questions about AR-3a tweeters...

[Guest ground]

thx for click my topic or question.

i just fine and learn about this really gooooooood speakers. i have tons of questions bout them tho.

by the way, im talking about 90's special edition one. not original one tho.

So, whats the my questions are...

1. where is that products come from?? and when they made it??

2. what is serial # on the back of tweeters, mid-spakers and woofer?? specailly tweeters one.

3. whats most different between original one and 90's special edition one ?? like sound quality and so on...

4. what is best amps and receivers matching for this speaker??

5. and one last question is...

what is the latest trend matching at this time.

thx for read my post again.

[Robert_S]

i just fine and learn about this really gooooooood speakers [. . .] where is that products come from?? and when they made it??

Hello,

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your recent discovery. Our resident AR-3a Limited expert is Minh Luong (mluong303), he will perhaps be able to furnish you with more information, though only days ago he posted the following comment:

More than 500 pairs of AR-3a Limited had been made around 1989. They were made with 3/4" MDF covered with walnut vinyl. Internal bracing was the same as the original AR-3a speakers from 1969. In addition, there are very small numbers of special order with real walnut and golden oak veneer with solid walnut and oak for the thick frames as shown in these pictures from Hong Kong and Japan markets.

Minh Luong

I'd guess that you have the rare golden oak veneer models, very nice!

Robert_S

[Guest ground]

Hello,

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your recent discovery. Our resident AR-3a Limited expert is Minh Luong (mluong303), he will perhaps be able to furnish you with more information, though only days ago he posted the following comment:

I'd guess that you have the rare golden oak veneer models, very nice!

Robert_S

Thx for that info ..

im really gald to hear that information tho. ill check my speaker A.S.A.P

[Guest ground]

thanks for helping me out.

I was also wondering that if somebody knows the back number which is the serial number of the tweeter on the back.

Let me know if u got the infos. thanks!! I will appreciate it!

[mluong303]

The tweeter could have been the first batch of drivers made by Tonegen for AR around 1988-89 numbered 1200084 but don't take my words for it. Just unscrew 3 machine screws to find out the answer for yourself along with the numbers of the midrange and woofer if you do own these AR-3a speakers. If possible post close up pictures of the label on the back of the speaker and the woofer used on your speaker as well. Let us know what you have found. The serial number should be 01xxx with 7 years warranty red sticker on the side.

Minh Luong

[Guest ground]

Thanks for your help!

[Guest ground]

sorry 4 late tho.

i just check ur word right now.

So, i took some pix for u.

if u need some more pix than i will take some more 4 sure.

plz let me know bout what u think.

thx for help me out again )

[mluong303]

Please remove the tweeter from your other AR-3a Limited speaker and take a picture to see if it has the same part number. If you have a Ohm meter then measure to see if these tweeter are 8 or 4 Ohms? This old stock tweeter looks like the version being used on the 1976 AR-12 speaker version? The changing tweeter cap value may had been the used of the 8 Ohms tweeter in the AR-3a Limited speakers.

Also take high resolution picture of the labels on the back of both speakers and send the hi-res images to my email address. I will color correct them, size them down, sharpening and post them so people can read the printing. Low Res images and MP3 music just never seem to impress me a single bit even if I can get them easily...!

The woofers on your AR-3a are original so that is good news for you. You have got a great pair of AR-3a Golden Oak veneer speakers. They will last you a long time for your music enjoyment.

If you have some one to change the foam surrounds in the future when the time comes. Make sure that person will not cut away the dust cap and replaced with generic available type... The dust cap shape on this woofer version is unique and not available for purchase anywhere for reasonable price!

