Guest widerangesound Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 I have a nice pair of AR 3a that I would like to restore. One unit is missing the tweeter completely. I've already wasted money on one from an eBay auction (anyone interested?) that did not fit. The one that I need has tabs on the rear of the driver for signal connection. It has a plastic mounting flange marked AR. My recollection is that the date stamped on my other one is 1974 or 1975. The million dollar question is: What other speakers of this era used the tweeter I'm looking for? Did another less costly, or less sought-after, model use this same tweeter? If I know the universe of speakers that used this tweeter (i.e. AR 3a, 9, 12, 17, etc) I hope to source one for a reasonable price. Looking at eBay auctions for AR 3a that have my needed tweeter has proven to be prohibitively expensive or (more often) to lack the correct tweeter. Many thanks for any help that may be proferred. Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tysontom Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 >I have a nice pair of AR 3a that I would like to restore. One>unit is missing the tweeter completely. I've already wasted>money on one from an eBay auction (anyone interested?) that>did not fit. The one that I need has tabs on the rear of the>driver for signal connection. It has a plastic mounting flange>marked AR. My recollection is that the date stamped on my>other one is 1974 or 1975. The million dollar question is:>What other speakers of this era used the tweeter I'm looking>for? Did another less costly, or less sought-after, model use>this same tweeter? If I know the universe of speakers that>used this tweeter (i.e. AR 3a, 9, 12, 17, etc) I hope to>source one for a reasonable price. Looking at eBay auctions>for AR 3a that have my needed tweeter has proven to be>prohibitively expensive or (more often) to lack the correct>tweeter. Many thanks for any help that may be proferred. >>SamSam,What you describe is the back-wired version of the AR-3a, and what you received on eBay is the earlier, hard-wired version of that tweeter, and your mid-1970s timeframe is correct. By the time AR introduced the AR-10Pi and AR-11, all drivers were back-wired with push-on tabs rather than the conventional AR method of hard-wiring to the tweeter terminal strip on the front. The AR-3a and AR-LST used the 4-ohm version of this hard-dome 3/4-inch tweeter, and the AR-5, AR-2ax and AR-LST/2 used an 8-ohm version of this dome. You technically need to find the back-wired version, but that may be difficult unless one coincidentally shows up on eBay.It is possible to solder pigtails onto the two lead-out wires of the tweeter you got on eBay, and then tuck them under the flange and gasket, and bring inside the cabinet to connect to the tab connections there. The old-style tweeters are pretty much identical in performance to the newer versions. Carefully tape down the leads on the front side of the tweeter using electrical tape, and don't let the flange break a wire when you bolt the tweeter in place. It would probably be better to use Mortite as the gasket material, but you can still get a decent seal with the normal foam (white or black) gasket. Be sure to measure the DC resistance of the tweeter to be sure it is somewhere around 2.5-3.5 ohms or so, and not 6.5-7.0 ohms. This will give you the assurance that you have the AR-3a-style tweeter and not the AR-2a/AR-5 version.--Tom Tyson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alexpel Posted December 17, 2003 Report Share Posted December 17, 2003 HI,I am looking for an AR 3a tweeter with thin wire connection from the FRONT side of the the tweeter.My AR 3a boxes are from the early 1970'sAny Idea?Please answer to emails:alex@aerotel.comalexpel@netvision.net.ilThanksAlex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alexpel Posted December 17, 2003 Report Share Posted December 17, 2003 I am looking for a front wired Ar3a tweeter.My boxes are fron the early 1970/1 and one tweeter gave up. It shows a 1.5 Ohm DC resistance and the sound is very week.Thanksalex@aerotel.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SteveG Posted March 12, 2004 Report Share Posted March 12, 2004 Tom, and others,Tom mentioned in this post that the 3a-type tweeter should measure 2.5 to 3.5 ohms dc resistence. Do these change resistence over time and become "weak" as some have described??? If so, does the resistence go down as they weaken??? Or do these pretty much work or not work??? Thanks for any info on this.SteveG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dogmeninreno Posted March 12, 2004 Report Share Posted March 12, 2004 >I have a nice pair of AR 3a that I would like to restore. One>unit is missing the tweeter completely. I've already wasted>money on one from an eBay auction (anyone interested?) that>did not fit. The one that I need has tabs on the rear of the>driver for signal connection. It has a plastic mounting flange>marked AR. My recollection is that the date stamped on my>other one is 1974 or 1975. The million dollar question is:>What other speakers of this era used the tweeter I'm looking>for? Did another less costly, or less sought-after, model use>this same tweeter? If I know the universe of speakers that>used this tweeter (i.e. AR 3a, 9, 12, 17, etc) I hope to>source one for a reasonable price. Looking at eBay auctions>for AR 3a that have my needed tweeter has proven to be>prohibitively expensive or (more often) to lack the correct>tweeter. Many thanks for any help that may be proferred. >>SamSam try these on eBay.http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...&category=14993They are being sold by someone I would trust. Dale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dogmeninreno Posted March 12, 2004 Report Share Posted March 12, 2004 As a sidenote, I would be interested in any tweeters you end up with? I usually have several backwired but have used most of them in restores.Thanks, Dale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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