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Re-cap Advice for the Lowly, Oft Forgotten AR2x


fifth beatle

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About to get my first taste of vintage AR with the AR2x two-way. Seems this model is rarely mentioned as if the black sheep of the family tag hanging over it. Woofer/tweeter terminals in back look to be in VG condition as are the drivers. Due to its age, I notice most will re-cap. This will be my first rehab project beyond the refoaming I did on some EPI A110's and Boston Acoustic A70's. What cap(s) do the 2x need? Thanks for the advice to make this a fun project. :P

Fifth Beatle

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About to get my first taste of vintage AR with the AR2x two-way. Seems this model is rarely mentioned as if the black sheep of the family tag hanging over it. Woofer/tweeter terminals in back look to be in VG condition as are the drivers. Due to its age, I notice most will re-cap. This will be my first rehab project beyond the refoaming I did on some EPI A110's and Boston Acoustic A70's. What cap(s) do the 2x need? Thanks for the advice to make this a fun project. :P

I don't think we have any data on this model beyond its years and some specs, but AR was pretty good about not using unmarked caps. You should be able to find out when you open it up. Post pictures!

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  • 3 months later...
About to get my first taste of vintage AR with the AR2x two-way. Seems this model is rarely mentioned as if the black sheep of the family tag hanging over it. Woofer/tweeter terminals in back look to be in VG condition as are the drivers. Due to its age, I notice most will re-cap. This will be my first rehab project beyond the refoaming I did on some EPI A110's and Boston Acoustic A70's. What cap(s) do the 2x need? Thanks for the advice to make this a fun project. :)

Fifth Beatle

I came THIS CLOSE to buying 2x's instead of the 2ax's way back when. My plan was to buy 2x's and put the MicroStatic tweeters on them, which I thought would be a slightly better speaker than the 2ax by itself. The store that I was dealing with didn't stock 2x's and they would have had to special-order them. Still, they thought it was an intriguing idea and they would have done it had I wanted.

In the end, I bought 2ax's. Partly because I wasn't sure if the Micro's were as 'uncolored' in the HF range as the AR 3/4" tweeter, and partly because I just wanted a 'pure' AR.

As long-time readers here know, I have a very high opinion of the dollar-to-performance ratio of the 2ax, and I was quite pleased with them for many years.

I did end up buying the MicroStatics a few years later, but I didn't use them permanently on the 2ax's. I did use them on my Dad's 4x's that I took to college, and that was one neat--and very unique, I'm sure!--college dorm speaker system. Sounded great.

Steve F.

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I did end up buying the MicroStatics a few years later, but I didn't use them permanently on the 2ax's. I did use them on my Dad's 4x's that I took to college, and that was one neat--and very unique, I'm sure!--college dorm speaker system. Sounded great.

I have three pairs of the Microstatics (garage sale score). They're sitting on the 3a's and 2ax's in our living room and on the 6's in my office. They do next to nothing for the sound of the big speakers, but my wife thinks they're cute and they do help take up space that might otherwise become resting places for drinks and snack plates when we have parties. The 6's, OTOH, benefit greatly. They sound brighter but still smooth (most likely more from the increased HF spread because there doesn't seem to be any real increase in on-axis output when I stand very close), and become just as placement-independent as the other ARs. Ironic, because MA originally promoted these as upgrades for TOTL "$250" speakers.

One pair of the MS's is also the only set of speakers I own that I ever recapped just for the hell of it. Didn't make any noticeable difference in the sound, but the mil spec polycarbonate film caps I scrounged from the lab at the company I was working for at the time will probably outlive me.

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