AR woofers

[Jive Turkey]

I have a pair of AR MST speakers which have replacement, generic woofers (8 inch).  I would like to replace them with the original ones.  I have a pair of AR8's and a pair of AR4's which could serve as donors.  Are they the same woofers?

[genek]

Didn't AR-8 have a 10" woofer? 

The AR-4 woofer should work.

[ra.ra]

35 minutes ago, Jive Turkey said:

I have a pair of AR MST speakers .....  I would like to replace them with the original ones. 

Hey Jive Turkey, you're here just in time for the Thanksgiving season, and welcome to the CSP forum. The AR-MST used the same 8-inch woofer found in the AR-7 - - foam surround, square ferrite magnet, flat dust cap - - I think it's part number 200001 which became the "universal" replacement woofer. This same woofer may have been used in late-issue AR-4xa's with foam surrounds, but is different from the typical woofers used in the AR-4x (cloth surround, alnico magnet, mesh dust cap) and the AR-4 (cloth surround, alnico magnet, mesh dust cap, non-circular basket). All of AR's 8-inch woofers will "fit" the woofer opening in the MST just like your generic woofers probably fit, but their characteristics differ enough that you should probably try to find original drivers designed for this unique speaker model.

The AR-8 marketed in the USA did have a 10-inch woofer - - as genek has correctly noted - - but there was also a different AR-8 from Europe which used a smaller woofer - - it's a pretty rare model, though, and probably does not apply here.

MST's themselves are fairly rare speaker models, and this forum would probably appreciate seeing another pair - - - can you post some pics here? (jpeg files of about 100KB are perfect for this site).

    

 

[Jive Turkey]

AR 8's with 6 inch woofers.  I thought they were 8 inch.  So, I'll look for the AR4 ones.

[Jive Turkey]

[ra.ra]

Wow....your MST's look terrific - - great cabinet, grille, badge, tweeters - - too bad about the missing woofers.  Nice to see you have the later three-tweeter MST/1 version - - this is purported to have superior performance to the earlier and original four-tweeter MST. And yes, the AR-8b is a great little budget speaker, but as you've noted - - only a 6-inch woofer.

I don't think you want a woofer from the "4" series - - particularly the cloth-alnico versions - - it was intended for a different loudspeaker system. The woofer you want is clearly shown in this thread by CSP member Alessandro, who has a beautiful pair of the four-tweeter MST's. Also shown is a pic of the proper MST woofer, which was also used in the AR-7.

 

[Jive Turkey]

I'll be on the lookout for a pair of AR7 woofers but they are rare.  Thanks for all your help.

[AR55]

I believe that the following AR speakers have the same 8" woofer (part number 200001): 

4, 4X, 4XB, 6, 7, 15, 16, 17, 18, 25 & 94

I have a pair of AR-15's with those woofers.  I saw a listing on eBay a few months ago for the woofers from a pair of 94's and one of the photos showed part number 200001 on the back label.  I believe that these may be easier to find than AR-7 woofers.

[Jive Turkey]

I found a pair of woofers from a pair of AR 16's that have that part number.  They should work fine.

[ra.ra]

Hey, those look really good - - I definitely think you should try those out. Hard to tell, but I think the only difference between yours and the woofers I posted earlier is that it looks like yours have the added fiberboard rings underneath the surround and the spider, as shown in pic attached. I don't think this should affect performance, but the rings make it a little more difficult to complete the re-foam process. I have encountered that woofer (w/rings) recently with some AR-6 (v.2) speakers.

Interesting to see that these woofers came from AR-16's - - that is very much an "under-the-radar" model which never received much attention or recognition, despite it probably having used high-quality components. Let us know how this works out.

Also, if you get the chance, please show us what the crossover network looks like. Thx.