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What do you make of this AR-3 midrange driver?


J. W. Hall

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This new to me AR-3 has what I thought was not an original midrange driver, because in my extremely limited experience, I had not seen a cage like this.  But as I peer into the driver unit itself, it looks like what I think AR midrangers look like? Your thoughts? Thanks in advance.  B1EC15CE-39AA-4B1E-9F5D-DDB378CAD320.thumb.jpeg.d2ea365e6a103fcec64b4444f32081ef.jpegB1EC15CE-39AA-4B1E-9F5D-DDB378CAD320.thumb.jpeg.d2ea365e6a103fcec64b4444f32081ef.jpegF9117391-3C8E-4D87-9214-E47210292D0A.thumb.jpeg.a9fb667c3ee025390df00ae8c2b1cd08.jpeg

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Hmmm...I just took a closer look at the woofer, and see that there is something coating the surround. it looks pretty thick, and I would not at all be surprised if it is compromised as well. I also noticed no screws holding the woofer in place. Is it glued in?

I hope you didn't pay much it. 🙄

Roy

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6 minutes ago, RoyC said:

Hmmm...I just took a closer look at the woofer, and see that there is something coating the surround. it looks pretty thick, and I would not at all be surprised if it is compromised as well. I also noticed no screws holding the woofer in place. Is it glued in?

I hope you didn't pay much it. 🙄

Roy

I didn't. And I took the woofer screws out to open the cabinet and see what other revelations were to be had inside. 
 

Fortunately I have a pair of really clean AR-2ax and they sound great so I can listen to the acoustic suspension goodness while I ponder what to do with my franken pair. 

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2 hours ago, RoyC said:

The mid is not original. It also appears that the tweeter dome has been painted over, which will have compromised its output.

The cabinet and woofer look good.

Roy

I've actually seen painted AR-3a tweeters before, Roy - maybe this was a bright idea for awhile. ^_^

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2 hours ago, J. W. Hall said:

I didn't. And I took the woofer screws out to open the cabinet and see what other revelations were to be had inside. 
 

Fortunately I have a pair of really clean AR-2ax and they sound great so I can listen to the acoustic suspension goodness while I ponder what to do with my franken pair. 

If the woofers are OK, and if you can manage to remove the gunk on their surrounds, you'd only need a pair of mids & tweets.

This makes it an eminently do-able project!

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12 hours ago, ar_pro said:

If the woofers are OK, and if you can manage to remove the gunk on their surrounds, you'd only need a pair of mids & tweets.

This makes it an eminently do-able project!

If the cabinets are OK, it is do-able...but it will be expensive and tedious.

AR-3 mids are scarce and going for lots of money these days...and then usually require refurbishment to produce adequate output. The tweeter domes can be re-suspended, but (but will likely remain black). The woofer surrounds will most likely have to be replaced with foam.

Roy

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