AR2 one is less clear than the other

[arcticfox]

25 minutes ago, genek said:

The finished cabinet on the left in the last photo is birch.

Although you don't have a matched pair, birch and pine are two of the rarer AR cabinet types. Changing either will reduce their values. Both seem to be in good condition from your photos, so my advice would be to clean them, apply a light coat of uncolored wax, place them correctly (horizontal and raised up off the floor to ear level so your view is mostly the edge banding on the front faces), then just sit back and listen to the music.

The sides are good, it's mostly the tops and bottoms that are scuffed and scratched. The previous owner had them upright as the bottoms (with them positioned upright) are heavily scratched which would be more apparent if I were to place them on their sides. I'll look into the wax finish. I was also considering restore-a-finish for the least intrusive way to freshen the finished one up. Their value is less of a concern to me, I bought them to enjoy, not for any resale value. I know they have some historical value so I don't want to do too much.

[JeffS]

arcticfox,

Glad to hear the problem was easily solved.

If you acquired both of these speakers from the original owner, or if they've been together since the later one was made, then I'd say you have a mono-to-stereo pair of AR-2's. The only piece that flies-in-the-face of that thought is that the owner didn't order another lacquered birch unit to go with the first unit. Still, the pair is a great find. The later unit looks great and has all of the paperwork attached, and the earlier unit is a lacquered birch unit from 1958. These are not easily found!

I agree with genek on how to treat the cabinets. Looking at the photos, the unfinished pine cabinet looks like it has birch veneer on the face only, instead of a solid birch frame as the earlier units have. Regardless, you could use some linseed oil diluted with mineral spirits on the front trim to give it some color to match the earlier speaker.

Just my opinion, of course, but the combination of birch trim, grill cloth, and clean logos makes for some of the most attractive early AR speakers.

 

[genek]

What you are referring to as "tops and bottoms" are actually intended to be the sides. The long face is the top.

If you position these speakers vertically, you will be defeating the entire purpose of the cross-fired tweeters and producing an output that is even more "beamy" than a single front-facing tweeter would be. If you're determined to use these that way, you should consider pulling the tweeters and updating the speakers to the single-tweeter 2x configuration.

[lARrybody]

[genek]

The last version of the 2x used the same 2.5" tweeter as the AR-4x. If I was converting a 2, I would probably go that way.