sWilly Posted September 25, 2023 Report Share Posted September 25, 2023 A few days ago I was walking the dog and came across an estate sale that was giving away everything for free. I didn't see anything interesting but I asked if they happened to have any old stereo equipment. They did! They ended up giving me a pair of AR-2ax's (along with a Pioneer PL-518 turntable and a Kenwood TK-66 receiver). Quite a find! As usual, the hi and mids were not working. Today I opened them up and cleaned the pots. Thankfully, all the drivers work and sound great. I think I am going to go ahead and do a full restoration on these: new caps, new pots, seal the surrounds with the good stuff from Roy, new grill cloth, and refinish the cabinets. Question for all of you: I took some pictures of the stamps on the drivers and it looks like they say 1958. Is that possible? I didn't think 2ax's were made until later. ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genek Posted September 25, 2023 Report Share Posted September 25, 2023 First generation 2ax was 1964. Earlier models may have used the same drivers. Hard to imagine drivers sitting in factory parts storage that long, though. Any sign that driver's may have been replaced? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sWilly Posted September 25, 2023 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2023 2 hours ago, genek said: First generation 2ax was 1964. Earlier models may have used the same drivers. Hard to imagine drivers sitting in factory parts storage that long, though. Any sign that driver's may have been replaced? The grilles were still glued on with the original glue and everything indicates these are original. Were the red dome tweeters even made in 1958? It could be the stamps are wrong, but it's odd that it appears on both the mids and tweeters. Couldn't read the woofer stamps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genek Posted September 25, 2023 Report Share Posted September 25, 2023 The AR-3 used the same tweeter. It was introduced in 1958. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sWilly Posted September 25, 2023 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2023 Huh. Everything would indicate that these are very early 3ax's using parts from '58 then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakecat Posted September 25, 2023 Report Share Posted September 25, 2023 What a gift! You got the preferred 2ax for sure and are early models. What is the serial numbers on back? Odd on the dates for the drivers...as it would seem crazy that they sat on shelves that long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sWilly Posted September 25, 2023 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2023 Yeah, that seems improbable, doesn't it? The serial numbers are 77623 and 78028. The '58 stamps are on the 77623. I haven't opened the other one up yet but I'm going to predict different date stamps on that one. I do believe they were assembled at the same time though, as both crossover/control boards were originally installed upside down. Unfortunately, the original owner used them in the upside-down position so the tops are really scratched up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dxho Posted September 26, 2023 Report Share Posted September 26, 2023 The date is likely 1968 which correlates fairly closely to that 77xxx serial. The last early AR-2ax was serial 125000 in 1970. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sWilly Posted November 5, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2023 Update to these AR-2ax's. They have been completely restored: new caps, pots cleaned, woofer surrounds sealed. A Dremel with a wire brush works great for cleaning the pots. It took some serious sanding but the tops of the cabinets that were trashed turned out pretty nice. I know that some will consider it blasphemy, but I stained them with an ebony stain to give them a dark walnut look (the reddish walnut wasn't going to work with the room these are going in). The original grills had permanent stains so I dyed them black and made a second set with some vintage looking fabric from Amazon. I guess I can switch them depending on my mood. Comparing them to some '68 3a's it surprising how different they are. The 2-ax's seem to have more pronounced mids while the 3a's are boosted in the upper mids. The 3a's seem more balanced overall and generally win out over the 2ax's for me. There are some songs where I prefer the 2-ax's so it depends on the material to some extent. Both are great sounding speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidR Posted November 5, 2023 Report Share Posted November 5, 2023 I think the cabinets look great with the darker stain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genek Posted November 5, 2023 Report Share Posted November 5, 2023 The dark stain is similar to what the last generation of classic ARs with the Norwood address looked like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sWilly Posted November 6, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2023 18 hours ago, DavidR said: I think the cabinets look great with the darker stain. Me too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sWilly Posted November 6, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2023 17 hours ago, genek said: The dark stain is similar to what the last generation of classic ARs with the Norwood address looked like. I wasn't aware of that. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickB Posted November 8, 2023 Report Share Posted November 8, 2023 Great job! Did you use or will you use Roy's goop on the woofers surrounds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sWilly Posted November 8, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2023 4 hours ago, RickB said: Great job! Did you use or will you use Roy's goop on the woofers surrounds? Thanks, yes. I had some left over from my 3a restoration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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