Very late (Jul-Sep 1968) production of the 12" Alnico Woofer?

[fedeleluigi]

I saw on Ebay two "strange" 12" Alnico woofers and I wish to share their pictures here because, as far as I remember, this is the first time I've seen this peculiar type of 12" Alnico woofer.

• They date Jul-Aug and Sep 1968 respectively.
• Although the magnet is Alnico, the cone and surround are not typical of the 12" Alnico woofers. In fact they are the same as those used in the "earliest" generation of the ferrite woofer. In other words it is used a smooth paper cone with a damping ring and the surround is made of foam.
• The baskets have the mesh screens (they were removed in woofer #2).
• Differently from the "earliest" generation of the ferrite woofers, the "classic" masonite ring for the surround is present (in  woofer #1 it was removed).
• The spider seems particular  (unfortunately the photo is not very clear).
• The peculiar remains of old foam surrounds do seem to come from the original AR foam surrounds (that is both woofers have never been refoamed previously). This important aspect would rule out that these woofers come from some restoration using some parts coming from the "first" generation ferrite woofers. In other words these alnico woofers do seem original! 
• Dust caps are distinctive.

#1 woofer:

The masonite ring has been removed (see the other woofer)

     

 

 

 

 

#2 woofer:

 

 

"First" generation of 12" ferrite woofer (Mar 17 1971):

 

 

 

[RoyC]

I have seen a number of early driver parts combined with later parts printed with much later date stamps. The most common one is the early 2ax woofer with the cloth surround cone combined with a round ferrite magnet. I suspect AR was just making the most of leftover parts.

Roy