Inside an AR-2 cabinet

[dynaco_dan]

Hi there;

I have a pair of AR-2 cabinets that did not survive the riggers of shipping.

I have posted a few photos to show the potential damage to the very ruggedly constructed AR-2 enclosures.

This will show you that if the woofer had been properly un-bolted from the cabinet, the cabinet would have appeared to be well over 1" thick at that point.

You can see in photo #1 the woofer still is bolted into place to the sub frame.

This photo was taken through the destroyed end of the cabinet.

The woofer banged back and forth with enough force to open up the 3/4" cabinet, destroying the woofer as well.

A small section of a nail of the dozen or so nails that held it to the the front can be seen.

I thought that it was an extra woofer, yeh sure.

In photo #2 the woofer frame is detached from the inside of the cabinet front but still holding very strongly with the bolts and t-nuts.

Photo #3 has a small view of the destroyed crossover and sheared dual tweeter wires.

Photo #4 is a photo of my easy access to an AR-2, I didn't need to even remove the grille cloth or woofer a least.

Photo #5 shows that t-nuts and bolts are the very best method of speaker mounting, very secure, extremely bulletproof.

This is the woofer driver front view, without any cone, of course.

What is left of the voice coil is sitting on the lower left of the frame.

These were not shipped via USPS either.

Both of the pair of AR-2's are in the same condition.

A heckuva lot of putty and glue and I may have something here.

I do not know what they would look like if they were packed in original AR speaker packaging, it can't be any worse than this.

This was to show that special handling instructions and packaging is needed for AR-2's, AR-2A's and possibly the earliest AR-2AX's in particular.

I hope this helps someone else in receiving classic speaker's, not firewood.

I have a pair of slightly used AR-2's for sale, they worked great last year and as always, as is, where is, no warantee. lol

Only used sparingly by a 90 year old grannie on Sundays' to listen to church hymm's on the radio, by the way, needs some work and a little polish.

[Guest matty g]

Hey Vern-

Sorry to see what's left of your speakers, man, but something's fishy here. You mean that ALL of that damage occured in shipping? What was left of the shipping cartons? It's very hard to imagine that such serious damage can occur in shipping even if they were poorly boxed. Did the seller state that they were in decent condition? Were there pictures of those particular speakers included before the sale? Looks like they were hit with the delivery truck.

Recently on eBay I saw a McIntosh 1900 receiver that arrived at it's destination completely destroyed and unsalvageable, but the box was just fine!! Must be Gremlins?

Matt

[dynaco_dan]

Hi Matt;

Yes I was surprised to say the least at their condition.

I was trying to stress something with those photos, there is something that you must understand.

AR had one ad where someone pushed a stack of speakers over to show how strong and secure they were in their cartons.

If these AR-2 speakers had been given a body slam on their fronts then they might be still alive.

If they were given a body slam on their backs, then the woofers would likely have fallen away from the front mountings, as they did.

I don't feel that even a triple carton would have prevented that.

I mentioned that they came, not via USPS, who have provided me with many damage free shipments, assuming the items were packaged adequately.

I have done numerous purchases with that seller and he did apologize and send me AR-2AX's at no further cost to me, it doesn't get more honest than that, I feel.

I expressed to him how sad I was that they survived over 40+ years of enjoyment and now they are just firewood.

[Guest matty g]

Vern -

Thanks for posting your photos and sharing your story. I guess it's true that anything can happen in transit - hopefully insurance will cover the cost, but the speakers are gone forever. Local pickup is always the best route, but often not an option to get what one REALLY wants.

Take Care

Matt

[dynaco_dan]

Hi there;

I have been thinking about this recently, so here goes.

In the cases of AR-2/AR-2A's where the woofers were bolted to a sub-ring mounting adapter, as in these photos.

It appears that there was no glue or if there was any, very little used prior to their being nailed to the inside of the enclosures.

There may be cases where a blow to a speaker may have caused a sub-ring to come partially loose and this would make for a poor acoustic seal.

I'm not suggesting everyone pull the grille cloths off, but, do check with a flashlight to see if a noticeably visible gap may be seen between the sub-ring and the inner edge of the enclosure.

If the grille cloth is off, run a bead of glue around that joint to be certain of a perfect seal.

It will be time consuming as you want the glue bead to seal the joint, not the woofer frame to the wood.

You might lay the cabinet on it's back at a slight angle and run a few inches of bead at a session.