Minh Luong

mluong303@aol.com

[Guest ground]

thank you for ur good advice...

ill take more pictures about what u wanna a to see it.

thx

[mluong303]

The tweeter on your AR-3a Limited may have been swapped out by the previous owner or seller. Old timer keep on insisting paper dome tweeter has wider off axis dispersion so they just keep on concentrate on that aspect but didn't realized the "-2" ending means 8 Ohms driver for the AR-2ax and AR-5 speakers. The later AR-12 tweeter was coated soft dome, 8 Ohms with ferro fluid filled(but I am not 100% sure since I have never dissect one to find out the answer). If they are both the same version tweeter on your speakers then just use the L-Pad adjustment to tune the output to suit your personal musical taste. Other people may suggest you to add a parallel 8 Ohms resistor to turn them to 4 Ohms drivers. What ever works for you is the most important since you are the one who listen to them to determine the final sound quality... It will be very difficult to locate a pair of original AR-3a Limited tweeter since they were limited ordered to begin with and had been extinct for quite some time!

I would suggest you to disassemble all the screws and polish them with 800 grid sand paper to get rid off the "Rust" and wipe them clean with WD-40 to stop them from further oxidation!

Minh Luong

[Guest ground]

The tweeter on your AR-3a Limited may have been swapped out by the previous owner or seller. Old timer keep on insisting paper dome tweeter has wider off axis dispersion so they just keep on concentrate on that aspect but didn't realized the "-2" ending means 8 Ohms driver for the AR-2ax and AR-5 speakers. The later AR-12 tweeter was coated soft dome, 8 Ohms with ferro fluid filled(but I am not 100% sure since I have never dissect one to find out the answer). If they are both the same version tweeter on your speakers then just use the L-Pad adjustment to tune the output to suit your personal musical taste. Other people may suggest you to add a parallel 8 Ohms resistor to turn them to 4 Ohms drivers. What ever works for you is the most important since you are the one who listen to them to determine the final sound quality... It will be very difficult to locate a pair of original AR-3a Limited tweeter since they were limited ordered to begin with and had been extinct for quite some time!

I would suggest you to disassemble all the screws and polish them with 800 grid sand paper to get rid off the "Rust" and wipe them clean with WD-40 to stop them from further oxidation!

Minh Luong

Thank u 4 help out again..

[mluong303]

Here is another pair of Gold AR-3a Limited speakers from Japan with original woofers but tweeters were swapped out with paper dome version! Hopefully they are 4 Ohms drivers!

Minh Luong

[onplane]

The tweeter on your AR-3a Limited may have been swapped out by the previous owner or seller. Old timer keep on insisting paper dome tweeter has wider off axis dispersion so they just keep on concentrate on that aspect but didn't realized the "-2" ending means 8 Ohms driver for the AR-2ax and AR-5 speakers.

If they are both the same version tweeter on your speakers then just use the L-Pad adjustment to tune the output to suit your personal musical taste. Other people may suggest you to add a parallel 8 Ohms resistor to turn them to 4 Ohms drivers.

It will be very difficult to locate a pair of original AR-3a Limited tweeter since they were limited ordered to begin with and had been extinct for quite some time!

Minh Luong

Minh and ground, if the tweeters are in fact 8 ohms, this means they'll need more voltage to produce eqivalent sound to the mid drivers. With the same voltage, they'll lag behind both the mid and woofer. Adding resistance in parallel with the tweeters, will just make the situation worse. Think about it, the tweeters are already lagging and that resistance will just drain more current away from the tweeters.

Again the problem is a mis-match in impedance of the drivers. So how do we bring the tweeters UP in volume to match both the mid and woofer??

OK, there is a solution. What you must do is reduce the output of the mid driver so that it's in balance with the tweeter. You can do this by turning the tweeter control full ON and then back the mid control off, until the tweeter and mid are balanced. Now this puts both the mid and tweeter lagging behind the woofer. That is, the woofer will over power both (giving you one terrific, very East coast sound).

So, now we need to bring the volume of both mid and tweeter together UP to match the woofer and we do this by using two amps; one amp for the woofer and another amp for the mid/tweeter (this amp can be a low or modest power amp even a tube set). Then, all you do is turn the volume control on the mid/tweeter amp to bring those drivers in balance with the woofer.

Your AR-3a's are design to run separate amps, and this is the solution to the mis-matched driver problem.

Hope this helps ...

Regards,

Jerry

[genek]

this is the solution to the mis-matched driver problem.

It may be a solution. However, I would still argue that getting the correct drivers is the solution.