DeSelbyofDalkey

I ended up spending approximately $400 on parts alone to rebuild my crossovers. Each speaker took me approximately six hours to complete, and neither was very easy to do, so $495 is not all that bad if you trust the technician to do a good job and (s)he will use high quality components. It would have been easy to have my rebuild drag out over days and months as Stimpy is experiencing. I waited months for a solid block of free time to do it and get it done.

I installed the Midwest Speakers tweeters in my AR90s. They are very, very good—at least as good as the original AR tweeters: Wider, smoother response than the originals from my pair. They do not use the AR tweeter plastic bezel, so dispersion is wider than original. I contacted Midwest Speaker and they said that using the original tweeter plate on top of their tweeter is fine as long as it is not screwed in too tightly. I tried it and the AR plate does see to focus the treble a bit more, but until I get a second bezel I cannot know about the effect on two. The Midwest Speakers tweeter is slightly more efficient (more sound per watt) than the original. It somewhat upset the balance of the entire speaker. Not terribly, but noticeably so. The -3db switch reduced output slightly more than I wanted, so I will probably try installing a 1 ohm 22w resistor to see if it helps match the tweeter to the rest of the speaker better. I can live without it, but I want to try. For the price, the Midwest Speaker are still excellent options. They are very well made and are straight drop-in replacements.

Hello- I need an AR 200029-1 tweeter bezel for the AR9/90. This is the one with a small silver ring. See image. Alternately, if you have a broken (or working) 200029-1, I will still be interested. Please PM replies. Thanks!

Back to the original question, my experience is that my AR90s are better balanced overall. It was a long time ago that I auditioned Paradigm towers, but my memory is that they were powerful at the top and bottom, treble and bass. My newly re-capped and re-wired AR90s seem—after a fair amount of adjustment—displaying the type of clear treble, midrange, mid-bass, and low bass that I could not get from my DQ-10s or Acoustat Model 3s. Imaging is not quite like the Dahlquists, but it is very good. Slightly wider and easily perceptible than the Acoustats, too. I found that an amp/preamp change made a significant difference in my listening room. I tend to listen to a lot of jazz at moderate levels, so outright SPL is not important to me. Accuracy and overall balance are, and the AR90s are getting very close to what I seek. My 2¢. HTH.

You can send them to Regnar. I am told they do good work, but they are very expensive. If you send the crossovers to be rebuilt, you will still need to deal with all the wires and connections to the speakers and input terminals. That is nearly as much work as rebuilding the crossovers alone. I bought one of the Regnar kits with capacitors and upgraded wiring. It was still expensive, but I paid for the minimal hassle of sourcing parts and their easy directions. I think it was worth it. My DQ-10s sound better than ever now.

I am no coward, but as you note, there might be a specific way of installing the insulation that I might not be able to reproduce. I also wonder if it might be difficult to remove/reinstall. I do not need to take it out but would like to check the inside of the cabinets.

Has anyone removed the internal (poly fill, I think) insulation from AR90s, and if so, is it difficult to get back in? TIA

Sorry if this has been posted before, but I did not find mention of these particular tweeters in forum searches. Does anyone have experience with these tweeters currently on sale on eBay? TIA

If it helps put things into perspective, my AR-90s cost approximately $100 less than the Denver pair. That said, I am nearly certain the crossovers are untouched—but the drivers are either in top condition or rebuilt.

Thanks!

I searched and could find no answer: Does anyone know why many floor-standing AR speakers have circular cutouts rather than a smooth bottom? Included is a photo from one of ar-pro's rebuild threads as an example.

Wow. Very strange and very intriguing, these speakers. I remember seeing the Design Acoustics name many years ago but never heard them. Does anyone know why D8s are not mirror imaged?

That is the current compromise. As you note, the room placement works very well with the other speakers but less so with the AR-90s. That said, I have been playing with placement and those wonderful crossover switches on the back. These are the first speakers I have owned which truly respond to any sort of crossover/level adjustment. I was surprised. For most speakers, I run with no alteration to speaker levels, but on the AR-90s the different positions made very noticeable and very worthwhile changes. I like how the AR manual recommends adjusting each speaker individually—which is really how it should be. Not that I did it, but I like the concept. I just finished listening to my early mono edition LP of Kind of Blue. I am beginning to like these speakers. ?

Many thanks on the detailed recommendations for the crossovers. That helps quite a bit. My room is set up well for speakers that need space around them—specifically my DQ-10s and Acoustat Model 3s. I am still playing around with positioning the AR-90s. I have a subwoofer to compensate for the bass I would gain by placing them closer to walls, but it would be nice to get as much from them as possible. I did notice some incredible bass response last night playing some Boards of Canada. The depth and accuracy of the low end response was surprising. My Acoustats are wonderful with mid-bass, and the Dahlquists have very nice low-end bass (when using the Luxman 5M20), but the AR-90s introduced me to a new level of bass reproduction. I want to see if I can capitalize on the that. I also discovered that my iPhone 11 now is my best digital camera. My Canon Powershot SD700 served me well for many years, but I guess it is time to retire it. Funny how times change.

And the absence of rim filling material on the woofers. It was the first thing I noticed. That meant the woofers were re-foamed or at least inspected. ? So my guess (from the serial numbers) is that I have some late production models, yes?