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AR-3a Pot Trouble


danajohnhill

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After first being in denial, and then just being annoyed, I need to take action. My beloved 3as, which I received in pristine, unmolested condition in 2010, and for which I made the typical fixes, are now getting a little scratchy in the mids. Just one of them, really. It's the pots, methinks. I brushed away all the green residue with a Dremel back in 2010, and they looked quite clean, but something must have changed. Now, in loud passages, I hear scratchiness. It is not apparent in music for strings, but in solo piano music, or music for flute or French horn, I hear it plainly. It almost sounds like tape distortion, but I know it isn't.

So, what think you all? Am I likely to find more green crud on the pots to clean off? Should I have used some sort of something on the pots when I cleaned them to improve contact and resist future corrision? Is it time to think about abandonning the original pots? I would prefer, for reasons I cannot justify, to keep them as original as possible. Lastly, is there any chance that it isn't the pot?

Thanks in advance.

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Should I have used some sort of something on the pots when I cleaned them to improve contact and resist future corrision?

Yes. Most people use De-Ox-It or dielectric grease. I used the grease, only because it seemed to be more viscous and I figured it would last longer.

Kent

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Single note piano music (no chords) is an excellent test - be sure to check them at different volume levels, too.

If you can eliminate the distortion by adjusting the pots to a "good' spot, then the midrange drivers are probably fine, and re-doing the pots (deoxit is a good idea) is most likely in order.

You haven't had any amplifier "mishaps", have you?

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Single note piano music (no chords) is an excellent test - be sure to check them at different volume levels, too.

If you can eliminate the distortion by adjusting the pots to a "good' spot, then the midrange drivers are probably fine, and re-doing the pots (deoxit is a good idea) is most likely in order.

You haven't had any amplifier "mishaps", have you?

By "mishaps" do you mean an unexpected power overload? I am using a 100 watt per channel Kenwood receiver. I never play anything at "discoteque levels".

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An unexpected overload, as from a suddenly-unplugged RCA cable, dropped stylus, or the like; or some form of amplifier mis-behavior.

It wouldn't hurt to check your Kenwood with a pair of headphones, just to eliminate the receiver as a source of the problem.

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