New to AR: AR-4x and AR-2ax here

[Jackal]

Hi all,

Not sure if this is the right place for an intro thread, but here it goes.

My name is Jack, and I've just gotten into AR recently here at school. My girlfriend's dad is letting me borrow his pair of AR-4x's, and man, what a sound. Although they are only being driven by my "hand-me-down" yamaha RX-V470, they sound great! I haven't done much with them so far, since they are not mine, but I did fix a tear in the woofer with some Silicone glue (was previously fixed with scotch tape ) and resealed the cabinet.

I tried today to add some 2ax's to my collection, but that didn't go very well... but that is a topic for another thread.

Attached are pics of the AR-4x's stacked on top of a pair of Allied speakers, not sure of the model number there.

Thanks, -Jack

[JKent]

Hi all,

Not sure if this is the right place for an intro thread, but here it goes.

My name is Jack, and I've just gotten into AR recently here at school. My girlfriend's dad is letting me borrow his pair of AR-4x's, and man, what a sound. Although they are only being driven by my "hand-me-down" yamaha RX-V470, they sound great! I haven't done much with them so far, since they are not mine, but I did fix a tear in the woofer with some Silicone glue (was previously fixed with scotch tape ) and resealed the cabinet.

I tried today to add some 2ax's to my collection, but that didn't go very well... but that is a topic for another thread.

Attached are pics of the AR-4x's stacked on top of a pair of Allied speakers, not sure of the model number there.

Thanks, -Jack

Welcome Jack!

Yes--this is the place!

I still own my AR4x speakers, bought new in 1970. I also have 2 pr of 2ax and a pair of 2a.

One non-invasive thing to do: Sweep the level control back & forth many times to try to clean up some of the accumulated oxidation.

At some point you might want to talk to GF's dad about replacing the old capacitors. Lots of info here about that. But if you can get your own pair of 4x or 2ax (or 5! or 3a!!) then you can do your own surgery.

Take a look at the AR3a restoration manual pinned to the top of the AR section. Lots of good info there.

And if I may make a suggestion: When you post photos (we love photos) resize them. 100K is plenty big enough. You won't use up your alloted space and folks with dial-up will be able to view the pics.

Again--Welcome to CSP

Kent

[Jackal]

Thanks for the welcome, Kent! This certainly seems like the place to be.

Thanks for your pity in the other thread, too

I'll be sure to resize my photos next time - I thought it would do it automatically. I guess now you get to see the elaborate stitching of the Allied pair with crystal clarity, haha.

One non-invasive thing to do: Sweep the level control back & forth many times to try to clean up some of the accumulated oxidation.

At some point you might want to talk to GF's dad about replacing the old capacitors. Lots of info here about that.

I already tried to sweep the pots but they aren't 100% just yet. I have them working as close to neutral as possible until I can get his permission to open them up. Plus, I don't really want to pull out all the fiberglass! I rebuilt a pot for the Allied speakers several times before finding a break in the line - oof. The replacement pot cost less than the shipping!

Is there an easy method for spray-cleaning the pots from the outside? I have contact cleaner solution I use on my Kenwood KR-2600, but I don't want to overspray all over the cabinet in this scenario!

As far as capacitors go, I think I can handle that. I've done some electrical work, and built my own stereo-to-mono converter and low pass filter for my subwoofers.

Thanks for your post!

-Jack

[genek]

Is there an easy method for spray-cleaning the pots from the outside? I have contact cleaner solution I use on my Kenwood KR-2600, but I don't want to overspray all over the cabinet in this scenario!

Lay the speakers down on their faces. This position places the windings facing up so that the cleaner will collect on them when it flows down into the pot openings. You'll need DeOxit or a similar electronic component oxide remover. DeOxit probably won't do the job completely either, but it'll do better than generic "contact cleaner." You'll probably still have some dead spots, and ultimately you'll need to open the cabinets up to get the pots really clean and then grease them.

[Jackal]

Thanks for the tip, genek!