Giorgio AR Posted December 12, 2021 Report Share Posted December 12, 2021 I can't stop and resist, I bought yet another pair of Acoustic Research: I missed them (at least in this case they are not duplicates!) And seen on the classifieds site in poor condition and in need of care, I also took this pair of AR17s. They will arrive next week delivered to my home by a son of mine who lives near the city where they are ... so I'm sure I won't discover any other damage to cabinets or speakers due to multiple handling by negligent couriers. The photos aren't pretty, but more will come later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samberger0357 Posted December 12, 2021 Report Share Posted December 12, 2021 You’re an archivist. You save these beautiful memories from a possible horrible demise and keep them alive until it’s hopefully somebody else’s turn. Bravo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio AR Posted December 12, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2021 1 hour ago, samberger0357 said: You’re an archivist. You save these beautiful memories from a possible horrible demise and keep them alive until it’s hopefully somebody else’s turn. Bravo! Sam, you are right, I recognize myself in your statement as an "archivist" towards me, among other things with the addition of the AR17s I add a different volume in the cabinet of my speakers with 8" woofers, larger than the AR7 and AR18 and the various AR4 models I have. I think the real comparison with other AR speakers can be with the AR6s that give a close low output to the sisters with the 10" woofer, probably the volumes of the cabinets are very close, but the woofers and tw's of the AR17 are from a future generation. You are also right about the fact that by acquiring the AR17s, certainly the restoration will be as close as possible to the original Acoustic Research specifications ... I had been hoping for a long time to find a pair of AR17s, the opportunity arose, immediately grasped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dna Posted December 18, 2021 Report Share Posted December 18, 2021 I just scored a pair (serial number consecutive!) from Ebay, they have the original P/N 20001 woofers in them. I bought a set back in 19 and 79? '78 or 79 I donno. I have them, my dogs ripped out the cones in the woofers I kept them around until about 19 years ago, I was ignorant, I called a place to buy new drivers they said they had AR replacement drivers; I was suspicious so I didn't buy them; turns out it was "simply speakers" and their stuff. I bought a pair of AR woofers on ebay (I can't recall the P/N now but they sound pretty good, I'm still on the lookout for some 20001 though. The fast was to ID these original woofers is (so far as I know) that they have square magnets. I am in the process of re-foaming this later pair. I have them ready for the glue and foam I just have to do it. I got the foam from Springfield speakers.com though Ebay, at the Springfield speakers web site they have a video (on youtube as well) on how to re-foam your speaker. They also tell you how to recenter the cone in the voice coil. They offer a wire with an head set plug that fits your smart phone on one end and a bare pair on the other to the terminals of the speaker. They instruct how to center the cone using a signal generator (they offer web site where to D/L one for your smart phone for free) by using a 50Hz tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio AR Posted January 3, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2022 The AR17 are finished, I cleaned and finished the cabinets, painted an aluminum label (it had small but annoying lack of color) I straightened the dustcaps of the tweeters, one was very badly placed and squashed all around and that of a woofer, I put the new foam on the woofers and here is a preview photo of the result. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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