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AR7 Replica or originals?


Giorgio AR

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In my search for AR speakers and spare parts I found new cabinets, packed and above all built in Italy.
I bought 2 pairs including the original packaging: one was still sealed, the other had been opened for demonstration.
The untouched one will be kept sealed for collection purposes, while the open one will become a replica of AR7!
Note in the attached photos the writing "Made in Italy" on the front baffle and the lack of any accessories in the cabinets.
Fortunately I already have a pair of crossovers (like the originals, but also Made in Italy), as well as masonite and internal padding to rebuild a "new" pair of AR7.
I already have the speakers available to insert in the cabinets.
I will also update and publish photos of the crossover details of these special AR7s:

ar71.jpg.ef9bdeae06060f5c10c80698c6ed6829.jpgar72.jpg.e3124e07c4e283aa6cb36df0b82fbeb3.jpgar73.jpg.dfbfe0c9a711f49f87bc4393c0a6519d.jpgar74.jpg.f5b0bd741475d673488e5843f819a46a.jpgar75.jpg.d96a042d8e4e8f9bd7b8fea0f0825a18.jpgar76.jpg.036439ead0b2d06835259eaafb25daff.jpgar77.jpg.dce20f9869084dbdda62ee3bee3afb07.jpgar78.jpg.80dbe4f22e0799b9a40ca7acea386378.jpgar79.jpg.95c8fbda88c6dc8337c69c708589927e.jpg

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I couldn't resist and I opened the second box from underneath to check this pair of cabinets too.
Perfect except for discrepancies in the color and finish of the veneer.

Below the 2nd carton and the second pair of AR7 cabinets

1681228007_20210517_1656011.jpg.660ac3f8a34022418854a81742d8df18.jpg1160078134_20210517_1708061.jpg.172de06e28b4ee10ee786c70c7e468b0.jpg

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I finish the topic with photos of the two pairs of new cabinets together with a pair of original AR7s (England made from early 1973).
The new cabinets have discrepancies in colors and type of veneer (probably these are cabinets discarded from normal sale and used as spare parts by AR itself!).
In the last photos you can see a new cabinet with a 200003-1 woofer (universal woofer) and correct 200005 tweeter (of which I only have this specimen) and finally with the next 200014-3 tweeter, which has a larger magnet and does not fit into the cabinet hole (this tweeter with its brother will be inserted in my "AR7 replica" and I will have to widen the entry hole and make two slots on the baffle to pass the cable contacts).

Below the comparison of the new AR7 original pair cabinets

501134739_20210518_1724591.jpg.977f58e818ccc27a4eeb0f10683d16d6.jpg1248680636_20210518_1726501.jpg.35b93965d8debe6cdb0575b0095479b7.jpg667891595_20210518_172705_0011.jpg.82149575ae8482b4ed07db66d0d95f10.jpg2110463312_20210518_1728501.jpg.ee418dbb244defcf30038b1e1a62e64e.jpg

Cabinet with supported speakers e tw 200005

1075565056_20210518_18181020.thumb.jpg.1a3e491f4cbf29192ed7c4b4f4ebbe0e.jpg1456997139_20210518_1819051.jpg.1cb341a70d1be4d78b0c391ecadc35df.jpg

Cabinet with tw 200014-3 (note the larger magnet than the previous tweeter)

823546031_20210518_1819411.jpg.fc8b0a12a4173f574faa08ddd1d796d9.jpg1233530895_20210518_18200711.jpg.ea5c3d201ca8857a874ebe0cbd7643c7.jpg

 

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  • 9 months later...

Nine months have passed, the cabinets together with their original packaging have been placed in the cellar and in the meantime I have looked for what was missing to make me a working pair of AR7 replica: I have a pair of 200001-1 woofers, the pair of tweeters 200014-3 ( up to now the search for the original brother 200005 has not given results, I will keep it as a spare part for my other AR speakers) which will need to widen the holes, I have the "Italian" crossovers in the photos above (originally modified with the addition of one coil to the woofer!), a pair of AR17 / 18 crossover and a pair of AR4xa early crossover, also with coils for the woofer and the 16 ohm Pollak pot ... I don't know yet which crossover I will insert in the cabinets .. advice well accepted; thanks to JKent who gave me 16 speaker fixing screws that I did not own and also provided me with a splendid pair of original labels, now I own all the components of the AR7, for the grilles I have to decide whether to use the original linen (it comes from a pair of AR3a in surplus), a modern linen equal to the original I own (much lighter than the AR3a one) or the brown canvas always original and supplied by AR at the time as an option (this is a spare surplus that comes from AR2ax) ; to cover the holes next to the tweeters I have some nice Japanese masonite from '72 (it comes from an old National Panasonic turntable that I demolished years ago)! Finally, the sound-absorbing material, ready and stored in a nylon bag, to be weighed and placed in the exact quantity in the cabinets.
Even if by now I own everything that makes up the AR7, given my commitments and my slowness in the work, my AR7 replicas will not be finished soon, but I will update the thread during the continuation of the work ...

I'm sorry I can't update with photos, but unfortunately I have run out of my available quantity, I only have 900Kb left, useful for about other last 4 photos.

Giorgio.

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That's an impressive collection of AR-7s! I'd be interested to see a closeup of the Italian crossovers.

A tip regarding your photo space: Try resizing all photos to about 100KB each.

Kent

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Another alternative when you run out of attachment space: in the lower right corner of the posting dialog is the "Other Media" dropdown, and one of its options is "Insert image from URL." You can upload images to a pic hosting site like imgur.com and then insert their URLs and they'll appear here.

The image below is uploaded to imgur.com. It's 3840x2160, 7 Mb, and takes up no space on CSP.

JsHoVfg.jpg

 

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1 hour ago, genek said:

takes up no space on CSP.

Thanks Genek, I'm not very familiar, but I understand the mechanism and I thank you for your kindness! I can add more photos to accompany these threads or posts.

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