LuckyFindRF Posted February 23, 2023 Report Share Posted February 23, 2023 Hi All - Helping my wife clean out her father's home last weekend. As the "electronics guy" I was tasked with disassembling his stereo system. Came across this very old pair of speakers not in the greatest condition. Did a little bit of research and found out these were actually a really well regarded set. Long story short, brought them back home and finally was able to test them today. I'm blown away. They sound fantastic. One speaker appears fully functional. The other I'm not 100% sure the tweeter is functioning as it should be (though it is functioning). They cosmetically need some work. I've done some reading and am amazed at the lengths some on this board will go for these types of speakers. That said, they sound incredible for 50+ year old speakers. I'm not sure what I want to do with these. I was convinced I wanted to sell them and was going to start by offering them here rather than Ebay, FB Marketplace, etc. ... but now am considering if I can find a place to keep them.... I'm open to advice and/or suggestions (or offers)! If I kept them and wanted to have them restored, is there anyone that could be recommended to take a look at them? They are missing the back speaker plates and the potentiometers (?) that looked to have been there in the past (pics below). Really just looking for some advice here - appreciate anything you all can suggest! Thanks! -RF Pictures: Link 1 Link 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidR Posted February 24, 2023 Report Share Posted February 24, 2023 NICE SCORE ! Many members here that can help you get these working properly. If I'm not mistaken the tweeters can be rebuilt. However, the problem might be the pots (knobs on the back) or a bad capacitor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckyFindRF Posted February 24, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2023 Thanks David. You know I've heard "these speakers are amazing" before about others and ... they always sound alright... (I'm not an audiophile, truth be told). But these when I turned them on ... sounded different. Like very clear. Definitely noticeable. The pots seem to be basically missing, so that would make a lot of sense in terms of an issue on the one side. My wife's father was an electrical engineer, I'm guessing he made some "modifications" to them at some point (being that the same was done on both sides ...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyC Posted February 24, 2023 Report Share Posted February 24, 2023 5 hours ago, LuckyFindRF said: I'm not sure what I want to do with these. I was convinced I wanted to sell them and was going to start by offering them here rather than Ebay, FB Marketplace, etc. ... but now am considering if I can find a place to keep them.... I'm open to advice and/or suggestions (or offers)! Location? Whether repairing or selling, try to avoid shipping them if possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckyFindRF Posted February 24, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2023 4 hours ago, RoyC said: Location? Whether repairing or selling, try to avoid shipping them if possible. Got it. I'm outside Pittsburgh, PA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reel Man Posted February 25, 2023 Report Share Posted February 25, 2023 Nice find. They were made in 1962 or 1963, judging by the serial number. Your cabinets look to be in great shape( My finds were pretty beat up). The cost of the restoration can vary, depending on your obsession with the quality. The capacitors most likely need replaced, and vary from dirt cheap, to Oh My God, how much?( again, how obsessed are you?)Good quality, direct replacement pots are available from a member here(who will probably chime in), as well as cheaper L-pads(with a resistor mod). Now , your speakers....I was advised to put a moldy woofer outside on an overcast day to kill mold. One tweeter sounds like a definite candidate for repair(which Roy C does), but it will most likely be louder than the other one, so do you have the other one done as well? How about the mids? They are most likely producing sound at a much lower volume than originally (RoyC also fixes this). While the charge is quite reasonable , when combined together, it adds up quickly, and that's just the parts. While restored AR-3 speakers can go for big money, you may not make any more profit than selling them in their current state, so you'll have to decide .This is one of my AR projects. It will give you an idea of the work involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckyFindRF Posted February 25, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2023 11 hours ago, Reel Man said: Nice find. They were made in 1962 or 1963, judging by the serial number. Your cabinets look to be in great shape( My finds were pretty beat up). The cost of the restoration can vary, depending on your obsession with the quality. The capacitors most likely need replaced, and vary from dirt cheap, to Oh My God, how much?