Guest matty g Posted June 3, 2007 Report Share Posted June 3, 2007 E-Bay auction #260119448470 for an AR woofer - the guy insists that the 2ax and the 3a are the same woofer. I tried to inform him that they are apples and oranges, but he doesn't believe me. It appears to be a 2ax woofer - whatcha gonna do? I tried!Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charger3834 Posted June 3, 2007 Report Share Posted June 3, 2007 That woofer is a AR-2ax woofer from 1970. It has an Alnico "slug" magnet.None of the AR-2ax/AR-5 10" woofers will fit a 3a, period.. Your seller is dead wrong!What is interesting about that woofer specifically, is that it's a transitional woofer for 1970.(see my AR-2ax comparison document in the library) It has a 6 bolt frame that is slightly oversized to fit the same cabinet hole as the pre 1970 AR-2ax's with the cast aluminum frame/cloth surround woofer. In 1971, the smaller framed, 4 bolt 2ax woofer is introduced that is typical of post 1970 2ax's.This woofer will not fit 4 bolt AR-2ax cabinets! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dynaco_dan Posted June 3, 2007 Report Share Posted June 3, 2007 Hi there;It is amazing that the seller can write so much about the woofer.One good feature about that particular woofer is, he has prepared it for a new surround, very considerate of him, I think we all need that kind of seller.Maybe we can persuade that seller to discuss AR speakers, woofers in particular, on our AR forum.We all can learn something new from him, in my opinion at least.I think Pete and Soundminded, among others, will second that suggestion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
draftingmonkey Posted June 6, 2007 Report Share Posted June 6, 2007 I agree totally with Vern. Maybe I should even drop out of all these forums and use Ebay for my audio education as they seem to be much better informed over there than the rest of us (ahahahahahaha). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cliff Posted June 6, 2007 Report Share Posted June 6, 2007 Hey guys,At least he posted matty's statement/question on the auction page, gotta give him some credit for doing the right thing (except for maybe "preparing" that woofer) )Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest matty g Posted June 6, 2007 Report Share Posted June 6, 2007 Hi Cliff - I agree that it was good of him to print that comment, however I can't take credit for that one. I e-mailed him and the reply I got was "I had AR3's and this WILL fit", so I dropped it. Hopefully the buyer knew what he was buying - pretty good deal if you needed one! Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyC Posted June 7, 2007 Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 I sent him a message after reading Matt's post as well. I also received no reply, nor was my comment the one he posted. I'm guessing he received more than a few comments, and finally realized that he had better do something to cover himself in the event of an unhappy auction winner.Score one for the Classic Speaker Police! :-)Roy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Harlow Posted June 9, 2007 Report Share Posted June 9, 2007 Hi,I've been a denizen here for quite some time but this is my first post.I bought the woofer in question and now I have a question or two. The serial numbers on the 2AX's I have are AX03554 and AX03525. The latter has the felt ring woofer and the 2AX midrange insert installed with heavy duty staples, the former has the newer six bolt woofer but has the single mid installed without the insert(I'm quite sure it did not come from AR this way). Both have the early tweeter and the "rabbet" in the side panels where the grill fits like in my 2A's but these grills are are not over sized to fit in the slots.My questions are do you think I will have to alter the crossover to accommodate the woofers even though they have the earlier tweeter? Should I look for a pair of the earlier tweeters? I'm not a stickler with regards to optimum sound, they are 37 years old, but I do want to do right by them. As usual the pots will need cleaning or replacement,I love the way my 2A's sound and look and the 4X's I have I like quite a bit as well.Thanks for any input. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest matty g Posted June 9, 2007 Report Share Posted June 9, 2007 Hi Rich - I'm sorry I can't answer your crossover question, (I'm sure someone else here can), but congratulations on your woofer - that was a good deal! Just from what I've read here (Brad's informative posts as well as others) I think you might have one of those transitional models of the 2ax. Another interesting tidbit I have read here is that a kit was offered (for very little money) to convert the 2a system to the 2ax system with a midrange upgrade. This kit was available from AR around '64 or so when they introduced the 2ax, and it included a baffle plate and the new style single midrange driver to take the place of the two 5" midrange speakers on the 2a system. It is kind of strange that your two systems are different when the serial numbers are rather close - maybe some leftover 2a's were upgraded with the kit at the factory and re-labled 2ax? Just a thought. I love my 2a's and 4x's too - they really hold up well.Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyC Posted June 9, 2007 Report Share Posted June 9, 2007 Rich,It is likely that your crossovers are the same, consisting of AR #5 (1.187mh) woofer inductors, and (possibly combined) 6uf mid/4uf tweeter caps. That didn't change until the smaller framed 4 bolt woofer was used in the early 70's, and the #7 (1.88mh) inductor replaced #5.You should not have to alter the crossovers unless you see something other than described above.Keep us posted...Roy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charger3834 Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 Rich,I am pretty sure that Roy is correct(always a safe bet), you should be OK. Those numbers indicate that those speakers are 1964-1965 AR-2ax's(very early :-) The transitional 1970 woofer in question should work ok, but if it were me, I would prefer the period correct cloth surround woofer. Keep in mind that all pre-1970 AR-2ax's, are essentially AR-2a's with the 3.5" CTS-built midrange. The speaker that has the midrange adapter plate is in fact correct, as you have to figure that there were a number of pre-produced AR-2a cabinets kicking around in 1964. Adapter plates were also part of the AR-2a to 2ax upgrade kit that sold for 15 dollars. The tweeters you need are the original 1-3/8" units. Could you please post a couple of pictures so we can get a better idea of your grill issue ???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Harlow Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 Thank you all for your replies, I appreciate it. Much of the guesswork is eliminated for me know.Here is a picture of the the grille slot I spoke of in my earlier post. On the 2A's I have the grille is is slightly over sized and fits into these slots making it difficult to remove. This picture is from the 2AX's which also has the slots but the grille is not over sized but is sized to the opening. I think you are all correct, these seem to be the "parts bin" model.Rich2329.txt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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