Acoustic blankets for Verticals series

[deek]

Three questions about the verticals series:

1) at what point did AR stop putting the acoustic mats on the Verticals? (What would be the approximate number of systems out there without acoustic blankets)

2) when restorers do their thing, are the mats replaced? Removed?

3) (Totally fishing here...) What would a complete set of acoustic mat parts be worth to you? (I'm talking about the thick felt mat, the two smaller foam pieces and possibly even the adhesive foam rings around the woofers)

-Deek

[Robert_S]

Hello,

To the best of my knowledge, AR did not produce any of the verticals (as in the 9, 90, 91, 92) sans-acoustic blanket. The diffraction foam was certainly absent on some: see below for example, the AR-9 and AR-90 are shown without, the AR-91 with, all three images from the same brochure.

Generally restorers seek to keep their speakers as close to the original as they can, though one forum member (ar_pro) has rebuilt and modified units as shown in the first image below.

Robert_S

 

Edit: Perhaps the foam rings are more accurately described as anti-diffraction, or diffusion, regarding their function.

 

 

[deek]

Thanks for the reply, Robert. It must have been your photo I saw without the acoustic blanket. I was under the impression some came from the factory that way, but it looks like maybe it's unique.

Regarding the diffraction foam, I have an idea for producing these that may be less expensive than the mold method originally used. I have to set up some dies and do some testing but it looks like I may be able to produce them one-off, so to speak, for a cost that is reasonable.

Should this method pan out, I may even be able to fabricate the foam grills for the ADD series. (11 through 18, anyway)

-Deek