( again, how obsessed are you?)Good quality, direct replacement pots are available from a member here(who will probably chime in), as well as cheaper L-pads(with a resistor mod). Now , your speakers....I was advised to put a moldy woofer outside on an overcast day to kill mold. One tweeter sounds like a definite candidate for repair(which Roy C does), but it will most likely be louder than the other one, so do you have the other one done as well? How about the mids? They are most likely producing sound at a much lower volume than originally (RoyC also fixes this). While the charge is quite reasonable , when combined together, it adds up quickly, and that's just the parts. While restored AR-3 speakers can go for big money, you may not make any more profit than selling them in their current state, so you'll have to decide .This is one of my AR projects. It will give you an idea of the work involved. Thank you for all of this information. I need to do a lot of reading/learning here. I'll be honest, my initial plan was to clean them up minimally and sell them. After listening to them though, I'm having second thoughts. I brought my wife in the room to listen to them - she cares very little about speakers in general - within 30 seconds her comment was "these sound really good .... really rich ...." So yeah .... I may be looking at re-doing these and then finding a place to incorporate them into our home. I'm going to check out your post in detail when I have a few minutes. It sounds like I found the best resource around though in terms of getting to people who can make this a lot easier on me (I have no experience building or repairing speakers, but I'm reasonably handy and I can follow directions well, lol!) Appreciate all the advice so far.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reel Man Posted February 25, 2023 Report Share Posted February 25, 2023 Since you got them for free, even if you spend at the limit on these, you'll be able to get your money back, at the very least. They can go for good money on Ebay, but I would be leery myself to ship these, as they are heavy AND delicate. There are a lot of threads on AR-3 restorations to sort through; I would do it differently had I known all the options. There is a link in my thread that I would follow if I ever do this again, as it has a VERY clean crossover setup, and it should apply to your speakers as well. This is also good reading, as the AR-3a speaker is a close relative. http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/library/acoustic_research/original_models_1954-1974/original_models_schematicss/restoring_the_ar-3a/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckyFindRF Posted February 25, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2023 Yeah, the price was right lol. Since I know about what these retail for however, it does make me a little concerned on "just how much" you can spend restoring them. I need to sit down and start reading those threads as you suggest. For starters, is there a good way to diagnose what's working and what's not? By my year, I believe one of the speakers seems to be fully working while the other one may be missing the mid-range, and the Twitter seems low output.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reel Man Posted February 26, 2023 Report Share Posted February 26, 2023 The mids have that white goo around the perimeter that gets less flexible after 60 years. The tweeters also tend to age. My mids and one tweeter had NO output, and Roy fixed them; he should be able to fix yours, as it's most likely age-related. You can just have him fix the non-working speakers; they will just be louder than the non-serviced ones. You'll also have to deal with the hole where the adjustment pots were located, or you will have no acoustic seal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckyFindRF Posted February 26, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2023 Reelman - I will look into that. Is there a way to test if a speaker is working as intended, or is it just something that needs to be listened to. I'll do some reading as soon as I can, but are there any replacements for those back plates out there? I assume it'd probably be parts from Ebay. Or anything else people have used to fill that space? Can you pass on the information for Roy? Also - are you in NW Pa? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio AR Posted February 26, 2023 Report Share Posted February 26, 2023 Posted December 19, 2019 On 12/18/2019 at 11:22 PM, powerglide said: Hi Powerglide, here's how I solved with a masonite crossover panel that was deformed and useless due to moisture. The panel belongs to a Heathkit AS-2a, the clone supplied in kit form with the original Acoustic Research AR2a. The AS-2a speakers are from 1964, and I used the masonite from the bottom of a 1972 Japanese turntable !! There is only the different shade of brown to differentiate the back of the 2 speakers. For the writings I used "transferable" letters, then painted to make them stable! Under the complete phase of the work. Giorgio Expand On left original AS-2a masonite panel This is what can be done with good will, a piece of grooves, an alternative saw! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reel Man Posted February 26, 2023 Report Share Posted February 26, 2023 Unless you have similar test equipment that was used to determine the frequency response when they were new, you'll have to speculate. It was a pretty easy decision to get both mids and tweeters done, as only one worked on mine. These are OLD speakers, and this can be a restoration in the truest sense. Since you are going to be tearing into these fairly substantially, I would just go ahead and have the mids and tweeters serviced, but that's up to you. Masonite is readily available in big box hardware stores, I would cut a circular piece bigger than the hole, use sealant, and fasten with wood screws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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