ar_pro Posted June 1, 2005 Report Share Posted June 1, 2005 We've just finished installing the drivers for my son's rebuilt AR-9's. Prior to refinishing, we removed the vinyl appliques and stripped the black paint from the front panel. Here's a pair of (nude) photos taken before the Acoustic Blanket is put back (actually, they sound pretty good without it - perhaps a little more diffused, imaging-wise).473.txt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bolly Posted June 1, 2005 Report Share Posted June 1, 2005 those look pretty sweet ar pro! I kinda like the all wood look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tysontom Posted June 2, 2005 Report Share Posted June 2, 2005 >those look pretty sweet ar pro! I kinda like the all wood>look. ar_pro, I have to agree with that! I think they look prettier without all the acoustic blanket stuff. They have an understated all-wood appearance, which is a great look! They may not sound quite as good, but the acoustic-blanket stuff is 80% marketing, 20% functional, in my view at least.--Tom Tyson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mluong303 Posted June 2, 2005 Report Share Posted June 2, 2005 The well restored AR-9 speakers actually sound better without the acoustic blanket. To me the acoustic blanket is more for marketing purpose than anything else. The hardest part to deal with is to clean up the left over sticky glue from the acoustic blanket and the metal plate for the three switches. Since you had already taken the troubles this far to striped them down, I would definitely leave them "Nude" and coated with thick lacquer over the walnut veneer to shine them up. Great job. But if you are planning to sell these speakers later then you better glue everything back in place!Minh Luong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mluong303 Posted June 2, 2005 Report Share Posted June 2, 2005 You may want to check with a respected custom furniture facility to see if they can tinted your speakers to this color before you coated the veneer with thick lacquer. This is strictly my personal suggestion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ar_pro Posted June 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2005 Thanks for the kind words and suggestions, boys - much appreciated.Our goal was to update the 9's appearance, by removing the vinyl stickers, black front-panel paint, and plastic "chrome" trim around the grilles. The AR-9's cabinet was among the very first to assume the dimensions & footprint of what has become the now-common appearance of full-range systems - tall, narrow-faced, and deeper than it is wide. The side-firing woofers are much *en vogue*, and the end result is still a very modern-looking design. AR gave us a lot to work with, and only came up a bit short with the stickers and chrome.The Acoustic Blanket is not a pretty thing, and I do agree that the 9 looks a LOT better in the nude. Since this was our third AR-9 restoration (one more to go), we decided to postpone replacing the Blankets until after some listening tests were completed. Again, the sound just seems a bit more diffused - a little more open than with the Blanket. The cabinet refinishing is complete, so this is the finished look - we used a mixture of MinWax walnut, special walnut & golden oak oil stains to closely approximate an unfaded area (hint: remove a side grille to see what the original AR finish looked like - they've probably never been off, and there is always a substantial difference between that area and any other on the cabinet). After stripping the paint and adhesives, the cabinets were hand-sanded up to #400 grit, and then stained & rubbed, rubbed, rubbed, and rubbed. We went with a matte polyurethane sealer that we polished with paper towels in between coats. It's tough to tell from the photos (diffused sunlight through a skylight), but the color is a bit deeper than it appears, and there is a trace of shine to the matte finish. The original oil finish was nice, but prone to fade, built-up grunge from years of re-oiling, and terrible water-related accidents - for some reason, women think these things make great plant-stands! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bret Posted June 2, 2005 Report Share Posted June 2, 2005 Now *those* are pretty. As I sit here staring at mine (with their front grills off and the "chrome" glaring at me from the sides) I gotta admit, getting rid of all the extraneous stuff makes yours ultra-cool looking. Did you cut-down the side-grills just a little so they don't stick-out further than the front of the cabinets with the front grills off?What tweeter is that in them? Did you paint-out the silver-circle on some originals?Bret Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ar_pro Posted June 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2005 The tweeters are original, but painted non-reflective black to cover the silver circles - good eye!The wooden grilles haven't been modified at all, and come right to the edge of the front panel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest OpusX Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 Those really look great. Not sure I will ever do that with my pair of 9s since they were in very pristine condition when I got them about three years ago (The original owner treated them as if they were one of his family...*S*), but does give me some ideas if I should ever find another pair that is too good a deal to pass up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bolly Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 here's mine, just put back in service today!479.txt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
administrator Posted June 6, 2005 Report Share Posted June 6, 2005 FYI - I fixed your attachment so it looks like an image and not text. When uploading ".jpg" images, make sure to choose "JPEG" in the attachment screen.Thanks!Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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