Joel Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 A friend just picked a pair of AR-4x speakers. One of them is in great shape- woofer, tweeter both work. Cabinet and grill looks really good. The other speaker's tweeter doesn't work. I'm hoping new cap and l-pad will fix it. The cabinet has some separation in the top corners. Is this an issue? Can I just put filler in the opening? Is there another way to fix them, or should I just leave them alone? The particle board looks good, so I don't think it is water damage.-Joel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stupidhead Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 Hi Joel,I too am working on a set of 4x's, and thought I would share my thoughts on your post. Let me start by saying I am a newbie on this forum, and in this hobby for that matter. My background however is more geared towards the wood and construction side of things, rather than the circuitry and engineering side.With that being said, I believe your speaker has undergone some water damage along it's journey. These (and many other) speakers were often used as plant stands, and frequently subjected to even slight spills. Your picture doesn't clearly show it, but I suspect the subject surface is a top face of the speaker. Actually your picture does show the particle board has been compromised, and does show evidence of being effected by moisture.The question I asked myself was will this effect the ultimate sound of the speaker? Will there be a rattle or buzz if I do nothing? My conclusion in my case was no. Then I came to the conclusion that if I tried to perfect that surface by replacing the veneer and somehow leveling the particle board surface, it was more trouble than I wanted to take on. If it were worse however, I might have drilled a couple of strategically placed holes from the back side to as close to the front as I could, and compressed each side edge with bar clamps, and filled the holes (and the seperation point at external edge) with an epoxy and drawn the corners together. This seems like an approach that may or may not end good, but luckily I didn't need to explore it.My response is not meant to be guidance by the way. It is just a newbie's viewpoint. To frame my thoughts on this, let me say these speakers are 40+ years old. They have been on a journey for as long, and are now in your (or mine) posession. I am a 54 year old with a grey beard, and I choose not to put Grecian formula in my beard. I feel character of old things should be embraced and not covered up or altered.Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobHolt Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 Agree with Geoff on the likely cause of damage, and perhaps the cabinet had been dropped or taken impact which could also fracture glued joints especially if already weakened.Performance will be impacted as the structural integrity of the cabinet has changed. Drivers push energy into the cabinet and the panels resonate at various frequencies and at variable Q. How the cabinet is constructed impacts these aspects and will have some bearing on the sonics.If at all possible I'd attempt to glue and clamp the edges closed though that will depend on any damage to the particle board.If not, fill the gaps best you can and see how they sound - you especially don't want air leaks with an AR. If they sound good, just enjoy them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Posted January 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 Thanks for the advice. I put Elmer's wood filler to fill the gaps, then used Retor-a-finish. I get a little jealous looking a all the great restorations done on some of these speakers. My skills are more in the "looks good from a distance" level, but I think these came out fine. My biggest concern was closing any air leaks, and I think this works fine. I still have to recap them, and hopefully bring back the one tweeter that doesn't work.-Joel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobHolt Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 Good work You can buy brown marker pens designed to camouflage wood filler. That might help blend the lighter edges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Posted January 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 I used a "touch up pen"- looks just like a magic marker. It worked pretty good, the corners blend in pretty well unless your really close.-Joel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xmas111 Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 Joel, They look pretty good to me.....nice job! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Posted February 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 I finished with the recap and pot replacement today. The tweeter came back to life, and they sound really good. I did this for a friend who is going to pick them up tomorrow- I really hate to see them go, but they are going to a good home.-Joel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stupidhead Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 looking good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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