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AR 9's - Sad but saved


DavidDru

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I suppose that there is no stuffing in lower compartment. In library section there is some document about stuffing... as far as I remember stuffing is about halfway up.

Kimmo

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Yeah, I know $100.  Lucky.  Since all the drivers seem to be okay, that original low cost will allow me to go ahead and outsource the cabinets to a professional if I choose to.  They are pretty bad and need to be completely stripped down, areas fixed and refinished.  It would be best if both tops got new veneer too.

 

The cages are much better.  They were never going to be great again since there were a few corrosion spots that ate through whatever plating they have.  After cleaning them up the best I could short of putting a grinder to them, I just painted over them with an almost direct match finish.  Between that and how dirty the cones were, I would have to get new drivers if I wanted them to look any better.

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  • 8 months later...

Finally got around to refoaming the mid woofers.  I took my time getting to them because they seemed generally in-tact, but once i started it was obvious they were on their last legs. Came right apart - peeled right off and nearly disintegrated. 

1027160917_resized.jpg

1027160918_resized.jpg

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The mid woofers are done and working like a charm!  On to the side grilles and assessing the caps.

 

I need to look into it, but how difficult is it to get the crossover boards out so I can work on them easier?

 

refoamed mid woofer.jpg

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Removing the boards is a pita; they're glued & stapled, and the masonite is on the crumbly side.

The good news is that with the pair of woofer holes, you should have pretty good access for whatever capacitor work you want to do.

Two questions: what's the condition of the level control switches, and what cabinet work needs to be done? From the photos, they appear to be in very nice cosmetic shape.

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Too bad about the boards.  Could easily replace the caps I am heading toward replacing (other thread), but had hoped to get good access so it would not be too difficult to test the others.

As far as the cabinets go, well I have been able to take photos that give one the impression that they are in okay shape.  But that's not the case.  The tops are probably in need of new veneer.  The black back is pretty scratched up but at least that is easy to clean up and repaint.  he sied are in okay shape but a few of the corners need to be rebuilt.  The hard part is going to be the fronts.  There are some odd dings along each side of the front where the grille frame hits it for whatever reason.  These will be difficult to fill and smooth out without being noticeable.  The darn acoustic blanket also seems like it will be difficult to take off and or work around to work on the front refinishing.  Been meaning to ask the treehouse here if they have had luck getting it off in one piece and then reattached okay?  The felt blanket itself is in great shape and not coming up at all.

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I decided it would be safer (from damage) to work on boards in place. When working on the upper board place them on their backs on a pair of saw horses. Use a good light (or several types) in one woofer hole and work thru the other. For the bottom board set them upright on your work table/bench. If you take your time it should work well. I found if you have zero expectations on completion time and think thru each removal/replacement that it all worked out well.

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12 hours ago, DavidDru said:

Thanks David.  Methodical always.  

Here is a photo of that upper board.  I had forgotten that the 24 was a tin can.  What's the difference between the black/red caps and the tin ones?

 

AR9-Upper-board.jpg

I'm not 100% sure of this but the metal cased caps are electrolytic and the black/red caps are an early type of film cap (type unknown). I had a 24uF metal Callins in an AR91 that read 40.4uF, the other read 29.1uF

When you open up the black/red caps you'll find what's like a rolled up piece of plastic.

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Black/red caps look similar to Callins-branded electrolytic´s... are these from similar origin than ones that have been sold as Elcap´s in the Europe?

Kimmo

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How do you take off the acoustic blanket in one piece?  Anybody have a trick?  Heat and peel?  Scaper under?

Looking into how to do some refinishing work on the front and that felt piece is just in the way to do it correctly.

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The Acoustic Blanket is held on with an extremely tenacious glue; unless you want to be rid of it, attempting to remove the blanket could easily result in damage to it, and/or the veneered face of the cabinet.

I'm familiar with the grunge that builds up around the edge of the blanket, and the difficulty of sanding/refinishing the AR-9 cabinet with the damned thing in place. That glued-on blanket is my bête noire - it, and the front-panel appliqués around the level-control switches. Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

Here's a couple of photos to show what you're up against.

 

blanket01.JPG

blanket02.JPG

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Ugh!  I was afraid of that.  I may just work around it. They are in near perfect shape so I do not want to add issues with those to the mix.

The challenge i have on mine is that there are a bunch of small scratch indentations along each edge where it looks like the staples of the grille rub on the front veneer.  Oddly, I run my finger along the inside of eh grille frame and I just don't feel enough to suggest that this would have happened, but it must have because the spacing of teh scratches match up with it.

They are just deep enough to make it difficult to put a new smooth finish on it along those edges all up and down each side.

edge damage ar9.jpg

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16 hours ago, DavidDru said:

Ugh!  I was afraid of that.  I may just work around it. They are in near perfect shape so I do not want to add issues with those to the mix.

The challenge i have on mine is that there are a bunch of small scratch indentations along each edge where it looks like the staples of the grille rub on the front veneer.  Oddly, I run my finger along the inside of eh grille frame and I just don't feel enough to suggest that this would have happened, but it must have because the spacing of teh scratches match up with it.

They are just deep enough to make it difficult to put a new smooth finish on it along those edges all up and down each side.

edge damage ar9.jpg

The black front of my AR90s has those same indentations.  Except, it chips in the paint.  So, mine look like white chips along the edges.  I've thought about sanding/stripping the paint, to leave a veneered front, but if it's still going to pick up chips, I might just re-spray the fronts black again.

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Black would be a bunch easier because you could of course fill any that are deep and hide it with the paint.

I too figured mine must have been face down (odd) at some point and probably in transit where they rubbed over a period of time.  Or, they just did it to themselves with the vibrations caused from the sound!

When I put new fabric on them I hope to not use the staples except in the corners maybe.  Or I could router a very slight countersink along the edges only for staples.

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