be long enough. The problem arises with the midranges. One of the leads is completely missing so I cannot even test it. The other seems ok and test at 5.9 ohms with dates stamped November 24, 1971. It is probably beyond my ability to repair the lead, so I am kind of at at standstill. Let us know what you find out with your drivers. I hope they are the correct 8 ohm versions that the 5's required and not the 4 ohm versions used on the 3a's. The 5's are kind of a divisive speaker, people either love them or are unimpressed. Me personally, well I am a lover. Good luck and remember no question is too petty or complicated. We are all here to help.

I have used black electrical tape on AR2ax's and 5's. How about some Permatex Black Silicone Adhesive Sealant on these leads. I might work.

Old school Fine Wood Paste Wax. Do not used on oiled veneer if you want to re-oil in the future.

How about this idea. Sand the bare cabinets smooth. Use some kind of filler to fill any imperfections. Use about two or three coats of primer wet sanding between. Take them to a auto body shop and have them sprayed with several coats of gloss black lacquer. Piano finish with new lambswool grills. That would be impressive.

You are very observant my friend. That badge is indeed different. Approximately 1/16 in. smaller and without the silver border. I did not notice it before. Probably from some I purchased off the auction site. I had to count my 18S's, it turns out there are six pairs. Three your size 9 5/8 X 16 1/2 X 6 1/4 and three wider at 10 1/8 X 16 1/2 X 6 1/4. Grills are 8 1/2 and 9 in. wide. All have the same one piece plastic trim ring around the 2000037-0 woofers which have square magnet and poly dust caps. One odd thing is the three smaller cabinets all had the rectangular spring clips, but on the wider ones one has the same spring clips and two have the terminal cups with spring clips. Much the same at the 18B models. Parts Express has a binding post terminal cup that fits perfectly in the 2 in. hole. I think on one set not yet restored I will use some post saved from 2ax's. I remember reading that the wider cabinets may have been European models, but I am not so sure about that. I just think AR made changes later in production, probably moving toward the 18B model. As far cabinet wall thickness It appears to be the same on both examples. Maybe the material changed from MDF to a lesser particleboard, but I will need to investigate further. As far as adding a L-pad, it is basically just inserted into the tweeter circuit. Compared to the 200034-0 tweeter used in the 18 model, I think the 200038-0 in these sounds a bit brighter and has more presence. Also the 18 used a 6uf cap and the 18S has a 5 uf cap which changes to crossover. I have installed L-pads on some AR-25's and AR-18S's. Pretty much the same crossover except for the cap value. You can definitely tones down the tweeter a bit, but I kind of like them full blast. If you were to add a l-pad to models with terminal cups I would use the longer 1 in. shaft L-pad with some spacers and drill right thru the back. It amazes me how good these sound with such a simple crossover. The AR engineers knew how to choose the right woofer and tweeter to work together so seamlessly. Thank you Mr. Allison. I have A-B them with my AR4X's and the 4x winns on the low end, but the 18S shines on the highs. Playing them both together is more than the sum of two.

You guys should know by now how I feel about this model. Why do I have so many? Did you know they came in two different sizes? All mine still have the vinyl, but i have thought about venere on at least one of them. Some are original, some recapped, some with binding post added, even one with l pads. I like the idea of the grill frame with the linen. Just loose the bottom filler piece. Theser 18S model are easy to find, maybe that's why they keep following me home. RaRa I will check my AR badge bag tonight and PM you if I find a extra.

I have used two sets of HIVI Q1R tweeters on a set of AR2ax's and AR11's. No way to compare them to new AR tweets, because they just aren't around. Folks that have had their originals rebuilt report increased output, but I have not gone down that road yet. It is also said that the Q1R's have a narrower dispersion, but mine with the 0.05 inductors added sound very pleasing. There are discussions about reducing the uf of the capacitor by half and reversing the polarity of the leads, which has been covered several times right here. At less than $20.00 apiece I would try them and think about having the originals rebuilt. Marvin Gaye sums it up "Ain't nothing like the real thing baby"

Found some 4x grills in my parts collection and decided these will be good to test some cleaning techniques. This is what they looked like before I started. I put them in the tub and used Soft Scrub Oxi, trying to avoid chlorine bleach. Brushed them liberally using a 1 1/2 in. paintbrush. Rinsed them as lakecat described and let dry for a day. Better but not real impressive. Took one and repeated the cleaning, this time using Soft Scrub with bleach. Better result but still not there yet. Good news is the wood frame and material seems to have held up fine. That's a piece of 18 count lambswool behind them. Took a good look at my other 4x's and 4xa and the one with the lambswool looks the best. Not sure what way to go. RaRa about the woofer damping design. You don't get many options when you buy used. New I would of preferred bluetooth, programmable potentiometers and liquid cooled voice coils.

Decided to take a look under the grills while i had them outside. Removed 13 staples (odd number) and the grills came right off. No signs of any glue that I could see. My other 4 series speakers have replaced grill cloth. One Michaels Tea Linen, one Jo Ann's off white linen, and the other 123 stitch 18ct. lambswool. On these I would like to try Lakecats cleaning of the original material. I kept the material from the others, so I might be able to wind up with something presentable. Looks like some kind of mildew on the cone. hey these have the criss cross and the flower design. Losing light and being called for dinner, so i will remove the other grill tomorrow.

Rob I too just got a set of 4's on Friday. Got them from shopgoodwill.com. I don't think many people knew what they were the way they were listed. Not as low as serial numbers or as nice as yours, but definitely restorable. One of the badges is missing, but I somehow have one in my badge collection that matches. Cabinets are no way perfect. Gouges, scratches, venere on front top edge of one coming loose, yet nothing that can't be corrected. I have been wanting a set of AR4's to add to my collection of 2 sets of AR4x's and one set of AR4xa's. I am stoked. Now where are those AR3's?

