Curious (to me) tweeters - AR-2ax

[johnfalc]

A friend for whom I have done amplifier repair in the past was recently given what he told me were a "pair of AR-2a speakers in rough shape."  He asked if I wanted them and, given that I'm trying to reduce rather than add to my assorted hi-fi gear, I declined.  He then told me he was going to take them, and a GAS amplifier, to land fill and I said "Whoa ... bring them here and, if I don't want them perhaps someone else will ... don't trash them."

Today he dropped them off and:

1. They are AR-2ax, not AR-2a.
2. They need surrounds for the Service Replacement 200004-2 woofers (which I've ordered from Vintage AR)
3. They have tweeters that I haven't seen before.  They are labeled as Service Replacement 200013-2 tweeters (correct for this model) ... however:
   1. They have the correct hard, small, dome which, by appearance is the same as the dome fitted to the AR-3a
   2. They do NOT have the three small orange foam dots - that suggests they've been repaired at some point
   3. They measure 7.0 ohms DC
   4. They have self-adhesive foam applied to the fronts - someone's attempt at minimizing speaker baffle edge effects, I'm guessing
4. The cabinets are in great shape - a bit of a planter-ring water mark atop one of them but the other surfaces are remarkably attractive.

Anyway, I think I'll go ahead and restore these - too many good parts and great cabinets to be tossed.

Three questions for the group:

1. Have you seen tweeters like these before?
2. What DC resistance should the voice coils of the tweeters be - I think 7.0-7.1 is what I've seen in the other AR-2ax I had, but I gave those away last year.
3. Any conjecture on build date given the serial number 166472 (the other is similar).  My guess is fairly late ... like 1972-1974 or so.

Some pictures attached.

[JKent]

wow. not really what most of us would call “rough”!

did you get the amp too?

[johnfalc]

I agree ... definitely not "rough!"  I'll enjoy bringing them back to excellent - but I'm pretty much out of rooms for systems - already have 2 pair of 3As, and one each pair of 9s, 90s, 92s and was recently passed a pair of ADS L880s by a deceased friend.  I have a spare Fisher 800 (same as the 500C but with AM in addition to FM) and the AR-2AX might be a fun vintage combination with that.

Yes ... I also got the amp - it is the small "Grandson" amp with meters.  I'm told it is dead on one channel but that's no obstacle since I keep a full bench here at home (somewhat nostalgic about back when I worked in the industry).  The amp is a nice, symmetrical design and should be easy to troubleshoot.  I guess it could live in my workshop ... I already have four Carver M-1.5t amps that I use plus keep as spares (I buy them broken and fix them up).

Still curious about those tweeters ...

[RoyC]

34 minutes ago, johnfalc said:

Still curious about those tweeters ...

The cabinets date to the late 60's/very early 70's, the metal pot shafts and cabinet tags are from the mid-70's, and the serial numbers on the woofers and tweeters show 1983. These are Frankenstein 2ax's probably built from parts on hand at a service center. The back-wired 3/4" tweeter body remained largely unchanged for a decade, and was used for both 4 and 8 ohm versions. I would have the tweeters rebuilt. Someone improvised in that department.

Roy

[johnfalc]

Thanks Roy,

Since I don't know the provenance beyond the recently deceased that sounds possible.  

I'm told the replacement parts were ones that the prior owner had installed by some authorized center/dealer, having bought them new.

Agree about the tweeters but I'm going to see what they do first, out of curiosity ... all the work that's been done has been done in a workmanlike manner; good to see.