Can it be true?

[frankmarsi]

Have we stumbled upon our tweeter savior?

Can any one tell me if they believe this offering can be the way to go with our aging and failure prone AR tweeters?

I presume the way this is being done is by jerry-rigging out-sourced voice coils and squeezing them into place, if that's possible, maybe with lots of ferro-fluid involved? The domes look different, there's a possibility they may not have the original AR tweeter's great dispersion?

If this guy has found a workable way of doing this, he’s bound to make loads of money.

I have about 40 tweeters that need to be brought back to life.

I wonder what they sound like, and if their power handling ability is what I’m looking for?

Any opinions?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PAIR-OF-AR3A-TWEETERS-RESTORED-/111885630355?hash=item1a0ce73b93:g:6X4AAOSwUV9WpjGV

I'm going with whatever RoyC. says.

fm

[Carlspeak]

Until someone with tech. skills and equipment buys a pair and runs a series of FR's both on and off axis out to 90 deg., I'd be skeptical this guy is pitching equal performance after his rebuilds.

[owlsplace]

Yeah, we've talked about some of his tweeters before. Looks like he sourced a similar vc from a current production soft dome tweeter and has used an undisclosed centering method.

At that price you might be better off buying the AR-9 tweets he is offering which is not to say his rebuild doesn't work but ...

Roger

[lakecat]

I wouldn't buy them at all if that is the only box he ships them in........

[frankmarsi]

1-25-16

It appears to me that the AR-9 tweeters being offered may have been subject to this fellow’s repair also. In fact if one looks closely, there appears to be a little ‘roll’ around each dome, they almost look like smaller midranges?

A long while ago I asked on this site if such an operation can be performed when I found a European supplier who sells small domes with voice-coils attached at a decent price.

My enthusiasm was squashed because the verdict was; it wasn’t feasible and therefore success was not eminent. So much for that thought, besides the offered sizes may not have been correct to begin with.

If this fellow can somehow prove he’s able to pull this off, I might still be interested?

We all should be interested, no?

fm

[rjr513]

These domes are being purchased from a ebay seller zhzy5500 out of China... the seller is offering these domes in a 8 ohm and also 4 ohm

version ..... (2) 4 ohm version @ $9.99 or (2) 8 ohm @ $6.99 see picture Attached this is the 8 ohm version which has a dcr of 6.0 ohms.. the 4 ohm version dcr is 4.4 ohms

I have purchase some of theses domes and was going to send to Roy for tech evaluations but just haven't had time with my working schedules... BTW.. I'm not the seller on ebay trying to sell these @ that high ridiculous price also this same zhzy5500 seller sales on aliexpress.com under cn audio parts

[owlsplace]

These domes are being purchased from a ebay seller zhzy5500 out of China... the seller is offering these domes in a 8 ohm and also 4 ohm

version ..... (2) 4 ohm version @ $9.99 or (2) 8 ohm @ $6.99 see picture Attached this is the 8 ohm version which has a dcr of 6.0 ohms.. the 4 ohm version dcr is 4.4 ohms

I have purchase some of theses domes and was going to send to Roy for tech evaluations but just haven't had time with my working schedules... BTW.. I'm not the seller on ebay trying to sell these @ that high ridiculous price also this same zhzy5500 seller sales on aliexpress.com under cn audio parts

Interesting ... so I'm assuming they are centered using a test tone while an adhesive sets up ... ?

Roger

[Carlspeak]

It sure must take a steady hand to install these in that tiny air gap w/o damaging the coil itself & ensuring it's centered and properly glued down. Not my cup of tea.

[RoyC]

If one has a dead 3/4" AR tweeter to play with, the price of the dome/vc assembly seems low enough for experimentation purposes. The result could be a tweeter as acceptable as, perhaps, the HiVi tweeter. Given its construction, however, it will never sound like an original AR-3a type tweeter. The best possible outcome would be something similar to the AR-11 tweeter.

I seriously doubt the Ebay seller's claim of "hundreds" of these repairs...and I would certainly steer clear at $175 a pair.

Roy

[DavidR]

Does anyone know how the original AR tweeters were assembled?

Machine, skilled tech with surgeon hands

[owlsplace]

Does anyone know how the original AR tweeters were assembled?

Machine, skilled tech with surgeon hands

Judging by the old ads showing 55 gallons drums full of rejects I'd say it was a hand/jig operation.

Chanced across this statement in an old thread: "I've recently found someone to wind new voice coils for my old AR3a tweeters, and I think they sound great."

http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/IP.Board/index.php?showtopic=5109&p=82211

Roger

[genek]

Thinking they sound great and original performance are not necessarily the same thing. Or even close to the same thing.

[owlsplace]

Thinking they sound great and original performance are not necessarily the same thing. Or even close to the same thing.

So true ... there possibly is still someone around who worked on the AR production line ... the previous link conjures up visions of someone wearing coke bottle glasses hunched over a workbench!

I expect I will be ordering some Hi-Vi's later this year after I try my tri-amp experiment. I can't see spending the time and frustration of trying to remanufacture the suspensions on the early domes.