rescued ar3a

[Guest njc]

just rescued a fine pair of acoustic research from my mums house which were heading for the skip. the woofer surrounds are completely disintergrated.

got them home and looked on internet and came across this site and these seem to be reasonably good speakers (they are AR3a improved)

ordered a new surround kit from woofer repair.com and replaced all drive unit seals

hopefully in a couple of weeks they will be up and running for testing

any other notes posted on upgrading would be appreciated though there is alot of good info on this site for me to sort through!!

i live in great britian

cheers

neil

[dynaco_dan]

>just rescued a fine pair of acoustic research from my mums

>house which were heading for the skip. the woofer surrounds

>are completely disintergrated.

>got them home and looked on internet and came across this site

>and these seem to be reasonably good speakers (they are AR3a

>improved)

>ordered a new surround kit from woofer repair.com and replaced

>all drive unit seals

>hopefully in a couple of weeks they will be up and running for

>testing

>any other notes posted on upgrading would be appreciated

>though there is alot of good info on this site for me to sort

>through!!

>i live in great britian

>cheers

>neil

Hi Neil;

If only every mom's son was so lucky.

You now have an excellent classic AR speaker which wasn't generally available here in North America.

The AR-3A was it's predesessor, and was considered by many to be one of the finest speakers available in it's day.

I have only heard a pair of the Improved one tme and I owned the 3A's at the time.

Not enough time and too long ago to comment on their differences, which would have needed considerable evaluation time.

My understanding is the research division in Britain took the AR-3A to the next level up.

Sure beat out a lot of the competition.

What did you use to reseal the drivers?

Good luck with your new acquisitions and restoration job.

Please let us know what the results are.

Please check out the AR library regarding fusing recommendations.

[Guest njc]

thanks for your reply vern,

i used a 2mm self adhesive construction foam tape which i hope will work well to seal the drivers to the boxes.

the replacement surrounds were delivered yesterday from wooferrepair.com and im now waiting for the glue to set so i should hopefully find out what they sound like tomorrow.

Does any body know why i have a switch on the back labelled A or B?

there are no adjustable gain control things

thanks and ill post some piccys when complete

neil

[dynaco_dan]

>thanks for your reply vern,

>i used a 2mm self adhesive construction foam tape which i hope

>will work well to seal the drivers to the boxes.

>the replacement surrounds were delivered yesterday from

>wooferrepair.com and im now waiting for the glue to set so i

>should hopefully find out what they sound like tomorrow.

>

>Does any body know why i have a switch on the back labelled A

>or B?

>there are no adjustable gain control things

>thanks and ill post some piccys when complete

>

>neil

Hi Neil;

I would suggest that you remove the foam tape and use a putty type sealant to more adequately seal all the enclosure openings.

I did a number of topics several months ago regarding what I believe to be the original 3M putty, also an equivalent putty from a Canadian ompany and there always is electrical putty.

The first two were black or dark at least.

The third is gray in colour and may or may not bother you in appearance.

Another writer jumped in and he used shellac on the wooden enclosure surface and plumbers putty I believe and then painted it black.

The main point is to seal the rims well with as non-hardening putty type sealant as is available.

Window mastic may also be another option, lighter in colour though.

Options, do I love options.

Most important is a seal to protect the woofer from overextending it's travel.

The sealed enclosure is necessary for woofer control.

The single switch on the rear tells me it may be a AR-3A improved.

If so, it is the next level up from an AR-3A.

I am not an expert on this speaker so someone else may correct me.

Good luck with your classic speakers, Neil.

[Guest njc]

we are up and running with my ar3a improved, levels have not been pushed too much until i get a putty type sealer and to ensure glue is 100% set.

however ive connected them up to a marantz cd player with audiolab q pre amp and two 8000m monoblock power amps which help keep those hugh woofers under tight control. these are very capable speakers in my opinion (considering their age)with plenty of thumping bass and detailed top end, however i dont think the audiolabs done them justice (to harsh and clinical)

i've moved them to a different (slightly smaller room)and hooked them up to a yamaha cr2020 integrated amp and also have rega planar 3 record player which definately sounds alot warmer and easier to listen to. so here is where they will probably stay (which suits my girlfriend who didnt want them in the lounge)

i have enjoyed rescuing and restoring these lovely speakers and now plan to get a similar set of stands manufactured in steel which are a bit taller and will bring the mid/tweeter up to ear level. Along with fusing the units.

i've enclosed a couple of piccys

thanks

neil

[dynaco_dan]

>we are up and running with my ar3a improved, levels have not

>been pushed too much until i get a putty type sealer and to

>ensure glue is 100% set.

>however ive connected them up to a marantz cd player with

>audiolab q pre amp and two 8000m monoblock power amps which

>help keep those hugh woofers under tight control. these are

>very capable speakers in my opinion (considering their

>age)with plenty of thumping bass and detailed top end, however

>i dont think the audiolabs done them justice (to harsh and

>clinical)

>i've moved them to a different (slightly smaller room)and

>hooked them up to a yamaha cr2020 integrated amp and also have

>rega planar 3 record player which definately sounds alot

>warmer and easier to listen to. so here is where they will

>probably stay (which suits my girlfriend who didnt want them

>in the lounge)

>i have enjoyed rescuing and restoring these lovely speakers

>and now plan to get a similar set of stands manufactured in

>steel which are a bit taller and will bring the mid/tweeter up

>to ear level. Along with fusing the units.

>i've enclosed a couple of piccys

>thanks

>neil

Hi Neil;

If you meant photos, they didn't come through.

Great to have another clasic speaker back in operation.

If you do have the AR-3A improved, I really envy you.

That was a turning point for the speakers into a different sound direction as was the AR-10 PI.

A little more accurate, smoother and with switches, more easliy repeatable.

Enjoy and good luck, Neil.