DonT
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Posts posted by DonT
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9 hours ago, RoyC said:
Since you are looking for a more substantial response.
1) What type of rubber is it? Is it butyl rubber, like the original?
2)What solvent do you use to thin your material? Is it toluene, like the original?
3)Is the material applied as a liquid? Your material appears to be quite viscous and stringy.
4)What procedure are you using to "test" it? Testing data (Fs and Fc) for specific woofers will be essential for proper evaluation.
For the record, my formula is sold by Larry Lagace/"Vintage_AR" on Ebay, and he is a businessman. I sometimes have leftover material, which can be purchased by forum members upon request for less than the Ebay price (though I don't ship it internationally). It is made in very small batches and is difficult and noxious to make. I first made it a bunch of years ago in consultation with two of my fellow authors of this forum's AR-3a restoration guide, Tom Tyson and John O'Hanlon. It was supposed to be a one time endeavor, until Larry, for whom I do some repair work, decided to sell it. Rtally is also correct about the cost of packaging, bottle, brush, and in Larry's case, instructions and Ebay fees.
Why not share the "ingredients" now, so we can all test it?
Roy
1) What type of rubber is it? Is it butyl rubber, like the original? Yes
2)What solvent do you use to thin your material? Is it toluene, like the original? Yes
3)Is the material applied as a liquid? Your material appears to be quite viscous and stringy. Yes (The video is without the toluene) Also your stuff is just as viscous and stringy. I can do a side by side video if you like?
As for testing I have not got that far. I have been working on making it.
As for what it is, I asked here a few years ago and was told that they didn't want to say because they put years into developing it. I could do the same or just buy the stuff on ebay. Not the exact words said to me but that was the jest of it.
So at this point I will ask, What is your formula? That would save me a lot of time and testing?
As for it being noxious to make. That is true to a point. The only thing that is noxious is the Toluene. But you have to deal with that no matter what because it comes in the finished product. So if it is safe to use with the proper procedure you can take the exact same precautions to make your own.
And expense of it. The bottle and brush are under $1.00 for both and the customer pays the shipping. Not a huge amount, but yes you do get a nice product. And 1 quart of Toluene is $27.00 (Shipping included) but it will do about 62 jars the size being sold on ebay so that is under $0.50 per jar, The Butyl is about 25 cents per jar. So just a quick guess each jar sold on ebay costs under $2.00 to make and the cheapest one sold is $14.95 plus $5.00 shipping.
So if you make it your self you don't need the price of the jar. Brushes are dirt cheap. You can make a nice LARGE jar of it for lets say $10.00
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39 minutes ago, RTally said:
Also, without documented test results over time, I would not trust anything other than Roy's goo. For your goop to be accepted by those of us that know about Roy's goo, you have a lot of hurdles to overcome.
I totally agree with testing. This is going to be a LONG process. It will be at least a year if not 2 before I will say it is ready. I am just having fun doing it. I have a pair of KLH 24's that need sealed real bad. I only paid $5.00 for them so they are the first test dummy. Then I will see how they work over time.
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Because when I am done testing it you will be able to buy the ingredients and have enough on hand to do 100 speakers for slightly more than Roy charges for one.
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Wow no response? no questions?
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I have been working on my own compound for re-doping my KLH and AR Speakers. Here is what I have made. It is a rubber based compound that never hardens at all. This stuff has been sitting out in the open air for over 2 months and still has the consistency of snot lol. I don't see any reason it will not work great on our speakers. Look at my video of it. The still pic of it shows how it settles back to level after being touched. Oh and it is REAL cheap to make. I can make enough to do 100 speakers for the price of the stuff on ebay.
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I like the Ebay ones best. The Facebook ones look like one of the mids was replaced. Plus at this point the Ebay ones are cheaper. But keep in mind you will most likely need to refurbish them. New caps in my opinion are a must. I got lucky and picked mine up at an estate sale for the princely sum of $10.00! After fixing them I have $85 in the pair. Good luck hunting
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New Veneer?
in KLH
I also have a pair of AR 2A's. They would look amazing in Rosewood but the veneer is to nice on them. I just couldn't do that to a beautiful original pair of speakers.
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New Veneer?
in KLH
20 minutes ago, Jim Pearce said:
The corners on mine look like this. That is why I want to re-veneer them.
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New Veneer?
in KLH
I have to say I got real lucky with the Rosewood. I got enough to do 10 pairs of speakers in just that. You would be shocked at the amount of veneer I got at this sale.
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New Veneer?
in KLH
10 minutes ago, Jim Pearce said:Hey there Jkent,
Also, what is the proper way to reform corner bashes?
If you are going to re-veneer them from what I have been reading the wood workers say actual car bondo is best. If you are just trying to make it look better then I truly don't know myself?
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New Veneer?
in KLH
On 2/6/2021 at 9:33 AM, JKent said:Would you stain the frame around the front?
I was going to attempt to veneer the front trim as well. That part should be easier because it is solid wood as far as I can tell.
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I agree on passing those by. The surround on one woofer look wrong as well. They should be cloth and it looks like someone used Advant surrounds on them.
Here is my originals
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New Veneer?
in KLH
On a side note, It is a real shame that Brazilian Rosewood has been harvested to almost extension. Every one should be able to experience the smell! There is nothing like it. It really smells like roses but stronger and in my opinion BETTER!
