FlyingVee Posted October 27, 2020 Report Share Posted October 27, 2020 New Member - ok - new to this board. I'm old enough that I auditioned these when they were new. Anyway, I just replaced the bad woofer in one of my AR 2ax speakers, so hooked up the pair for some listening. Sadly, there was some buzzy gritty sound from the other speaker - it sounded like a bad connection, or, possibly a bad surround, since it was mainly on low frequencies. As I took off the front cover to check the surround, the speaker started cutting in and out. After a bit of that, it just quit working altogether. The woofer looks fine. I pulled the woofer looking for a bad connection or broken wire, but don't see anything. Any hints where I should start looking? Just looking at the wiring, which is pretty simple, I can't see what would make the entire speaker stop functioning. thanks. btw - these are very nice speakers. I had them hooked up to my old 2270. Which also needs the posts cleaned. 😊 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aadams Posted October 28, 2020 Report Share Posted October 28, 2020 21 hours ago, FlyingVee said: I'm old enough that I auditioned these when they were new. What year manufacture? Have you owned this pair from new? If so is the first time they have ever been opened? Does the problem move when you swap the left/right channel speaker wires either at the amp or the speakers? Photos, grills off, of the speaker fronts and backs could be helpful. Adams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingVee Posted October 28, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2020 thank you, Aadams. I had them connected to my NAD receiver - so when one channel died, after buzzing sounds, I assumed speaker. Eventually, swapping everything, I found that my NAD somehow, for some reason, lost the right channel. I swapped in a Jolida, and viola - it's working. More or less - the buzz is still there. Sounds like the voice coil on the woofer is dragging. No, I found these at a church sale; they had not been opened up before - I had a heck of a time getting the woofer unsealed to look inside. But anyway, I need a replacement woofer now. What's the best source, this side of ebay? Or - I can start a new thread. Either way, thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aadams Posted October 28, 2020 Report Share Posted October 28, 2020 7 minutes ago, FlyingVee said: But anyway, I need a replacement woofer now. What's the best source, this side of ebay? Or - I can start a new thread. Either way, thanks You might want to slow down and post some pictures of your speakers with grills off. Are you aware that you yourself can easily repair woofers in most cases? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lARrybody Posted October 28, 2020 Report Share Posted October 28, 2020 Vee, your 2ax speakers could have up to three different woofers. The early cloth surround woofer in the middle, the large frame transitional foam surround woofer to the left and the later small frame foam surround woofer to right. Lets identify what you have and go from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingVee Posted October 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2020 On 10/28/2020 at 1:30 PM, Aadams said: You might want to slow down and post some pictures of your speakers with grills off. Are you aware that you yourself can easily repair woofers in most cases? ok - I know you can add new surrounds. although I'm not sure I trust them to not change the character. I have some professionally reconed JBL E-120s - which are great nos, but these reconed ones are audibly different. I'll get you pictures. The woofer that's giving me grief now has a perfectly good surround - but the voice coil is dragging. If there's a fix for that, it's well beyond me. and thanks. appreciate your help - all of you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aadams Posted October 30, 2020 Report Share Posted October 30, 2020 8 hours ago, FlyingVee said: although I'm not sure I trust them to not change the character. Reconing these old speakers is risky. In the wrong hands the speaker will change character. Correct surrounds are low risk and do not change the character. If you have new surrounds then you could hear rubbing because the voice coil was not centered when installed. It is also possible the voice coils were damaged before new surrounds were applied. Of course, if you had to remove staples to see the woofer it is unlikely these have ever been repaired and what appears as intact surround is actually quite weak and about to disintegrate. Are you inclined to do your on work? If so download and review the AR3a restoration guide. Much of it applies to the AR2ax. Photos of front and rear of each cab with grills off will be helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingVee Posted October 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingVee Posted October 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2020 the speaker with the woofer on the LHS has the replaced woofer - it's working fine. the speaker above, with woofer on the RHS, is the one that sounds like it's dragging. It sure looks like a cloth surround to me. I guess I could try rebuilding, but I'd be just as happy to simply replace it with a new one/ ok - new to me. aren't all the replacement surrounds foam? I guess I could try - since it isn't working now, all I'd be out is the cost of the surround. and yes - the 'new woofer' has the dome over voice coil. my original that is dragging does not have the voice coil dome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted October 30, 2020 Report Share Posted October 30, 2020 Those are the old style, Alnico woofers with cloth surrounds. Many prefer those. You should not replace the cloth with foam and I doubt that would fix it. The only thing to do with cloth surrounds is to coat them with a thin coat of RoyC's goo. You said it does not have a VC dome (aka dust cap). If that's the case there could be dirt in there. If that's the case you could vacuum it out and put a dust cap on. Others here may have suggestions for a DIY fix. Otherwise send the bad woofer to Bill LeGall at Millersound in PA and he'll make it like new. Kent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lARrybody Posted October 30, 2020 Report Share Posted October 30, 2020 The glue that holds the outside of your surround to the Masonite spacer and frame may have dried out and became loose. This could put your voice coil out of alignment. There is also the possibility that the glue on the spider has also failed. I know this from experience. Re gluing and realignment fixed mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyC Posted October 30, 2020 Report Share Posted October 30, 2020 The spider ring should be checked and repaired prior to repairing the surround ring. "Re-coning" and re-foaming are not the best options for this woofer. see photo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingVee Posted November 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2020 ok - thanks. will pop it out and look some more. thanks, JKent - 'dust cap' is what I was looking for. I'll keep reading the AR-3 book/thing too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyC Posted November 1, 2020 Report Share Posted November 1, 2020 11 hours ago, FlyingVee said: ok - thanks. will pop it out and look some more. thanks, JKent - 'dust cap' is what I was looking for. I'll keep reading the AR-3 book/thing too Some of these woofers have flat dust caps, and others have rounded ones. The response is the same. It is not an issue. Roy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted November 1, 2020 Report Share Posted November 1, 2020 Sorry if I muddied the waters. I did not see the flat cap--thought maybe the whole thing was missing, which would have been a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Pearce Posted December 8, 2020 Report Share Posted December 8, 2020 On 10/28/2020 at 5:59 PM, lARrybody said: Vee, your 2ax speakers could have up to three different woofers. The early cloth surround woofer in the middle, the large frame transitional foam surround woofer to the left and the later small frame foam surround woofer to right. Lets identify what you have and go from there. Hmmm... What are the differences between these and which are the most desirable? What do you guess is the average price used for the ones with the cloth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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