zelgy1 Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 Hi all! I am restoring a pair of AR-2ax speakers. One of the tweeters has been pressed in slightly and the plastic casing has cracked. The grills appeared to have never been removed and no damage to grill cloth, so I suspect it may have always been this way. I have never played anything through these, so it's unknown if this will affect the functionality. It does ohm out ok. Wanted the groups thoughts on if I should try pressing this back into place or leave as is? I'm considering simply caulking the crack to prevent air leak and give it a run. Appreciate feedback! Thanks, Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zelgy1 Posted December 22, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2020 No input? I know you experts have something to offer. 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted December 22, 2020 Report Share Posted December 22, 2020 RoyC and chris1this1 both repair those. Probably busy with holidays so hang in there Kent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyC Posted December 23, 2020 Report Share Posted December 23, 2020 On 12/22/2020 at 11:44 AM, zelgy1 said: No input? I know you experts have something to offer. 😉 It obviously needs to be repaired or replaced. 1-Based on your photos, the voice coil may not be adequately positioned in the gap. 2-At the very least, the mounting flange is not providing adequate support for the tweeter body and/or seal to the interior of the cabinet (the cabinet needs to be relatively airtight). 3-Despite the obvious, these tweeters often have output issues. Roy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zelgy1 Posted December 23, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2020 Thanks Roy! I figured that would be the response, but wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything. I think I'm going to try the HiVi tweeter option for this project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phxjohn Posted January 22, 2021 Report Share Posted January 22, 2021 On 12/23/2020 at 12:43 PM, zelgy1 said: Thanks Roy! I figured that would be the response, but wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything. I think I'm going to try the HiVi tweeter option for this project. I would go with Roy's or Chris' rebuilt tweeters. I have HiVi Q1R's and I am replacing them with rebuilt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elialan Posted January 22, 2021 Report Share Posted January 22, 2021 On 12/23/2020 at 8:15 PM, RoyC said: 1-Based on your photos, the voice coil may not be adequately positioned in the gap. In my opinion this might not be true, since in this tweeter the diaphragm and the voice coil were fixed directly on the magnet surface, as we can see from the metal spot near the dome, so the tweeter have only a structural fail which can be repaired by gluing the plastic frame with a two component glue without replace the tweeter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aadams Posted January 22, 2021 Report Share Posted January 22, 2021 44 minutes ago, Elialan said: In my opinion this might not be true, since in this tweeter the diaphragm and the voice coil were fixed directly on the magnet surface, as we can see from the metal spot near the dome, so the tweeter have only a structural fail which can be repaired by gluing the plastic frame with a two component glue without replace the tweeter The main point in the @RoyCpost above is number 3. All the epoxy glue in the world will not restore the disintegrating foam beneath the dome and in the (three orange dot) suspension. In my experience, none of the original foam suspension tweeters operate anywhere close to spec, which is why the HiVi mod sounds so good in comparison. Having your tweeters rebuilt, combined with Lpads is the way to go. If cost is an issue, a HiVi can be a good bit less but only if you DIY. Adams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zelgy1 Posted January 22, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2021 Besides the shell being cracked and being epoxied, I did confirm the tweeter itself was bad after hooking it up. I have replaced both with the HiVi Q1R, which have proven to be a great replacement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elialan Posted January 22, 2021 Report Share Posted January 22, 2021 1 hour ago, Aadams said: All the epoxy glue in the world will not restore the disintegrating foam beneath the dome and in the (three orange dot) suspension. Oh yes, for sure! So also the tweeters of the early AR3 have the same issue? Is there a way to save them from the dump? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyC Posted January 22, 2021 Report Share Posted January 22, 2021 4 hours ago, Elialan said: Oh yes, for sure! So also the tweeters of the early AR3 have the same issue? Is there a way to save them from the dump? The AR-3 tweeters have fiberglass under the dome, so no problem in that regard. The dome's foam suspension material has also held up well for the most part. Don't send them to the dump! Roy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Pearce Posted January 22, 2021 Report Share Posted January 22, 2021 On 12/22/2020 at 12:04 PM, JKent said: RoyC and chris1this1 both repair those. Probably busy with holidays so hang in there Kent 7 hours ago, Aadams said: The main point in the @RoyCpost above is number 3. All the epoxy glue in the world will not restore the disintegrating foam beneath the dome and in the (three orange dot) suspension. In