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New Veneer?
in KLH
I have a pair of model Fives and they need new veneer. I lucked out and picked up 11 rolls of veneer at an estate sale cheap. I know this wouldn't be original but I got 4 rolls of Brazilian Rosewood in this lot. I have always thought it is one of the best looking woods out there. Should I go back to walnut because I got nice rolls of it to or put the beautiful Rosewood on?
Rosewood
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Just finished the grill cloth on my AR 2A"s (I messed up the original ones 🥴). I used burlap that I had and I think it looks pretty nice. Now to refinish them and they will be done. Oh the badges are originals not repops.
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I personally think the original pots can be rebuilt with no problem. You just need to polish the brass contacts and clean them up with a dremmel. Get several very fine grit grinding stones for use in the dremmel. And when done put some dielectric grease on them to keep it from corroding again.
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Anyone know of a guy named Peter who worked for AR?
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8 minutes ago, DonT said:
Yes if you use a very fine grit grinding wheel with a dremmel you can polish off the pitting and get down to solid brass again.
I got good it this from rebuilding extremely old switches in antique fans that I collect. I have fans that are 130+ years old and they work great. Here is one I restored. An Emerson model 1510 from about 1909. The blade switch in the bottom has to have the contact points polished to make proper connection again. All I know is there isn't any brass that can not be re polished again even if it is pitted.
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34 minutes ago, Tim D said:
So the pitting wasn't a problem with the restored pots? Interesting. I have two of them from refurbing my daughters units. I also have the red plastic post types in my latest set. Maybe I can refurb the pots instead of going with the Lpads this time.
Yes if you use a very fine grit grinding wheel with a dremmel you can polish off the pitting and get down to solid brass again.
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23 hours ago, Tim D said:
Wish I had the time. Still working from home and busy as heck. I have the Fisher amp in the queue ahead of it too.
Anyway, once I get into it I'll have to determine if the pots are salvageable or not.
The pots should be salvageable. I literally just did this one on my AR 2A's. It was totally corroded. I cleaned it back down to shiny brass and then applied dielectric grease to keep it from happening again.
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Those where great thanks for posting them.
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Nice! And with the virus craziness you have time to do what you want to them.
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2 minutes ago, frankmarsi said:
I grew up in the big city unlike many here. LOL.
I was on Cortland Street almost every lunch hour I had as my first job on Wall Street in 1967 allowed me to be in that area. If you were into electronics back then (?), maybe you can imagine the great fun that was?
Between the my ages of 9 years and eleven years old, my father had already taken me there several times so I would know where to go to buy electronic stuff such as tubes and other goodies that he was into as he was a old radio ‘fixer-up-per’ from the late 1940’s into the 1960’s.
He was on a very limited budget and fixed many discarded tube radios he would find and bring home.
Actually, I believe yous guys were not members here yet and probably still enjoying your Radio Shack Optimus III speakers and receivers LOL. I covered most of that whole story on this site over 13 years ago, I guess yous guys missed it.
Canal Street also was a main hub for anything electrical though, mostly odd lots of junk like those old capacitors shown which could be found almost everywhere back then but. Cortland had hi-fi and stereo stuff so it commanded my attention even more.
Anyway I bought my first raw speaker cabinets there in late 1967 and began my journey with a target of someday owning AR speakers and Crown amps. Back then Crown was mostly known for their excellent 10 inch tape recorders but their early D300 was one of the first S.S. available until Phase LInear entered the field and knocked out Crown mercilessly.
The photos shown above of those old capacitors are very familiar to me as when I was in the USN, we would throw out large numbers of them because they were being phased out of stock.
Very nice story. I bet that was a lot of fun. Growing up in Indiana on a farm I didn't see much as far as electronics go, But I really loved and still love music. I am basically a nube as far as these great speakers go. I happened across a pair of KLH Fives at an estate sale dirt cheap a few yeas back. After bringing them back to life I have been sold on anything Kloss made and these are just another prime example and sound GREAT!
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Well I took the other one apart and just kept going HeHe! I removed the pots and capacitors on it and got it up and running again. I must say it does sound REAL nice, Much better than the OLA's I have and definitely in the running with my KLH Fives. The capacitors are just fine. I couldn't see the value of the center one because they are glued together but they tested at 4.5 uf and 6.5 uf. Also did AR ever sell speakers to the military? Look at the stamp on the Capacitor. Well now I have to do the other one. I am real happy both covers came off real easy. Oh and thanks to all the help and info on removing the woofer (I got this one out). The pots where real corroded. I disassembled them and cleaned them with my Dumore grinder (Dermmel on steroids) and got them back to nice shiny brass inside and working fine. I will say I am very impressed with just how one sounds by it's self. I can't wait to hear the pair together!
Speaker Surround Dope For KLH and AR speakers
in The Kitchen
Posted
I have spent several years as suggested to me to come up with my own formula but unlike your self I am just supposed to "Give it up" ??? I guess your time is more valuable than mine??? You do see the hypocrisy correct??? I have publicly stated it is based on the original combination of butyl rubber and toluene, Just as you have.
So why is it that I do basically the same thing you did but because it's me and not you I am "playing around with a plate of goo" and "demanding you divulge the formula" I didn't demand anything. I asked for you to tell, The same as you "asked" me.
Yes I have several years and money tied up in this also!
But some how me doing this isn't the same??
I will ask this, Why should I do the very thing you have a huge problem doing!!!!