dls123 Posted September 20, 2008 Report Share Posted September 20, 2008 Hi all,I am a newbie here, but post regularly on audio asylum in tubes, tube diy, and vintage. I posted this on vintage, but then realized that this is the place all the AR folks hang out! Here goes...I have a buddy who likes to scrounge vintage speakers for cheap and then re-foam them. He does nice work. I have a pair of large Advents he did and then I rebuilt the crossovers, changed the speaker terminals and they are great in my basement system. So my buddy just gave me a pair of AR3a "Improved" speakers to play with. I can probably have them for $40 or so. He just re-foamed the woofers and all drivers are working and pristine. Veneer is still good on the cabinets and even the grills and logos are in pretty good shape. I hooked them up in the basement to my completely rebuilt and "McShaned" Citation V and Citation I preamp. They sound OK. Bottom end is very good, much like the Advents. However, the imaging is not all that great. Since all 6 drivers seem to be working perfectly I am guessing that the crossovers probably need updating. I looked on the web and found all sorts of info and schematics, but all show the crossovers having adjustment pots on the tweeter and mid. Mine just has a two position switch in the back marked "A" and "B". I assume this is tweeter attenuation like on the Advents. So....if I re-cap them are they going to image as well as the Advents? Or are these just not all that good at imaging even when working perfectly? The tonal balance is pretty good, but vocals and instruments are rather smeared in the soundstage. Much more so than I would expect from a speaker of this reputation. They are on good stands and that Citation V does 54 watts/ch and probably 100 watt peaks. No clipping in sight and plenty of woofer control. Also that amp is an imaging champ. So, is re-capping in order and who has the schematic for the version with the toggle switch...anyone? I know I can just open one and order all the parts... Anyone have experience with this version? Is it worth re-doing the crossover or not likely to make that much difference? Any and all opinions welcome! Clearly by reputation these have great potential.....thanks,Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genek Posted September 20, 2008 Report Share Posted September 20, 2008 Check this forum for the thread named "tweeter for ar-3a improved." It contains a number of posts that will help you identify which version of the speaker you have and schematics for the different versions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dls123 Posted September 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2008 Check this forum for the thread named "tweeter for ar-3a improved." It contains a number of posts that will help you identify which version of the speaker you have and schematics for the different versions.Thanks...I'm on it. I am pretty committed to doing the x-overs, these are clearly very good speakers according to lore... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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