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Scoup

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Everything posted by Scoup

  1. I acquired these with a lot of 16 speakers. Finally got around to them. One woofer metered ok but was very noisy. Turned out to be a cracked spider. Repaired that, re-foamed the drivers, and lit them up. Oh my! Was not expecting to be impressed, but these are fantastic speakers! I cleaned up the cabinets, and other than a bad water stain on top of one they are starting to look respectable! Recovered the grills and have been enjoying them for a week or so. Wondering if anyone is familiar with these. There are 3 caps and I can read the values on two of them but the third was glued on the writing in both crossovers. The writing came off with the glue. Hoping someone can tell me what the cap values are. If you get a chance to pick up a set of these, don't hesitate. They are something special.
  2. These have been sitting around for a while because they needed midrange pots. Finally got around to ordering 10 ohm pots. Just gotta modify the shafts so it will accept the original knobs. 3m Mincom A2000. Can find hardly any info was told by one gentleman that these were never mass produced and only included with a Mincom studio as near field monitors. Not sure if that's true or not but they are certainly well built and unique drivers for sure. He also said that everything including drivers were made by 3m. Mincom had the contract for NASA back in the day during the cold war, so nothing could be contracted or bought out. They don't go too loud but they sound great! Very good bass and the mids and highs sparkle! And you can dial these in with 3 pots! Super cool!
  3. I asked indeed. I suspected that the 9LSI was better, but that’s what I have. Truly wanted opinions. I like my LSI better than the LS but cannot comment on the 9s because I’ve never heard them. Thank you for your opinion...
  4. I’ll have to see if I’ve still got my list for the value of the caps.. I did find this pic on my phone... hmmmmm, photo does not want to load.
  5. Got these on trade a while ago. Until that point I had never heard of Design Acoustics and they intrigued me. The seemingly haphazard placement of the mids and tweeters (all Peerless) contradicted the heavy, well built and beautifully finished cabinets. The two 10” rear firing woofers should produced good bottom end... All 9 drivers appeared to be working, and while they had potential, they weren’t great compared to my AR9LSIs or my Heathkit AS1348s. I decided to open them up for a look see. I desoldered a few of the caps and they metered way out. I re-capped them and they sounded even worse... I chalked it up to a poor trade (I traded a set of 10pi for them) and pushed them to the back. Off and on over the last few months they have seen duty but it’s been limited. The other day I put them back into rotation and they seemed to sound really good. I settled in for a critical listening session. Over the next 3 hours they continued to sound better and better. I’ve never heard such a drastic change as the caps burn in before. Eventually I had to A/B them with my AR9LSIs. I was shocked to hear how good they sounded compared to my LSIs! With soft jazz, horns and vocals they are the best speakers I’ve heard. In that category they surpass the LSIs. They don’t have the signature AR bottom end bass but, they are certainly no slouch either. The down side is it is painful to listen to anything but the most pristine vinyl. Every pop, and crackle sounds front and center. They will not replace my 9s, but they won’t be going anywhere soon either...
  6. Hey Luigi. In my comparison the same amp/pre source was used for both speakers. (Nikko Alpha I, Beta II, Sansui SR838). The LS had been re-capped two years ago, the LSI were original. All drivers in all speakers metered well and functioned perfectly. They were placed beside each other for the test but I did not swap positions.
  7. Just curious... I recently had the opportunity to A/B my set or AR9LSi speakers with a set of AR9LS speakers. I’m wondering if others have had a chance to hear these three titans of the AR lineup. I read a lot on the original 9s, but not much on their successors. Listening to the LS vs the LSI, I preferred the LSI. The sound, to my ears, was more refined, better detail. Vocals were clearer, strings and sax better. I have never heard a set of the original 9s. I wonder how they would compare...
  8. Mine was also too soft to get any useable info from. I got my foam cut at a local foam shop. For $60 I got 3 different weights. They are a tight fit so I didn’t glue them in. I’ve been testing the 3 different density sets and I can hear no noticeable difference.
  9. Scoup

    Ar10pi

    I agreed to trade a friend the first set of AR10pi that I got a few months ago. I agreed to the trade before I was done. After I finished and tested them I instantly regretted agreeing to the trade. I found another set in a city close by and bought them based on two fuzzy pictures. They were in worse condition than I expected, but they turned out pretty good. Sound as good as the last set, so I’m happy!!
  10. All done, caps removed metered within 25% and ESR was low, but I am sure they sound much better now. Could just be me though...
  11. Once this is done, I'm on to a set of AR2AX with mismatched woofers and then another set of 10pi's.
  12. Thanks for the info Brian. Would have been a time saver for sure. I already have mine all apart, new caps in place and I'm ready to test to make sure I didn't make any mistakes. Then I'll mount in the cabinets and see if there is any improvement. Not expecting much as all caps metered within 10% but it needed to be done eventually. Once everything is in place and working I'll renew the ferrofluid in the tweeters and mids and everything will be done. I have already re-foamed all drivers and replaced the foam is the bass chambers. Cabs and grills are mint so no need to refinish.
  13. What a terrible way to mount a crossover!! The LSI uses a circuit board with the resistors on the top side, the inductors around the edges mounted on a melamine board and the capacitors on the bottom side of the circuit board. The binding posts come through the melamine board and are held in place by a nut, the post continues up into the circuit board and is soldered into the circuit board. The caps are glued to the melamine board. Problematic for re-capping. I broke all 4 binding posts because the solder had wicked down the threads. Heavy use of a heat gun and putty knife allowed me to remove the melamine board from the back baffle, and then the circuit board from the melamine board. I was able to shoehorn Solen film caps into their correct spots, with the exception of the 470uf cap. I went with electrolytic for the smaller physical size. A film cap that value would just be too big. I replaced the binding posts but they aren't long enough to reach the circuit board so I'll have to run wires from the binding posts to the circuit board.
  14. thank you all for the information. After prolonged listening, I have come to the realization that these are the finest sounding “bookshelf” speakers I have ever heard. I am blown away with the full sound from these smaller cabinets. Friends assume I am playing my 9LSI speakers and are surprised when they realize it is the 10’s!!
  15. SN C0051 black front baffle, SN C0081 natural front baffle. The woofer from the earlier cabinet was painted black the other was unpainted silver. Exactly same components array otherwise. I have pulled the staples and the velcro strips from the black painted one and will strip the black paint and finish it natural like the other. Great sounding speakers. Just finished re-foaming, so I'm enjoying a nice sound check.
  16. The serial numbers on mine are 0051and 0081.
  17. Another question... Both speakers appear original however one has a black painted front baffle and the other is unpainted wood veneer.
  18. This is my first post here. I’ve always referenced this forum, just never joined... I recently acquired a set of AR10TT speakers. However in my research they are always referred to at AR10PI. Can anyone tell me the difference?
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