arken

Figured I would update this post: Turns out it was the fuses. When I first got the speakers they came with what appeared to be a new set of fuses in a bag. While my woofers were off getting new surrounds I figured I would change the fuses given all the horror stories I had heard. Turns out those fuses were bad. After changing the fuses with some new ones from Vintage-AR the problems were gone. They sound amazing after getting them dialed in with placement. I haven't changed the caps or had and of the tweeters reworked. Just want to enjoy them for a while them I will measure the caps and see what I got. All of the mids and tweeters appear to be working and I hear no evidence of any one speaker being louder or sounding different than any of the others. The man I bought them from really took nice care of them. The wood is near perfect. I'm really happy with how this all turned out. These are now my everyday speaker with the 3's being used with a fisher 400.

I knew i would get some great answers from this, Nice! Once that AR bug gets you lol

I'm curious , this question is for multiple AR speaker owners. What do you find yourself listening to most? Maybe another way to put this is what combination power and AR speakers pleases you the most. For me it is a Fisher 400 and a set of AR 3's. There is certainly not enough power to bring out there full potential but there is something about that combination that pleases me to no end. Once the Fisher is good and warm after a half hour or so there is a warmth that comes through That I have come to love. I either play a old Pioneer elite pd-65 or a AR-ES1 turntable. Either way it leaves me satisfied every time. Funny that a 1966 Receiver and a 1965 speaker can sound that good. What about others?

Roy, Just getting ready to contact you guys. If possible i would bring them to you guys. Shipping is quite expensive but i could bring them to you one weekend. Drop them off,pick them up another weekend. I'm sure you guys don't want to be moving these around. I will literary set this where you want and pick them up in the same spot. These are to nice for someone like me to be working on. If that's not an option i can look into shipping. No one but you is touching them. I refuse to do any damage to a speaker that someone took such care of for 50 years. Let me know what you think, Ken

So I replaced the fuse, same lower sound. The whole speaker sounds lower in volume. Wonder if I could just replace the blown midrange as a start and see where that gets me. I have an extra from a 3a. It has to be fixed or replaced anyway? Cleaned the switch in front. No more crackle when you change spectral balance. Frustrating!

I have one speaker louder than the other. Switched speakers all good with the amp. pre-amp ………….. I really don't want to tear them apart. I'm good with a three way speaker but this looks like a complicated circuit. If it's not an easy fix I may take them to New York if he will let me. Anyone ever have this problem? I know one midrange wasn't sounding right(it would pop) in that speaker but no other problems. Also the switch in the front needs to be cleaned. I got the deal of a lifetime on a near perfect set of AR-LST's (cosmetically) from an older gentleman in Oklahoma who crated them and got them to me in the same perfect condition. I refuse to mess these up!!! I had the woofers redone (the surrounds were falling apart) Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks

Wow, I can't believe how nice these turned out when you first posted the pictures, I didn't think they would look that good but they look terrific !! Nice job!

The reason I asked is because I pulled a few caps from an ar11 that were still within 10%. . I have never checked the ESR but I am going to give it a try. There is so many variables to capacitors , what type , size , brand. It can be a bit confusing especially given that people don't even agree on what type to use in any given application. Though it sounds like changing them is a pretty safe bet. RTally is right if your gonna take the time to pull it out so it can be properly tested you might as well just change it. Thanks for all the great information!!

Is there any reason to change a capacitor when it's value it still within 10%.

They turned out great! I love those speaker stands.

When i was rebuilding my 3's i ended up with an extra mid range. Bought a single one first and waited on another and got a pair after losing patience on waiting for another single one. I sent all 3 to the guys in New York and all 3 were repairable after the originals that came with them were not repairable. So i have an extra now that has already been repaired. Think it's safe to sell or should i hang on to it? There pretty hard to come buy. I need to have the tweeters rebuilt and the sale of the mid could fund that project? Thoughts?

Did you ever find these? I have one 3a empty box if you could find one more? Not in the greatest of shape i could send you a picture after work today? Ken

Thank you Roy!!

Does anyone know when they switched over mid-ranges in an AR3 ? I see a pair for sale serial 42659 and i was wondering if that was the larger mid-range or the smaller one they changed over to. Thanks

Why do my AR3A's have the best bass ? They don't even have the Alnico woofers in them? This includes the 3's the 11's. Out of all of them there in the roughest shape yet they produce the best bass? I like the high end and mid range of the 3 but nothing beats the bass of the 3A's in my opinion. Is it the way it is crossed over, the cabinet, the woofer ? Someone should make a combo of those two speakers! ARKen

i Am forever changing around speakers, some like this one to my delight. The AR 91 is a little more sensitive than some of it's older brothers. I have had just about everything hooked up to the old fisher 400 . While it doesn't have a lot of power it sounds terrific in combination with the 91's. The lows really come through not with chest pounding authority but in it's ability to go deep. It's the best combination with the Fisher yet. Truth be told i really didn't think it would be a audible difference but i was wrong. No more switching this is a good combination !!

I bet that does sound good!! That is a beast of a receiver . Those things are going up and up in price. I love they era when they were all in competition .

I'm intrigued. Thanks for the reviews theirs a lot in common with those reviews. I'm not sure anyone thinks they sound better overall but they have areas where they shine. The one reviewer said the bass heads will love it. Thought that was an interesting comment.

Thanks Stimpy, Interesting, I would be curious to hear a set. You don't see these come up for sale that often. Speakers are so subjective. it's so hard to know without listening to them.

There is a set of AR303A on eBay. There really isn't a ton of information online about them. I understand different people were behind the development of these speakers using some of the same thinking behind the 3&3a but how do they sound? They look kinda nice?

The is a set of the foam inserts on eBay. Not sure if your interested just thought i'd tell you.

Ar_pro hit the nail on the head. I bought a set of 91's to have spare parts for my 90's. They wanted a 100 bucks for one tweeter and i got the set of 91's for 250. What i didn't really expect is that the 91's are a great speaker. You can't go wrong , a great speaker that has sentimental value.

Thanks Guys, I am going to do some experimenting this weekend. The 3's are really growing on me. The higher frequencies don't wear you out like other speakers do. You can listen for hours and not get fatigued. I watched something on you-tube that said pull your speakers back a 1/5 of the distance of the length of the room and sit 1/5 of the distance off the back wall. In may case that puts me a little over 14 foot away from the speaker when in the sweet spot. That seems a bit far to me but what do i know. I love these speakers the look , the sound everything. I bought the correct speaker grill material but once i got them done i was able to preserve the grill material on a new frame. Even though the material darkened quite a bit i still prefer over the newer material. Thanks Again guys for all your help and advice!!!

First i wanted to thank everyone in here for all your help rebuilding the 3 and 3a's . After much changing around of speakers the 3's have become my everyday speaker. Now that my system is pretty much complete i want to work on room acoustics. I am going to put in a couple acoustic diffusers at the reflection points and a few acoustic panels to take care of the echos. I have always been told to put acoustic research speakers up against the wall but everything i read says pull them out from the wall. If it means i will sacrifice some bass to correct the imaging i'm ok with that. What are your thoughts? Thanks ARKen

I thought the pair I have were in good shape WOW!