GD70
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Posts posted by GD70
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Love the stands you made! Curious what you think of the sound ones sitting on them.
Are you planning to stain to match the cabs?
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On January 5, 2020 at 12:10 AM, bdmcn71 said:
I just got a pair of AR3s, totally restored, factory varnished walnut finish, with original boxes and paperwork. All I’m missing is one ‘3.’
How often do these surface? Any tips on how to acquire? Not a huge deal, but would love to complete the pair.
Thanks
That's a beautiful example, and with the stands!
Curious what has been restored.
Enjoy those beasts!
Glenn
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On January 12, 2020 at 7:10 AM, nbman said:
Glenn,
Mind if I ask what you saw that makes you think that? I know you have tons of experience with these speakers...Thanks.
Also, I did find the culprit I believe..not the speakers at all. In a way, Roy was right. It was in the electronics. Not the amp, but the DAC. I use a NAD DAC2, and usually have the laptop in the audio room, but when I brought these home, my wife was using it in another room, I was eager to listen, so I just hooked them up and let it go from there. As far as I can tell, the signal must have been spotty causing the static..Several hours yesterday with various sources, and all is well. Clean, clear and sweet. Now for some stands...
Thanks
Age. Original surrounds by now are cracking apart, or just about completely rotted and gone. If you look closely, you can see some glue on the cones that squeezed out when the new surrounds were glued in place. Also, please check where the woofer screws are pinching the surround edges. I'd fix that by making sure the surrounds are firmly glued flat in those areas.
Good to hear you figured out what the static issue was. If you make stands, ideally, you want the tweeters ear level when seated in your listening position.
Glenn
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Link for the write up and pics.
Glenn
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On January 14, 2020 at 12:03 PM, HO249 said:
Hi Glenn,
Thanks for the inspiration! Your restoration work on the JBL speakers is truly first-rate.
I've decided to opt for professional restoration of the LST cabs. They'll be in the shop for 4-6 weeks. The shop is going to replace the veneer on the tops of the cab, and then stain the new veneer to match. We're in the process of removing the drivers and covering the resultant holes.
Considering the value of LSTs, I think the expense is worthwhile. I'll post pictures when the work is complete.
Thanks again, your enthusiasm is very contagious.
John
Hi John,
I have a set of LST-2's, and did the same thing. They were a mess when I bought them. I reveneered the tops and they came out looking brand new.
Im sure you'll be very happy with them both visually and sonically. Terrific sounding speakers with uncanny dimensionality.
Cheers, Glenn
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Hi!
To repair the tops, you'll need to sand them carefully to the veneer surface. Next, get a can of Barkeepers Friend, which has oxiolic acid in it. Make a paste and apply it on the water damage spots. Let it sit until dry and wipe away. You may need to do this multiple times and eventually the stains will be removed, or almost completely removed depending on the severity of the stain.
Heres the link to my JBL200's restoration. The cabs had pretty bad stains like your LST's There's lots of pics showing the project.
Cheers, Glenn
https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/jbl-l200-studio-masters-pics.832069/
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Congrats on a terrific set of speakers. They look well cared for.
When you're listening for the distortion, use a paper towel cardboard tube, and place it over each tweeter and mid and put your ear at the other end and listen as a way to find the offending driver.
since the surrounds look to be replaced, remove the woofers and check inside that everything looks ok on the crossovers, i.e., any loose wires etc..... The crossovers are pretty complex in these.
Glenn
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Happy New Year Peter!
Any news on the new job and house?
Cheers, Glenn
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Very nice and it's amazing they arrive unscathed traveling so far!
Congrats fulfilling your dream!
Glenn
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Love it gents! Happy Hoildays to you all!
Glenn
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The 910's, (no "L") do not need a sub! My neighbor told me his dishes were vibrating in the cabinets!
He thought it was my son cranking the tunes, ummm, no that was me, sorry!
They like lots of power, the more they are fed, the better they sound. I'm driving mine with my JVC M-7050 Power amp, specked @150 wpc, which put out 210 wpc on my techs bench.
Are these early, or later versions? Early have veneered backs, later, black paint.
Congrats on an outstanding set of speakers! Be prepared to be blown away!
Cheers, Glenn
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Hi Chris!
Based on this thread, you would need to mod the crossover since the two didn't share the same parts according to Roy.
Cheers, Glenn
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On 12/2/2019 at 10:55 PM, RoyC said:
zelgy1,
As time went on the AR-3 shared a number of components with the 3a, including cabinets. Later 3's were equipped with the AR-3a mid, and, later still, the 3a foam surround/ferrite magnet woofer (just before the end of AR-3 production). It is also not unusual to find complete 3a's housed in AR-3 cabinets, as AR offered a 3 to 3a factory conversion. The 3 and 3a never shared the same crossover.
Roy
Good information. I was always under the impression, no 3 had foam surround woofers.
