AR-91 Provenance?

[meta_noia_fot]

Earlier this year I picked up a pair of 92’s that I recapped and fell in love with. I’ve been keeping my eye out for a pair of 91’s at a decent price because I wanted the 12” woofer and real veneers. Yesterday I bought a pair in Boston. 
 

The seller didn’t know about work done to them. He said his father-in-law had them “rewired” at some point. I figured that could be either very good or very bad. 
 

Well it was my lucky day. When I got home, I opened one up and found that it had been recapped. I’ve attached a photo of the work done. All capacitors replaced with Solen capacitors except for the 100uF cap which was left in place. Someone also went to the trouble of replacing the deteriorated acoustic blanket around the tweeters and mids. The veneers are also in great shape. There are some scratches in the veneer but they are well hidden, which makes me think they were possibly treated with RAF?
 

They sound phenomenal. I’ve only listened to them for a few hours but I’m so pleased. 
 

I’m wondering, does anyone know who did this work? Maybe it was you?

[DavidR]

Great find. I like my 91s, too. Been trying to get my son to take them and replace the TSW610s. The mid in the 91s blow away the cone mid of the 610s.

[Stimpy]

I've never heard the 91s, but I do have 92s, and the 91s bookshelf twin, the 58S speakers.  And I agree with David, that they're a great find, and I'm sure they're wonderful. 

Nice locating a recapped pair too.  Plus, I wouldn't worry too much about the original 100uF electrolytic capacitor.  It's a Unicon brand cap, and they tended to last much longer that some other brands that AR used back then.  A Japanese manufactured capacitor, that sounds very good as well.

[meta_noia_fot]

@DavidR I haven’t heard the 610’s (or any TSW speaker) but I imagine you’re right about the 91’s mid being better. The mids and tweeters from the 9 series are terrific. 

@Stimpy Thanks for the info about the capacitor. Some previous tech really took care of these so I assumed they were left in position because they were still within spec  

 

[Stimpy]

17 minutes ago, meta_noia_fot said:

@DavidR I haven’t heard the 610’s (or any TSW speaker) but I imagine you’re right about the 91’s mid being better. The mids and tweeters from the 9 series are terrific. 

@Stimpy Thanks for the info about the capacitor. Some previous tech really took care of these so I assumed they were left in position because they were still within spec  

 

My wife used to have TSW 410s.  A great speaker, with good dynamics.  A more lively sound, with a slightly hotter high end, than our AR 9 variants.

Well, the 100uF Solen film cap would run over $55 dollars each.  So, you'd spend quite a bit just to replace those 2 shunt caps.  NPE's are fine there.

[meta_noia_fot]

1 hour ago, Stimpy said:

My wife used to have TSW 410s.  A great speaker, with good dynamics.  A more lively sound, with a slightly hotter high end, than our AR 9 variants.

Well, the 100uF Solen film cap would run over $55 dollars each.  So, you'd spend quite a bit just to replace those 2 shunt caps.  NPE's are fine there.

I’ve been considering picking up a pair of TSW-115p’s that are near me. That’s the powered version of that line. I take a mini-system with me on vacations: a Sound Burger record player and a pair of powered speakers. I think having the powered TSW would be a hoot if the electronics are in good shape. 

I’ve paid for that Solen capacitor before. Can’t say I’m eager to buy them again so I’m good leaving it as is. 

[meta_noia_fot]

Here’s some photos of the veneers including some scratches that blend in well. The beveled tops to match the grills makes enough of a difference that my spouse commented on how clean they look. 

[lARrybody]

Those appear to be well taken care of examples. I've had a pair for seven years now. I use the AR 58S version of these in one of my two main systems. A couple years ago I picked up a nice pair of AR 92's from a neighbor. The grills are interchangeable.  

[DavidR]

On 8/21/2023 at 1:51 PM, meta_noia_fot said:

@DavidR I haven’t heard the 610’s (or any TSW speaker) but I imagine you’re right about the 91’s mid being better. The mids and tweeters from the 9 series are terrific. 

A few years back we did a side by side comparison. Not both at the same time but Speakers-A and Speakers-B: merely a flip of the switch. Stimpy is correct about the tweeter. It was hard to decide which was better. The TSW was a bit brighter but not in a bad way. It came down to personal preference. My son preferred the 610 tweeter but I preferred the 91s. The 91s blew the mids away of the 610 as I said. The bass was very close but the 91s were a tad better; more deep, rich, and full-bodied sound. The 610s are no slouch.