norville rogers Posted August 18, 2018 Report Share Posted August 18, 2018 Hi all Have just picked up some ar7s they need refoaming. Should i refoam with longer life rubber or foam? Also the flat and normal switch on the rear doesnt seem to alter much any tips? Norville Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ra.ra Posted August 18, 2018 Report Share Posted August 18, 2018 Hi Norville, and welcome to this forum. The AR-7 is a terrific small bookshelf speaker, and they are fairly easy to repair. There is no need to consider a rubber surround - - you should stay with foam as originally designed. Others may chime in, but I believe the two types of foam surrounds which are preferred by many members here are either the 8" Boston Acoustics (with filled fillet, which refers to profile) or the 8" Bose surround. Pics attached show re-foaming of original AR-7 woofers - - notable by flat dust cap, textured paper cone, and square magnet. Many AR-7 owners state that the two-position switch does not provide obvious differences in tweeter output. I would mostly agree with this, but I think it depends on the music source material - - sometimes it is pleasantly noticeable when switched to the "Flat" position, reportedly offering a 2 or 3dB boost to the HF output. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norville rogers Posted August 23, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2018 Hi ra ra, Thanks for the advice i will go with an 8" foam surround as you advise. Probably the bose as thats easier to get this side of the pond. Thanks for the photos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ra.ra Posted August 23, 2018 Report Share Posted August 23, 2018 14 minutes ago, norville rogers said: Probably the bose... Good choice - - these foams are not only more readily available, but also easier to install - - Bose version shown in pic above. And if you can, just for kicks, show us some pics. It seems that many Euro AR-7's are clad in beautiful teak veneer, and you also have that AR-7x version that is some sort of minor variant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norville rogers Posted August 30, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2018 Hi Ra ra these are definately walnut ar7s unfortunately. I will submit some photos after the refoam Cheers Norville Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidR Posted August 30, 2018 Report Share Posted August 30, 2018 rubber surrounds will affect the SQ negatively. The newer polyether foam surrounds last MUCH longer than the old foam surrounds (polyester or polyethylene?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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