Hey Patrick, glad you found this form. I was where you are six years ago. I have to warn you that this AR thing is a lot like trying to eat one Lays potato chip. I started with a pair of nice 2ax's which I restored and still have. Then it got a little overboard. Maybe more than a little. As for your description I would personally lean toward the original condition 3a's. Again there are lots of considerations as far as condition, driver performance, and improvements. Personally I have two sets of 5's that I am very impressed with. The first set came to me already restored and the second set I restored to match. This involved some driver replacement, but the results are well worth it. I have them stacked together with a Adcom power amp. You might want also to consider some other models like the KLH model 5 and the AR model 11. Both excellent sounding speakers. Look around and you will eventually find that set that you will feel comfortable with. I just want to warn you about the multiple speaker acquisition syndrome I fell privy to. Let us know what you find.

What a wealth of information here. I was just curious in what had been done to Valkyrie's crossovers. You guys sure do pretty work. About the foam material. I am assuming it is some type of open cell foam. I measure it to be 1/2 in thick. Hand cutting the foam from sheets with a template may be possible, but the pictures I have seen have a camfer around the driver opening. This could be problematic to reproduce. Maybe a jig with a router? Anyway I am thinking this may be acceptable material to use. http://www.foambymail.com/SFF-/speaker-filter-foam-30-ppi.html Am I even close?

Congratulations Valkyrie on those AR91's. Would like to see some closer photos, especially of the acoustic blankets. Yes it is very rare to find a pair with them in place. I like many others here read arpro's post last July about the 91 being a sleeper. I started looking for a pair. In August a pair was listed on CL and located less than a mile away in my town. I went back and forth with the owner, but they did not come with grills or acoustic inserts and had a few scratches. The guy was firm on his price, and said he would part them out before negotiating on the price. Then in November a pair was listed on the auction site in Avon (30 miles away) with a starting price of $340.00 and local pickup only. I won the auction being the only bidder. They appear to be in excellent condition cosmetically, with just a few snags in the grill cloth. The acoustic inserts are missing and recreating them will be the only challenge in their restoration. Thus my interest in yours being in place. If you ever open them up I would be interested in what the crossovers look like. I plan on working on mine this spring when nice weather returns. LarryinIN

I have some passive rock partners with the 8 in. woofers. These are basically a reincarnation of the AR 18. I believe your active rock partners may have a 4 in woofer. I bet you they sound pretty good. As far as they being 12 years old I know Teledyne sold AR to Jensen Electronics in 1989, so these have to be at least 28 years old. Jensen may have continued production, but they probably would not say Teledyne on them. Interesting that alphenos.net does not list them in it's AR database.

Excellent. I like how you can see a hint of the drivers through the screen.

I really enjoy your restoration threads because they are so relevant to what many of us deal with in restoring these classic AR's. I need to build new grills for a pair of AR 11's. Just a couple (three)of quick questions. When shopping for 1 in thick material, would that be what they call 5/4 in. lumber? Which Parts Express black grill cloth are you using. The Mellotone Premium or the regular Parts Express cloth. Did you consider a cross member piece between the woofer and the upper drivers. Thanks

I just pulled these out tonight. They have the surrounds they came with. They don't appear deteriorated, but I have not played them yet. They will be going into some AR25's which came to me with Radio Shack replacements. I will probably replace the surrounds. There are two good choices (1) Boston 8 in. filled fillet type surrounds and (2) JBL type 8 in. surrounds. The JBL type are available several places, but I get mine from Rick Cobb (part number 610-365). rcobb@tampabay.rr.com He probably has the Boston FF type also, which may be the better of the two performance wise.

Congratulations on your rock partners. New foams are not that hard. The cleaning of the old surround residue is the worst part. Yesterday I too picked up a second pair of rock partners. The first pair turned out to have Bose replacement woofers. The recent woofers appear to be correct. Do yours look like this one?

I have used a small depth scale and little tick marks with a fine point sharpie to center the surround on the cone. Looking at the back side will also tell if it is centered.

Adam All the cap suggestions JKent recommended are good choices. I like the .33uf Bennic and 4.7 Carli caps wired in parallel idea for the ESR reasons. Here are some of the 5uf Unicon electrolytes I pulled out of mine. I use the Dayton 5.1uf cap as a replacement. I also replace the spring loaded clips with binding post. http://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-dmpc-51-51uf-250v-polypropylene-capacitor--027-423 http://www.parts-express.com/parts-express-gold-plated-banana-5-way-speaker-wire-binding-post-terminal--260-302 I also have a set with these installed. http://www.soniccraft.com/product_info.php/audiocap-theta-5uf-200vdc-p-72 My opinion, save your money, I really can't here the difference.

DavidR Here is a recent reply from Rick to this question. Hey Larry, part number 610 365 surrounds are the correct for AR 8" woofers. If you need more, please let me know. Thx,rc Sent from my Verizon 4G LTE Smartphone ------ Original message------ From: Larry Pittman Date: Wed, Aug 17, 2016 10:58 AM To: rcobb@tampabay.rr.com; Subject:AR 25 woofers Hi Rick. I have some 610-365-1 surrounds I got from you. Recently picked up some AR25 speakers which have 8 in woofers. Did not see them listed per say on in your store. Would these be the correct surrounds to use? Thanks Larry Pittman I have used these same surrounds on Advent 8 in Heritage and Prodigy speakers. All my 18S's have these. I would be interested to investigate the Boston filled fillet surrounds. I have used this type on 2ax woofers.