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Genek,
Fantasy? Not at all. The video I posted was simply to get an IDEA of the different sound between the 3-3a, for fun. Never meant as the end all be all comparison between the two. But, you can hear a distinct difference, which I think basically characterizes their differences. Since I posted that video, which was from five or so years ago, shot with a point & shoot camera, I've restored several sets of 3a's and another set of 3's. The difference between then and now is the recent restorations both were far more extensive regarding driver rebuilds that were not available back then with the featured pairs in the video.
I have A/B'd the 3/3as restored as best as possible, both as close to factory performance as possible. Chris restored tweeters for me for the 3as, Roy restored the mids for my 3's. Both were recapped, and pots were fully working. Both had the cloth surround woofers.
I listened to both extensively, by myself, and with other audio heads, same amp, volume level, same music. With all things being as equal as possible, every person preferred the 3's. Their descriptions were they were smoother, more natural sounding, better balanced. They often felty he 3as were too forward in the highs. Surprising, but I also have the same opinion.
Glenn
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I'm almost speechless! Unbelieveable find!
Maybe a few AKers across the pond would be willing to go pick some up, and ship the the U.S.
Just wow!
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Yes, half the price at PE, without the air coil.
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On October 27, 2019 at 8:51 PM, brownrock said:
Many thanks for that detailed 'how to' Glenn.
You mentioned in one of your posts (somewhere else) that you had tried the tone method with good results. I think it was for a sub though.
Do you think the tone method works equally for mids or is the tolerance too tight (probably a stupid way of formulating my question!)? I am given to understand that the tone to use is 1675 Hz?
What about the battery method? Any thoughts?
I used the tone method of a set of JBL 4301b woofers. Those woofers have big beautiful concave dust caps that I didn't want to cut. Worked perfectly.
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Foam surrounds are fairly easy to replace.
Once all the old foam has been removed, there's usually some still stuck on the cone edges. I use a small plastic taping knife and carefully scrape away as much as possible. I keep my fingers under the cone for support as I gently scrape away the remaining foam. Usually there's also a bit of old glue remaining, which I rub off between my fingers. There will still be a little remaining which is fine.
Youll also need to scrape all the remaining foam and glue off the basket surfaces so they are smooth. Upfront prep is important.
Using shims is fool proof. I carefully cut the dust cap around the base close to where it's glued to the cone. I leave just a bit uncut and flip it up like a can lid. This makes it easy to realign the cap when regluing.
Glue the new surrounds to the cones first. When dry, glue to the basket. Many use wood clothes pins to hold the glued surround edges in place while the glue dries.
When dry, pull the shims, move the cone in and out to make sure there's no VC rub, reglue the dust cap in place and you're ready to hear your speakers sing!
Glenn
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On October 14, 2019 at 10:33 AM, MikeD2 said:
Butting in here.
I'm "practicing" on my AR-2ax pair but have a pair of 1969 vintage AR-3a's with the cloth surrounds which will be next. Somewhere in here was information on what to use to re-seal those cloth surrounds on the 3a's and a source for the sealant. Speakers are in mint condition and are sealed well, but I would like to re-seal the surrounds with the right material. Can someone point me to the link with that information? Thanks.
If they have a good seal, then no need to reseal the surrounds. ARs usually don't need resealing like KLHs. Simple test, gently push the cones in, and let go. If they return slowly, you have a good seal. If they return immediately, then reseal the surrounds.
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You're going to need a very thin, light weave material, maybe silk, and butle rubber, or the sealer we use on AR and KLH surrounds to reseal them. The piece of fabric should extend at least a 1/4 inch past the tears. The butyl sealer should be applied sparingly, just enough to hold the patches in place. You don't want to put too much on and restrict the cone movement. I'd inspect the other mid as well as it could be in the same state or close to it.
Good luck, Glenn
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That is way cool to see! I love when I come across burried, long forgotten stuff like this.
Glenn
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Excellent work! Only the last couple years the original tweeters for the 3a are being successfully repaired, once thought when they were dead, they were paper weights or ready for the trash can! The 3's tweeters are a bit easier to repair, but the mids are now being repaired as well, and brought back close to new sound output! This is very exciting for us vintage AR owners!
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Oh to be a fly on the wall.
What a shame, but perhaps the right person will buy, and restore them, it can be done.
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On September 18, 2019 at 10:04 AM, Aadams said:
So how did this go. What systems were there?
Adams
Hey Adams!
Terrific day! Good turnout, great people and systems to listen to!
Thanks Robert for posting the AK link! Connor put together a nice video and I posted a couple as well!
Cheers, Glenn
AR LSTs - Water damage repair
in Acoustic Research
Posted
Oxiolic acid will remove most, if not all of the water stains. That's why I recommended Bar Keepers Friend cleaner. You make a paste and apply it to the stained areas, let it dry and wipe off. It may take 10 applications, but the veneer will look great once the finish of choice is applied.