my experience, none of the original foam suspension tweeters operate anywhere close to spec, which is why the HiVi mod sounds so good in comparison. Having your tweeters rebuilt, combined with Lpads is the way to go. If cost is an issue, a HiVi can be a good bit less but only if you DIY. Adams 20 hours ago, Phxjohn said: I would go with Roy's or Chris' rebuilt tweeters. I have HiVi Q1R's and I am replacing them with rebuilt. I was delighted to find that these are repairable even to the extent that Chris can 3D print missing parts of the flanges. I have a pair with the older red domes, a pair with the Hi-Vi and two pair of the three quarter inch black domes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phxjohn Posted January 22, 2021 Report Share Posted January 22, 2021 21 minutes ago, Jim Pearce said: I was delighted to find that these are repairable even to the extent that Chris can 3D print missing parts of the flanges. I have a pair with the older red domes, a pair with the Hi-Vi and two pair of the three quarter inch black domes. 'I have a pair with the older red domes, a pair with the Hi-Vi and two pair of the three quarter inch black domes'. Wow. That's great. Can you describe the differences that you hear ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Pearce Posted January 23, 2021 Report Share Posted January 23, 2021 (edited) A couple of pairs have been rebuilt by a physics professor here and the one with the aftermarket tweeter I have tried but was not impressed. I'm still trying to find out if it is faithful to Roy C's design. I have one pair like that and one pair with the red and one pair with that has no tweeters where I will use the black. A gift from the professor, extremely rough cabinets and mismatched foam woofer types that need foam surrounds. I recently bought a pair of first iteration cloth woofers that I have not yet tested but intend to use those there. Obviously they are going to need recapping and cleaning of the pots but most likely replacement with L-pads. I learned on this thread just now that there needs to be an element added to the crossover in order to make that change. Happy to say I have probably about five jars of the goop that I've been using on the KLH sixes and an old pair of Magnavox horn driven and some old realistic model sevens. I can't thank all of you enough because over the last two years or so since I have barely only heard of acoustic research... The photo shows a rebuilt 8080 and a pretty run of the mill disc deck with a Pickering xv15. I have a functional XA here and an xsv3000 that needs to be re-tipped. One of these days... I'll probably use the consecutive serial number sixes that have been grouped with my 2238 Marantz and an ax900 Yamaha. I've got some ADS L1290s running in the garage from a pretty decent Onkyo HT unit. Thanks to you guys I have come one hell of a long ways in the last 10 to 20 years since my old Panasonic 15 watter driving some Thrusters! Edited January 23, 2021 by Jim Pearce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Pearce Posted April 28, 2021 Report Share Posted April 28, 2021 Jeepers, I just realized you asked me how they sound. I'm a little bit scared to start messing around cuz I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I have listened to the three quarter inch domes in a pair from the physics professor, I am now using the modern ones an AV receiver. I haven't really given them a fair shot and certainly not done a side by side AB. The person that rebuilt my Black dome tweeters appears to be very talented, dependable and everyone says he does super high quality work. I know they are appreciating and it was a great investment and thank you everyone for guiding me on this especially that guy, he knows who he is LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djcheung Posted April 29, 2021 Report Share Posted April 29, 2021 Hi there, I also have a pair of 2ax, and problem with one if the tweeters. My problem is slightly different ! One of the leads has snapped off and I tried to solder them back but it wouldn't take the solder. Does it need some special solder ? Is it aluminium wire ? Your help would be much appreciated. Best regards, David. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyC Posted April 29, 2021 Report Share Posted April 29, 2021 7 hours ago, djcheung said: Hi there, I also have a pair of 2ax, and problem with one if the tweeters. My problem is slightly different ! One of the leads has snapped off and I tried to solder them back but it wouldn't take the solder. Does it need some special solder ? Is it aluminium wire ? Your help would be much appreciated. Best regards, David. If your speakers have the red/orange dome, the leads are aluminum and require special solder. The leads of the black dome tweeter are copper. Roy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djcheung Posted April 30, 2021 Report Share Posted April 30, 2021 Thanks Roy, The tweeters have red/orange domes so I will need to get some aluminium solder ? Best regards, David. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyC Posted April 30, 2021 Report Share Posted April 30, 2021 1 hour ago, djcheung said: Thanks Roy, The tweeters have red/orange domes so I will need to get some aluminium solder ? Yes... Your speakers are lookin' good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djcheung Posted April 30, 2021 Report Share Posted April 30, 2021 Thanks Roy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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