AR9's?

[Guest paulc]

I am torn... I have a pair of AR9 speakers that I've had for a long, long time. For a lot of "too complex to get into reasons," they have sat silent for a bunch of years now. But I seem to have a slight emotional attachment to them. And I'm thinking that in the future I might want to get them back in service.

However, I have a pair of Allison Ones in another room and need to go through a re-foaming process; so I decided to check the ARs. Oh boy, both mids and all 4 woofers have shot surrounds. 6 speakers worth. (NB, they seem to have a funny looking screwhead, less points than Torx, anyone know what?).

So I figure it's going to cost me multiple hundreds of dollars to re-foam. What is giving me pause is that in reading through some other stuff here, it seems these speakers are just not worth a whole lot (my guess is that part of it is that they are very large and heavy). So I wonder if I should go through the hassle and expense of bringing them back to life (I don't have immediate need for that; the amp that had fed them got fried a while ago and I do remember they need significant amounts of watts to be properly fed).

If y'all would care to comment, I'd appreciate it!

[Guest David in MA]

>So I figure it's going to cost me multiple hundreds of dollars

>to re-foam. What is giving me pause is that in reading through

>some other stuff here, it seems these speakers are just not

>worth a whole lot (my guess is that part of it is that they

>are very large and heavy).

I got a pair of AR-9's from a friend. I refoamed the two mids and 4 woofers myself. I think I spent $70 or so for the parts from parts express. Took me couple of days but it isn't too hard to refoam them yourself.

You might also want to replaces the caps in crossover network. I took the cheaper route, costing me about $65 in parts and couple of hours of work.

My AR-9's also had one of the high-mid driver blown. Replacement for that was about $90.

Was it worth it? YES.

If you are considering selling them, let me know. I might consider buying them for my dad...

[Guest Bret]

>If y'all would care to comment, I'd appreciate it!<

I understand the emotional attachment. Mine go nowhere - except maybe into the grave with me.

Refoaming doesn't need to be that expensive. Under $100 if you do it yourself. Check the condition of the woofer spiders. If they are shot, we're going to add $140 + shipping to the repair cost.

Recapping, at least the upper cabinet, can cost as little as a pair of pizzas or as much as a pair of good tires. That's a whole different discussion: I believe that you get what you pay-for in capacitors (at least to a point) and there are those who think I'm an idiot and re-capacitor their extremely expensive and marvelous speakers with caps that cost $1.40 each. (my opinion is hotly contested and I am generally villified by some who have never tried it because they intuitively *know* that I'm full of it and can cite other people's experiences)

But if you have a large room and a large amplifier, I can't imagine any reason to let AR-9s you own languish in disuse. I suspect what you suspect about their value -> it isn't so much what they are worth from a sonic perspective, it's the fact that they are so likely to be damaged in really expensive shipping that keeps the prices down. It certainly isn't the sound.

That, or wives hate them.

My opinion: If you have a largish room, fix 'em, get a really big amplifier capable of powering a small city, feed 'em a quality signal from a decent source, and be amazed. If you have a small room and want to see if maybe they sound okay being run off a 100w/channel HT receiver with old caps or cheap caps and feed them a signal from a $49 DVD player. . . well, maybe finding them a good home would be more satisfying to your fondness of them.

But that's just one guy's opinion.

If you're in the deep south somewhere, I'll come get them, cart them home on a leather seat and spend the money to fix them and drive them properly - - - - well, just if you don't want to spend the money of course! ;-)

I was guessing maybe you were a southerner by the "y'all."

Bret

[Guest dc270]

I have been restoring, building and rebuilding speakers for over 30 years and the AR9 are by far one of the most advanced and best sounding design I have heard yet! They are most certainly worth rebuilding in my experience. I helped a friend rebuilt his a while back and wanted a pair ever since. I finally got me a pair a couple weeks ago. The 4 woofers are being proffesionaly rebuilt by McPeak Audio in West Virginia, I am finishing the cabinets hand rubbed oil finish and am going to upgrade the black electrolytic caps to exact uF Solen types. While 135 lbs (per) of speaker behemouth is a bit on the "awe wow" side, the sound is all worth it! If you have a good clean, quality amp then even better to showcase them. These are audio icons that happen to be speakers, I bet in 1978 JBL, Klipsch, EV, etc jaws dropped when these hit the electronic stores.

Good luck with yours- if for any reason you parrt them out I am looking for one side woofer cover to finish mine with.

Thanks DC

[rrcrain]

If you decide to part with them and live in the midwest, I'm interested in buying them!

[juliankowa]

I have had my AR9's for about a 3 years or so and they occupy the main stage in my living room. I traveled a long distance to pick them up as I did not trust the shippers. They are an imposing sight, a work of art and they would be my last speakers to go if I had to get rid of my collection. And my collection includes OHM F, AR3a, AR3, Energy Connosieur 22's, Advent Maestro, Original Advent, Boston A200, EPI 320, Bose 601 and many others. To refoam them yourself might cost you as little $35 plus time. If I were you I would keep them as they are powerful, beautiful and wonderful conversation pieces.

juliankowa