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Frank, Thanks for all that info, I am reading and re-reading, but I think the time has come that I need to leap into the world of MC. Sarals also suggested this jump a while back, I have been busy with other life stuff so reviewing or making the jump isn't top of the heap. However, adding a nice pre-amp or SUT isnt out of the question and does add a level of interest anyway. I too agree that life's too short not to spend what you can for satisfaction, within means and reason of course. The Denon 301 actually isnt a bad price. actually less than a lot of the MM carts I would consider. This is certainly worth investigating. Thanks Bob

Frank, As a child of the 70's I am a huge Supertramp fan, have all the "good" albums, all on vinyl of course. Breakfast in America would be on my "desert island" collection if I only had a few albums to take a long. I have Brother and the 12" promo for Cannonball. and you are correct, they are all great demo discs when I want to show off the system to people that dont get the need for a stack of speakers in a small room. Most of my listening is 70's and 80's rock. But I have a mix of a lot of stuff to go with it. A new album that I think has great dynamics is "Men amongst Mountains" by the Revivalists. You would recognize the song "Wish I knew you" from the blue moon beer commercial. But there are a few others on the double disk that really punch. I use that a lot to show off the system too. I am currently driving the 2's with theGFA- 555II , one set of 4's with a GFA-545II, and another with a GFA-535II. There is definitely an improvement driving the 4's with the 100w Adcom over the 60 watt. and of course the 200w amp just loafs along at my moderate listening levels. I have a modern mosfet multi channel Adcom in another room rated at 125w/ch. but after trying it in place of these I still favor the bipolar amps ( at least of the Adcom brand) The mosfet amp drives a set of Advents , and soon another set of AR4x's ! my limiting factor is my choice of cartridge. I cant bring myself to spending the kind of money Stereophile thinks it takes to buy a decent cart. I am using an older Shure something or another, not the V5 or whatever that one was. I really dont want an outboard phono amp and my Adcom wont accept a low level MC. so I am leaning towards something in the range of the Ortofon Bronze. I would be curious to hear your thoughts on MM carts in the affordable range, if you have one. Bob

Alright Frank, I'll bite. this is from 6-8 months ago. maybe longer. Right after I picked up the AR-2ax speakers. They are early Alnico models. I re-capped them and rebuilt the pots using several donor units with better wipers. The grills and cabinets are absolutely as I picked them and I think original. The AR4x speakers are rebuilt with original speakers and new caps, rebuilt pots etc. My system is nothing the world will get excited about, but you can see I favor Adcom gear. mainly because I bought most of it new and still have it. Would I like something fancy? sure, but its not the priority in my life. However I do appreciate fine stereo gear as I too recall the 70's era of equipment. My Dad bought the AR4x's and introduced me to the world of AR. Since this video I had some custom stands built for the 2's and the 4's, added another set of AR4x's and added an Adcom GFA-555II amp to drive the AR-2ax's either way. I get your vibe on listening and wish I could walk down the street and hear your system in person. recorded on an old iphone5 that does nothing for the actual quality of the sound in my opinion. but what the heck Bob F IMG_6270.mov

Wow Sara!! that looks amazing! I am glad you were able to use the original cone. that really looks great! keep the pictures coming! Bob

Sara, the new cap looks good, I probably would have done the same to cover the tracks of the old one anyway. gives it a nice new look Bob

I am going to second ra.ra , give the originals a try. if all else fails then you can fall back to the new ones.

well thats a bummer. but the woofers look pretty good. they should be rebuildable easily. So.. I would look into getting the tweeters rebuilt. I think it will be worth it in the long run. someone on here rebuilds them. Dont give up hope yet!! Bob

For me half the fun is chasing down the parts and researching the job. and then enjoying the final product knowing I made them work again! As for the 4's... well, as you recall I had my dads pair that I "improved" 25-30 years ago. after returning them to stock configuration I had those old Soundspeak woofers staring at me from a shelf, along with a set of the phenolic tweeters I bought before sourcing a good set of original AR tweeters. SO.. I was cruising the 'bay and there was a set of empty AR4-x cab's calling my name. long story short I rebuilt those too but used the poly 8" and the PR tweeters. still a stock AR4-x crossover, I didnt opt to go with a 10uf cap as suggested only because I suspect at some point I will find more AR4 tweeters and put them in. for the time being they sound pretty good, the only thing of the PR tweeter is that it is a bit louder ( more efficient?) I overcome that by dialing back the tweeter level on the back. The cabinets were hand sanded using 220 and then 320 grit paper and then finished with Watco Natural Danish oil. here is a picture of my non-AR AR4-x.. for now. notice the small wood screws holding in the poly woofer in, the t-nuts are still under there waiting for a set of original woofers! And this time I didnt use RTV silicone to bond them to the box making for easy removal. The PR tweeters are a really nice modern replacement. They sound great. Bob

Wow Sara!! I am jealous! another cool project. I am jonesing for another rebuild myself. I keep an eye on the local ads hoping to score another deal, something I can go look at before committing, plus, I really dont "need" more speakers. unless of course a deal too good to pass up comes along! Anyway. I would look into replacing the whole spider. if it had heat damage and became brittle whats to stop it from cracking again outside of your glue line. There appears to be a lot of places to pick up spiders. its just a matter of finding the right one. or you could pick up a pair of nice looking AR2ax Alnicos that are on the bay right now, but thats a giant expense. me personally, I would rebuild the originals. as for the grill cloth I would go for the material from 123 Stitch. its worth the extra expense. I have stapled it , and glued it to frames, I prefer to glue. I do an edge, cover with wax paper and then use a lot of small clamps and thick rulers to spread the load. do one side at a time. then when its all done. spritz it with a little water, dont have to soak it, or even get all the way to the edges, just get it moist, then dry it with your hairdryer and it will tighten right up and look like new. here are a couple picks. The AR2-ax in the pictures have original cloth, the 4's are 18 ct. Lambswool from 123 Stitch Bob F

You may be right, all I remember were two toggle switches , looking at google images it seems maybe one was for Cr02 tapes and the other simply noise reduction, in or out. either way we thought this was the coolest setup ever. Until my friends dad got some JBL Century 100's...

without getting into things, I have to agree. I miss those days, but then I suppose as we age thats a normal feeling. I do remember the day my dad brought home his first pair of AR4x speakers and we all marveled at how good they sounded for bookshelf speakers. Probably listened to something on his old Dual turntable or top loading Techniques cassette deck with the new Dolby C. all played thru an old Marantz receiver. man we had it made. !!! good times Bob F

Frank, I must admit that when I first picked up the 2's they sat on the floor for a very short time, then I put them on a couple matching small waste cans, I just didnt like leaving them on the floor. And I want to say they seemed a little boomy on the hardwood so I elevated them. it seemed like a better idea to get them to where they are in line with my ears as I sit in my chair rather than play to my ankles. I am very happy with the current elevation. The stands under the 2ax's are same height as the AR stands for the 3's. The stands under the 4ax's ended up 16" to the bottoms. Only because the design of the stands looked best that high. Bob F

not me !!

Yes I did, I guess what I am saying is that the thought of having to re-open the speaker and address any pot problems doesn't scare me off, and truthfully, if they go another 50 years they sure wont be my problem!!

I am interested ! thanks. I rebuilt my original pots and decided to keep things original in spite of the obvious long term issues the pots will probably pose vs a new L pad.