Tmc

Aadams IARrybody Tom Tyson Roy C Richard C I believe my bass problem was polarity all along. I took another look at my speaker wire connections. The wire on the left speaker was 16 gauge dual copper wire with a white stripe along one side. I connected the white stripe to terminal 2 (+) on the speaker and to red (+) on the receiver. The non-striped wire went to terminal 1 (-) on the speaker and black (-) on the receiver. The speaker wire on the right speaker was not long enough, so I found some older 18 gauge wire. In the dim lighting of the room, it appeared to be black (oxidized) copper wire on one side and silver on the other. So, I connected the copper wire to 2(+) on the speaker and red (+) on the receiver and the silver wire to 1 (-) on the speaker and black (-) on the receiver. However, under better lighting, the wire was that looked like oxidized copper was actually the silver and the silver was actually the copper. So the connections were the same from the speaker to receiver but different (I think) for each speaker. In any event, I bought new 16 gauge copper speaker wire with a red stripe and counted the red stripe as positive on both the speakers and receiver and the non-stripe as negative. Then I re-positioned the speakers so they were against a short wall and placed them about a foot and a half above the floor. The bass is no longer muted, the speakers sound much better. The receiver I have is a Sony STR-AV/500. It is a dual channel receiver with a button to turn surround sound on or off. I checked and “Surround” was off. I also unscrewed the tweeters from the cabinet and looked on the backs for part numbers. Unfortunately, there were no numbers to be found. Posted pics of the tweeters: http://thegoldenflower.net/AR-2ax_02.html When we get a weekend with better weather, I will take the speakers outside and un-solder the tweeter wires to check the impedance and also look at the back of the woofers and possibly remove the stuffing and look at the capacitors and potentiometers. I am still set on replacing the tweeters with ones original to the AR-2ax, but no luck yet finding any. Speaking of wire connections, found these tips on the internet (2 separate sources) which only add to the confusion: “If correctly connected, the copper-colored wire (compared to the silver-colored wire) or the wire with the white stripe (compared to the wire with no stripe) should be your positive wire. If your amp or speaker has color-coded connections, the positive should connect to the red connection.” “Every speaker wire will have an indicator to tell them apart, such as color. In some high-end speaker wires, the insulation is clear, or see-through, enough to see the bare wires. When this is the case, usually the silver wire will be the positive polarity and the copper wire will be negative.” ;o) Thanks again to all for your help. Tmc

Richard_C, I did not check the amp setup menu, had no idea there was one, lol. I originally had the speakers connected to a low end Marantz receiver. My uncle gave my husband the Sony AV500 and he in turn gave my Marantz to his cousin. So, I am not familiar with the Sony at all and did not even realize it came with a remote. I’ve downloaded a manual for it and will ask my husband tonight if he has the remote and follow your suggestions. Thanks a million. So many helpful suggestions from the folks on this forum, a great place! Tmc

Tom Tyson, Thank you for an extremely informative post. It is great to learn the history behind the speakers and see my puzzle pieces fall into place. I managed to dig in my files yesterday and found the receipt for the repairs made in ’95. It does not look as if the sound shop did anything to the pots or capacitors, just replaced the tweeters, woofer surrounds and dust caps. The tweeters were ordered, so it seems likely they could be the ones sold by AB Tech as referenced by Roy C. below. (Thank you, Roy). I would prefer to find and replace them with an original early front wired set. So, I will keep a watchful eye on E-bay and the net. I am going to look inside the cabinets this weekend with DH’s (dear husband’s ) help and post pics of what we find. Tmc

Aadams, Thank you for your quick response to my inquiry. I was a poor student in the 70’s and saved for a long time to get my AR speakers. In fact, I had them for months before I was able to purchase other components to get them up and running! Having to replace original parts in ’95 broke my heart, but at the time I did not realize I had other options. Wish I had known about this site then. I am happy to hear that aside from what was replaced you believe my original purchase was genuine. The speakers do look different in many ways from most of those I see on this forum, so I was a bit worried. As far as I know, the pots are original. When I brought the speakers in for repair, the pots were intermittent, you could touch/wiggle the knobs and produce static and at certain stations on the knob turns, sounds would cut out – not generate. I am guessing they were cleaned as currently they seem to be working okay and do enhance or decrease the speaker sound. I intend to remove the woofers and look inside the cabinets, however, I am hesitant to do it by myself, so need to wait for a sunny weekend and get my husband to supervise. The most worry I have is removing the “rock wool” fiberglass type stuffing. But, I am curious to see what has been done inside. I will definitely photograph each stage. Tomorrow, I will take a closer look at the woofer gasket and play some more with the pots and check the speaker wire connections. Thanks for the advice and reassurance. Tmc IARrybody, Thank you for the welcome to the forums and your response to my questions. Replacing the woofer surrounds may be a good place for a beginner like me to start. What, if I may ask, are the more desired ones? I plan to look inside the cabinets and will definitely document each step with pictures. I love the speakers and wish them to sound their best. I just need a bit of guidance in getting to that point ;0) Tmc Aadams, I am fairly sure the speaker wires are connected correctly, but I will double check. Thanks for the reminder. Tmc

Hi, Newbie here. I just found this forum and have spent half the day reading and reminiscing. In the 70’s, I purchased a pair of AR-2ax speakers (floor display) at a Heathkit Electronics Center in Houston. I still have the sales receipt. Unfortunately, the date reads as 10/14/7T, so I cannot tell if I bought them in ‘71 or ’75. IIRC, Heathkit used to sell kits for the AR2 and AR3 speakers, but I am fairly sure the ones I purchased were not built from a kit. That said, mine seem to differ in many ways from the AR-2ax speakers I have seen posted on this site. The backs of mine are not plywood, but a fiberboard type material. The serial number that is still partially readable looks as if it was typed on a strip and pasted in place and the paper itself is not as large and of a more complex design than most I have seen. The speaker badges have raised lettering and plastic backings with a post that fits through a hole in the grill that is secured with a push washer allowing them to rotate. The grills attach to the speakers with Velcro tabs instead of staples. In 1995, the foam surrounding the woofers was crumbling and the pot adjustments not working well. I took the speakers to a local sound shop to be reconditioned and re-foamed/re-coned. The shop mentioned part(s) needed to be replaced and said they might not be able to match the original bass sound of the speakers. I remember being sorely disappointed and reluctantly giving my okay for the repairs. I suspect they replaced or repaired the pots and replaced the tweeters, as the black tape that used to cover the wires leading from the tweeter fronts is missing and there are no connections made there. As you can probably tell, I am not very speaker savvy. At that time, I replaced the speaker grill cloth with linen from Hancock fabrics. I wasn’t trying for an identical match, just wanted a material that looked nice and clean. I see now there is fabric available from 123 Stitch that is close to the original. A short time after the repair, I put the speakers in storage as I moved frequently and either did not have the space or the time to set up a stereo system. Now that I am settled, I hooked them up to a Sony AV/500. They sound okay, but lack the bass and depth that I remembered. I’ve taken pictures and posted a link to them (below) in hopes that someone on the forum can give me an idea of what I actually have, i.e., the condition of the speakers and which part(s) are original and which are not. http://thegoldenflower.net/AR-2ax_02.html If feasible, I would like to restore the speakers inside and out, replace any substitute parts with genuine AR. I don’t know much about electronics but am willing to learn. My husband will help and I can see there is a lot of information on the forum. I have bookmarked, downloaded and read the article on the AR3a restoration, which motivated me to give all this a try. Any and all help, comments, and advice from you guys/gals on the forum will be sincerely appreciated. Regards, Tmc