AR LST-2

[xmas111]

Hi,

I have a question about a pair of AR LST-2 speakers I have.

I can't tell you when I bought them but it had to be shortly after they came out in the mid 70's sometime. They haven't been used since I bought a set of AR 9's 25+ years ago.

Took off one of the front grills a couple of weeks ago and the woofer surround is all rotted out, which I expected to see.

Now my question is I'd like to sell them and do you think it would be better to sell them as is or replace the surrounds first? And either way I have no idea what they might be worth in either condition. They have a few minor scratches and the grills are discolored from age.

This may not be the place to ask these question but I'd figure I'd give it a shot.

If there's any questions about these please ask.

Thanks for any information you guys can pass along.

Kind of funny but if you look at the labels you can see where the "2" was hand written in after the AR LST

John

[teknofossil]

Hi,

I have a question about a pair of AR LST-2 speakers I have.

I can't tell you when I bought them but it had to be shortly after they came out in the mid 70's sometime. They haven't been used since I bought a set of AR 9's 25+ years ago.

Took off one of the front grills a couple of weeks ago and the woofer surround is all rotted out, which I expected to see.

Now my question is I'd like to sell them and do you think it would be better to sell them as is or replace the surrounds first? And either way I have no idea what they might be worth in either condition. They have a few minor scratches and the grills are discolored from age.

This may not be the place to ask these question but I'd figure I'd give it a shot.

If there's any questions about these please ask.

Thanks for any information you guys can pass along.

Kind of funny but if you look at the labels you can see where the "2" was hand written in after the AR LST

John

Hi John,

those are pretty nice. If it were me I would replace the surrounds before I would attempt a sale. Any potential buyer likely would want to assure themselves that the system is fully functional (rotted surrounds may prevent that). If you are uncomfortable with the idea of DIY surround replacement you may want to contact Carl of Carl's Custom Loudspeakers who is a registered member of this forum. I have seen his work and it is very neat and professional. (http://www.classicloudspeakerservices.com )

Discoloration of the walnut veneer (I think AR at that point in time only offered that one finish) *may be* due to the veneer and/or finish being dried out. This may be corrected a number of ways, one is to get some Danish oil brand oil finish and rub it into the wood, carefully observing the changes to the appearance as you rework the finish. (Just follow the suggestions on container or their website). I think "Fine Woodworking" Magazine had a article about restoration of oil finished wood surfaces which may help. Check their website, they have some articles available in their on-line archive. My particular favorite oil finish is a quality grade of "Tung" oil. A couple good places for quality finishing materials is WoodCraft ( http://www.woodcraft.com ) and Constantines ( http://www.constantines.com ).

As for the grill cloth darkening I have seen a number of new fabric cleaning products on the "tube" that are applyed directly by dabbing (not good for this purpose however) or by aerosol (boy if that works it would be a blessing for these older cloth grills). You will have to Google around for more info on these products since I don't recall the name. (it may have been one of the products hocked by that obnoxious Billy Mayes, the guy that looks somewhat like Blutto of the old Popeye comics).

I think this relatively small amount of work would be well worth the effort making your AR's operable and look decent for possible sale. FYI, about a week ago on EBAY a set of LST's went for over a grand. But then again, who knows? You may decide you want to keep them.

-T

[genek]

If it were me I would replace the surrounds before I would attempt a sale. Any potential buyer likely would want to assure themselves that the system is fully functional (rotted surrounds may prevent that). If you are uncomfortable with the idea of DIY surround replacement you may want to contact Carl of Carl's Custom Loudspeakers who is a registered member of this forum. I have seen his work and it is very neat and professional. (http://www.classicloudspeakerservices.com )

If I was a potential buyer, I would definitely put more value on a pair with refoaming done by a known professional than a DIY job by the seller. Otherwise, I think I'd actually prefer to get them without the refoam and find a pro to do it for me. That's assuming that I'm not able to go inspect the work and hear the speakers myself before making the decision.

[xmas111]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I replaced the surrounds on my AR9's last year. I was happy with the out come, they sound great.

I think I will make a project out of doing these over too then put them up for sale. I really hate to let them go but I just don't have any use for them.

Thanks again.

John

[Guest JagHond]

xmas111,

please let me know when you could have done the job and put them up for sale... it could be interesting for a guy of my knowledge

JagHond

[xmas111]

I know this is a old post but......

I ended up refoaming the woofers a while back and was quite happy with the out come. They sounded pretty darn good.

But I noticed two of the tweeters on one of the speakers were dead! That's when I threw back in the spare room to collect duct.

I had to bring them back out from storage when I needed them to hook up to a Heathkit AR-15 stereo receiver I finished rebuilding.

After using them for a little while with the AR-15 I decided why not try and repair the two tweeters. After all they were dead anyway. Well long story short I was able to remove the voice coils and reconnect the hair thin wire that had broken on them. Reassembled them and to my surprise the damn things worked! Did I do the repair properly... I won't bet my life on it but they are working!

Since all the speakers are working I've decided why not recap them too. Should be like new speakers when I'm done with them.

Now for my question. I've decided to use Bennic NP electrolytic caps from Madisound for for the repair. Do you guys see any major problems using these type of caps? I know I could get film type caps but they would be very expensive and I'm not sure it would be a real benefit for this speakers.

On a side note......I've had these speakers since they first came out sometime in the mid seventies and the receiver I had at that time was a Heathkit AR-15!

That AR-15 is long gone but when I saw one on ebay a while ago I said I want one again! I had to recap it and do some other repairs but overall it's works great and looks good too.

So now I have the LST-2's and the Heathkit AR-15 I don't know what I'm going to do with. I already have a nice stereo that includes AR9's that I recently rebuilt. But I'm sure I find someplace to put them..... I attached a pic of the Heathkit AR-15 so you guys can see what it looks like.

Thanks,

John

[Guest Martin G.]

I know this is a old post but...

Posts never die here, they just get a little dusty.

A pair of restored LST-2s brought some pretty nice money on e-bay recently. But during the bidding no one asked if the caps were film or electrolytic - it obviously had no impact on the purchase price. Therefore, if I were just going to sell them anyway, I would use the electrolytic caps. However, if they were going to be spending some time listening to them - I'd use the film caps for better sonics and longevity.

Marty

[Zilch]

The preferred approach to resale, in my opinion, is to offer the options. Many vintage collectors, most notably those with the deepest pockets, have their own resources for resurrounding, and there are plenty of examples of alleged "professional" jobs completed by incompetent hacks....