Stillhouse

Back with an update. Finally have these up and making sweet sounds. I went with a pair of PRO 031 woofers from Human Speakers(and 4Ohm serial resistors). I was able to get the original pots cleaned up as well. The grills are covered by some 16 count needlepoint fabric from Michael's. Might not be an exact match, but looks good enough from across the room to me. Lefty Righty Many thanks to all the helpful folks and information here!

This project is going to low priority for now. I managed to ruin one of the surrounds from the kit I got from Vintage AR, I'm not going to ruin the second trying to do this myself. If I find a suitable replacement for the bad woofer I will just send them both to someone more capable than I to do the refoam.

So if that is true, wouldn't a woofer of that type be at least compatible(if not identical) with/to the A5? In that case I would buy this pair of AR2ax woofers and refoam: https://www.ebay.com/itm/234048470127?hash=item367e603c6f:g:OVwAAOSwplVgWHRO

I started a return on the woofer service yesterday, since I had not shipped it yet and it seems parts will not be available anyway.

I think I'm beginning to understand why these were donated to Goodwill. Seems finding parts or service for this model's woofers to get them back to their original design is a Sisyphean task.

I keep seeing conflicting information about the early AR 10" woofers. Some say the 2ax and 5 shared woofers, others say not and allude to a fair difference between the two. There's a pair of 2ax woofers up for sale online that need refoaming but otherwise are in working condition. They're dated to 1969, a few months later than mine are. If these were a reasonable replacement I would order them and use the refoam kit I have ordered from Vintage AR to fix them up.

I had contacted him before about the possibility of a voice coil replacement and he replied that he may not have a replacement coil for this woofer, but he could not say for certain without the woofer in hand. I wonder at this point if I shouldn't abandon my intention of keeping these speakers as original as possible and find a replacement woofer of the same type.

I've decided to send the bad woofer off to Vintage AR for service, and ordered a surround kit for the other.

Can anyone point me to a source for a replacement voice coil for AR5s? I've seen this recone kit: https://reconingspeakers.com/product/ar-10-1-5-vc-aftermarket-recone-kit/ And this coil: https://reconingspeakers.com/product/1-5181-375-fh-375-ww-voice-coil-vc4720-8/ But I'm not sure it would be correct.

The plot thickens. Although the woofer I pulled from the one speaker tests OK(not open) it reads a low 2.1 Ohms. The pots have cleaned up well enough to function throughout their range and mid and tweeter make music. Still gingerly attempting to get the grill off the second speaker. 50+ year old glue is tenacious.

Thanks again! I did some testing on both speakers today, running a function generator app off my tablet through my Pioneer SX-990 and got sound out of all drivers. It took some working the pots back and forth to find a working spot on each, and as they feel as crunchy as my bad knee does I'm not surprised at their intermittent function. 😀 They'll get pulled, checked and either refurbished or replaced as the case may be.

Thanks! One of the first things I came upon(as was recommended by AK) was the resto guide, so I downloaded the PDF of it for reference.

Howdy folks. New guy here, directed from AudioKarma where it was stated this forum is the place to be when it comes to Acoustic Research info. This morning I picked up a pair or AR-5s from a local thrift store for peanuts. They appear to be fairly early versions, from what I have gathered about them so far. One woofer has a date of Jun 18 1969, and a rounded dust cap. The other remains a mystery as I have yet to be able to coax the grill off. Serial numbers on the cabinet labels are K08229 & K08262. All drivers read good on a continuity check, checked Ohms as well, but forget the results(horrible memory for numbers have I). Woofers need a refoam and the pots feel pretty crunchy when turned. I'll be digging into these and bringing them back to life, repairing and replacing as needed, with the information and guidance found here.