How much $ to repair my AR-3As??

[Guest mhjmhj]

Hi all. Forum noob here. I joined because I've been researching AR-3A repair - and now I have a question or two.

First, I'm handy and have tools (including a solder iron I don't think I've ever used) but I'm inexperienced with electronic repair and I'm also busy with a large renovation project (plus I have kids).

Anyway, I finally got an amp off eBay that could handle the AR-3As (a Yamaha A-1020), hooked up the speakers, which had sat idle for a while since they fried my old receiver and the end result is that they sound pretty bad. I haven't done a lot to diagnose the problem, by my hunch is that it is the pots, since when I fooled with those, I got the sound to improve but I had to jiggle the things and it went bad again after letting them go.

So in reading through this forum and on another forum, I see I can replace the pots, or bypass them. I also see the foam surrounds go bad on the AR-3As often. I also see mention of replacing the capacitors.

My question is if I took it to a shop, how much does it typically cost to have the pots replaced?

To replace the caps?

To replace the surrounds?

To overhaul the speaker entirely?

I was looking at a shop called Miller Sound in Lansdale, PA, which I heard good things about.

Thank you!

[ar_pro]

Give Bill a call at Millersound, he'll be able to quote a price for refoaming the woofers - his experience with AR speakers is unmatched, and I'll bet he has several suggestions on how to get your speakers up & running.

Replacing the caps is easy, once the woofers are out, and you've removed (and saved) all of the fiberglass stuffing.

The pots can also be removed & cleaned at this time - there are a number of discussions on how to properly clean them, so just use the search function for that info, and details on re-capping the 3a.

As long as the cabinets and your midrange drivers & tweeters are OK, refoaming the woofers will be the only real expense. If you *do* have faulty drivers, replacements are easily found on ebay, as many sellers are parting out AR speakers.