samberger0357 Posted December 22, 2020 Report Share Posted December 22, 2020 A few years ago I acquired a beautiful pair of 3's from a fellow in NJ. Unfortunately the trip to California was a rough one for them and they underwent some internal issues that I, and a few other folks, were never able to fully correct. Ended up selling them for a nice profit. Since then I've been using a nice pair of of early 3a's, but as good as they are, I still longed for a pair of 3's. And I needed them restored as my ability to do them up right is just not there. Put a wanted ad on a couple of forums and got a hit from none other then our own Chris1this1! He had an extra pair with mids and tweets that he rebuilt and was offering them for a very fair price. Most of us know Chris exemplary rep as a restorer of AR drivers, and so the prospect of owning what I imagined to be about the best pair of 3's that I would ever be able to own made me jump at the offer. Sort of. Chris lives in NJ also which meant taking another risk to get them to me. Chris told me he had shipped several pairs of AR speakers successfully and he was confident he could do it again. Still, I was hesitant. Even agreed to a deal, then backed out. But ultimately I bit the bullet and went through with it. Well, they made it to me safe and sound yesterday, and they are even better then I could've hoped for . Chris packed them well enough that I imagine the would've survived WWIII. The look great, and they sound amazing. My 3a's were restored with HiVi tweeters, but the seller provided me with the originals, and I've already sent those off to Chris to have rebuilt, and will get them in the 3a's for a good listening comparison when they return. But the 3's sound so alive(driven by a McIntosh MC2250), and so sparkling, that at at the moment they kind of put the 3a's to shame. At least a little. So this is what all the hoopla is about rebuilt original tweeters and mids. I have to jump on the dog pile and add to the chorus that if you, or anybody else, is listening to a 3 and have not had the mids and tweets restored by Chris or Roy, then you simply cannot be hearing what these speakers are capable of. And if you read about 3's being muddy or soft sounding, even after a recap, check to see if the drivers were refreshed. I'm betting they weren't. There is nothing even close to dull or muddy coming from these speakers. I'm a very happy guy at this moment. Happy and safe holidays to everybody. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aadams Posted December 22, 2020 Report Share Posted December 22, 2020 Following Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ar_pro Posted December 22, 2020 Report Share Posted December 22, 2020 Congratulations, Sam - those are beauties. It's great that Chris can restore the mids & tweeters for the AR-3; it's just a magical speaker. Did Santa bring someone an MR78 tuner? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samberger0357 Posted December 22, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2020 Thank you, Sir! Magical accurately describes the speakers, and what I'm hearing. I've had the tuner now for about a year. One of 4 Mc pieces currently in use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lARrybody Posted December 22, 2020 Report Share Posted December 22, 2020 Very nice indeed. Chris has restored some AR3a tweeters for me, and the difference is like night and day. Maybe J Kent has some 3 badges left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samberger0357 Posted December 23, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2020 48 minutes ago, lARrybody said: Very nice indeed. Chris has restored some AR3a tweeters for me, and the difference is like night and day. Maybe J Kent has some 3 badges left. He did. Mailman had perfect timing today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Pierre Posted December 23, 2020 Report Share Posted December 23, 2020 Excellent! I lost the mid and tweeter in one of my 3s the other day. I rebuilt the crossovers about 2 years ago. I wonder if one of the caps went bad. We just moved house, and I moved the speakers myself, but one never knows what may have happened. Since they are down, and I am going to open them up to figure out what went wrong, I figure it is a great time to send the tweeters off to Chris and the mids to Roy. BTW, I went from listening to them in an 11x12 room to our new 15x 30 or so feet room. They were sublime for a week or so... Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aadams Posted February 1, 2021 Report Share Posted February 1, 2021 I can speak from personal experience with Chris as he rebuilt the tweeters in both the 3's and 3a's that I own. samberger0357 I see you got your 3a tweeters back. Are going to give a report on the comparison? On 12/22/2020 at 4:04 PM, samberger0357 said: My 3a's were restored with HiVi tweeters, but the seller provided me with the originals, and I've already sent those off to Chris to have rebuilt, and will get them in the 3a's for a good listening comparison when they return. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samberger0357 Posted February 1, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2021 20 minutes ago, Aadams said: I can speak from personal experience with Chris as he rebuilt the tweeters in both the 3's and 3a's that I own. samberger0357 I see you got your 3a tweeters back. Are going to give a report on the comparison? The first thing that jumped out at me was how much they didn't. Jump out at me, that is, compared to the HiVi's. Much more subtle and balanced, and yet while not as blunt, the really sparkle on the highest end. My hearing isn't what it was when I was 20, but getting my ear up close to the speaker I could really notice how they now blend in with the overall presentation of the speaker, as opposed to being the dominant presence that the Hi's seemed to be. The 3a's, while always sounding good, became that much easier to listen to, and much closer to the 3's then they were pre-op. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ar_pro Posted February 2, 2021 Report Share Posted February 2, 2021 Thanks for your take on the restored tweeters, Sam. The notion of their better blending into the speaker is something that I think we can all understand. So, what recordings have you played first? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samberger0357 Posted February 2, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2021 Can't remember exactly but I know Mingus Ah-Um was in there somewhere. Been tossing a lot of everything at it/them(the 3a's are presently residing on top of my 3's...they're powered by a McIntosh MC2105, and the 3's by a McIntosh MC2250. Levels are matched, it goes through a McIntosh C34V pre, then that goes to a McIntosh CR7 remote system that controls the overall gain. Sounds fantastic and can create quite a racket. Also allows me to isolate either pair if I want to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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